Chapter Four Notes

Section One

I. The Stirrings of RebellionA. In order to pay for the French Indian war and other debts, the British Crown looked to get more income from the colonies

B. The Stamp Act

1. Passed by British Parliament in 17652. Required colonists to purchase special

stamped paper for every legal documenta. License, newspaper, pamphlet, etcb. Also playing cards and dicec. 1st direct tax as opposed to Sugar actd. Violators were tried in military courts,

no jury

C. Stamp Act protests

1. Sons of Liberty- Secret resistance groupa. Samuel Adams2. Demonstrated and protested, harassed

customs workers3. October 1765- 200 NY traders agree to

stop buying British goods in protest4. March 1766 Parliament rescinds Stamp

act, but installs Declaratory act

5. Declaratory act states that Parliament had the right make laws that the colonists were required to follow

D. The Townshend Acts

1. Indirect taxes placed on imported products

a. 3 penny tax on tea2. Increased protests over “taxation

without representation”3. Protests and seizures led to the

British putting 4,000 troops in Boston. (1 soldier for every 4 citizens)

a. Increased tensions

E. The Boston Massacre

1. Locals and poorly paid soldiers clashed over jobs

2. March 5, 1770 a fistfight broke out in the afternoon

3. Later that day a group of dockworkers approached the customs house and taunted some guards.

4. An armed clash occurred and 5 colonists were killed.

5. Became huge propaganda tool for Sons of Liberty

6. Townshend acts were repealed due to cost of enforcement, except for the tax on tea.

7. Committees of correspondence was set up to increase communication between colonists over perceived threats to America

F. The Boston Tea Party

1. British attempt to cut out colonial merchants from tea trade, sell directly to colonists

2. December 16, 1773 a group of Boston rebels disguised as Native Americans raided three British ships

3. “Indians” dumped 15,000 pounds of British tea into harbor

G. Intolerable Acts1. King George III mad2. Parliament passes as series of measures

that become known as the intolerable acts

3. Shut down Boston Harbor until damages paid

4. Quartering act- allowed British soldiers to live in vacant homes and structures

5. Thomas Gage placed Boston under Martial Law- rule by military

6. Hoped to isolate Massachusetts7. Led to the 1st Continental

Congress in September of 1774 in Philadelphia

H. Lexington and Concord

1. Minutemen- Civilian soldiers

2. Gage orders troops to march from Boston to Concord and seize illegal weapons

3. Paul Revere & 2 others- “The “British” are coming”

4. Lexingtona. 70 militia and British regularsb. 8 minutemen

killed

5. Concord

a. British find an empty arsenalb. On march back they are harassed by 3-4 thousand militia troops

c. Barely make it back to Bostond. Boston is now under siege by the militia but held by the British

Section Two

• I. Ideas start a revolution

A. Second Continental Congress

A. Second Continental Congress

1. Some delegates were militant2. Others argued for reconciliation3. John Adams suggested that the congress

declare the colonies independent. He also suggested the militia men besieging Boston be considered the Continental Army and that they name a general to lead that army.

4. George Washington was later appointed general

Yes, it’s me George

Washington. Please form a line to worship

me.

B. Bunker Hill

1. June 17, 17752. 2,400 redcoats march out of Boston3. 3rd wave successful due to lack of

ammo4. 311 dead militia men, 1,000 dead

British

C. The Olive Branch Petition

1. July 8, 17752. Urged a return to harmony3. Rejected by King George

II. Patriots declare independence

A. Common Sense

1. Anonymous 47 page essay

2. Written by Thomas Paine

3. Urged a declaration of Independence

4. 500,000 copies sold

B. Declaring independence

1. May 1776 North Carolina declares independence2. Thomas Jefferson drafts the Declaration of

Independence- Based on the works of John Locke

-natural rights-life, liberty, property-social contract

- Jefferson drew on the idea that governments get their power from the governed

3. July 4, 1776- Declaration officially adopted

4. Patriots-supporters of independence

5. Loyalists-oppose independence, loyal to crown

Section Four

• I. European allies shift the balance

A. Fredrich von Steuben

1. Prussian captain2. Helped train colonial soldiers

B. Marquis de Lafayette

1. 20 year old Frenchman2. Joined Washington's staff3. Lobbied for French reinforcements4. Led a command in Virginia

II. British move south

A. After defeat at Saratoga British altered plan

1. Tried to seize Southern port cities2. Would use ports to attack French

who where attacking their supply ships

3. Hoped to rally loyalists and move back North

B. British success

1. 1778 British take Savannah, Georgia easily

2. General Cornwallis captures Charles town, South Carolina in May 1780

3. Cornwallis succeeded through most of 1780, especially in South Carolina

4. Cornwallis was slowed down and eventually pulled back due to Patriot attacks in North Carolina

C. British reverses

1. Colonial general Nathanial Greene harasses Cornwallis as he retreats

2. Sections of their armies are split off and the British are defeated in January 1781 in Cowpens, South Carolina

3. Cornwallis wins a battle against Greene in North Carolina two months later. However, he loses 1/4 of his troops in the process

4. Cornwallis moves his troops to Yorktown

-He planned to fortify Yorktown and then move against Virginia

D. Yorktown

1. Lafayette devises a plan where the American & French armies as well as the French fleet will attack and surround Cornwallis

2. The French fleet blockades Chesapeake Bay

3. 17,000 troops lay siege to Yorktown4. On October 17, 1781 Cornwallis raises a

white flag5. Surrender occurs on October 19, 1781

E. Treaty of Paris

1. Adams, Franklin and John Jay are the American representatives

2. Signed September 17833. The American borders are from the

Atlantic to the Mississippi and from Canada to Florida

F. Aftermath

1. A rise in egalitarianism occurs due to war

2. Egalitarianism is a belief in equality (for white males)

3. The next challenge is creating a nation