SS8H3 The student will analyze the role of Georgia in the American Revolution.

a. Explain the immediate and long-term causes of the American Revolution and their impact on Georgia; include the French and Indian War (Seven Years War), Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts, and the Declaration of Independence. b. Analyze the significance of people and events in Georgia on the Revolutionary War; include Loyalists, patriots, Elijah Clarke, Austin Dabney, Nancy Hart, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton, Battle of Kettle Creek, and siege of Savannah.

EU: CONFLICT AND CHANGE: When there is conflict between or within societies, change is the result.

EQ: What were the causes, both immediate and long term of the American Revolution against England? (H3a)

EQ: What role did Georgia play in the American Revolution? (H3b)

EU: Individuals, Groups, Institutions: The student will understand that the actions of individuals groups, and/or institutions affect society through intended and unintended consequences.

EQ: What persons /groups/events were significant to the development of the new government of the U.S. of America and of Georgia and how? (H3b, H4b)

EU: Governance: As a society increases in complexity and interacts with other societies, the complexity of the government also increases.

EQ: How did past experience of the patriots with England’s monarchy influence their decisions regarding a new form of government? (H3a, H4a,b)

England and France were at war.

Colonies

Canada

Some French people began moving to the American colonies from Canada. •England did not want to lose the

colonies to the French, so the English asked the colonists to help them fight against the French.

•The French asked some American Indians to help them fight against England and the colonists.

1. Washington learned that the British were not unbeatable in battle as many people thought.

2. Washington believed that the key to winning the war was to fight like the Indians.

* This led him to success during the Revolutionary War!

1. Braddock and his army moved very slowly, building roads and bridges as they headed through the wilderness.

2. Braddock believed that fighting like the Indians was cowardly.

-Mission: To rid the Ohio Valley of the French Invaders.

-Strength: 1400 British Regulars; smaller number of Colonial Militia

-Braddock’s Dilemma: Tried to fight a European style war in the wilderness of Pennsylvania.

Braddock’s force is routed and retreats in disarray. During the battle on July 9th Braddock is mortally wounded. Braddock dies and is buried in the middle of the road he built and the remainder of his army marches over him to hide the grave from the French and their allies.

Treaty of Paris 1763• The British gained control over the area west of the

13 British Colonies all the way to the Mississippi River.

• The French agreed to give up any colonies in North America, including all of Canada.

• Since Spain had helped the French, the Spanish were also forced to give up Florida. But the Spanish still held their territory west of the Mississippi River and in Central and South America.

1. England and the Colonists beat the French and the Indians.

2. The Treaty of Paris was formed between the opponents.

3. This war was very costly to England. The British decided to tax the Colonists to pay for the war!

Cause of the American Revolution

Pitt decides to fund the war through the British Treasury and through loans. This relieves the American colonists from fronting the bill for the war. However, after the war is over, Britain must settle its debts and pay for a standing army in America. In order to do this they decide to have the colonists bear some of the burden for their own defense.

Cause of the American Revolution

The Proclamation of 1763 Proclaimed that land west of the Appalachian Mountains temporarily off limits to settlements. British Halt Westward Expansion to minimize costs in maintaining a military force to secure the Frontier. Colonists upset. Especially those who had bought shares in companies or bought land in the newly captured territories. However, this does create a fragile peace between the British and the Native Americans.

First Continental Congress • Many of the British colonies in North America

had began to protest taxation as long as they were not represented in British Parliament.

• 12 of the 13 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress; Georgia was not represented.

• Urged colonies to establish “Committees of Safety”

• Agreed to stop all trade with Britain (boycott)• Carried on its work in secret • “Provincial Congress” held in Savannah in

January 1775; less than one-half of Georgia’s parishes were represented

Second Continental Congress• Where was the first

meeting?

• What were their demands?

• Were their demands met?

• Met in Philadelphia after Lexington and Concord battles in Massachusetts

• Drafted petition for King George III, asking for end of unfriendly steps against the colonies

• No. George III refused to accept the petition

• Authorized Continental Army

Second Continental Congress

• Georgia’s Lyman Hall arrived in May 1775. He was declared an enemy of the crown

• August 2, 1776: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, and George Walton (representatives from Georgia) sign the Declaration of Independence

• Button Gwinnett was the youngest representative at age 26.

• All of these men have a Georgia county named after them.

Button GwinnettGeorge Walton

Important people in Georgia during the Revolutionary War

• Elijah Clarke• Austin

Dabney• Nancy Hart

Battle of Kettle Creek (1779)

• Colonel Elijah Clarke led Georgia militia, defeated 800 British troops near Washington, Georgia

• Great victory for morale of the militia and Georgians seeking independence

• Won badly-needed weapons and horses from the British

Siege of Savannah (1779)• What is a siege?• Siege-When forces try to capture a fortified fort or

town by surrounding it and preventing any supplies from reaching it.

• 15,000 Americans and 4,000 French laid siege to Savannah

• Attack on October 9 resulted in 1,000 American and French deaths in less than an hour; only 40 British troops died

• Savannah remained under British control, and the leadership of James Wright, for nearly four more years

• Guerrilla warfare (small scale fighting; sneak attacks) continued in the Georgia backcountry

Georgia Wartime Heroes• Nancy Hart single-handedly captured a

group of British loyalists who bragged of murdering an American colonel; Hart County is the only county named for a woman

• Austin Dabney, a mulatto, fought with distinction and was wounded at Kettle Creek; he also saved Elijah Clarke’s life during that battle

Why were they important?• Elijah Clarke: commanded patriot troops in GA• Led militia force that defeated 800 British @ the Battle of Kettle

Creek• Clarke County, Georgia named after him• Austin Dabney: A freeborn Mulatto who fought alongside Colonel

Clarke at the Battle of Kettle Creek (wounded in action)• Nancy Hart: Tricked Tory soldiers as they drank whiskey at her

house, seized their weapons and killed one of them the others she held at gunpoint till help arrived

Who won the fight for Kettle Creek &Savannah?

• 1st military victory for Georgia during Revolutionary War was at the Battle of Kettle Creek in February 1779 (Col E. Clarke)

• American patriots tried to take Savannah from the British in Sept 1779

• This event is known as the “Siege of Savannah”• 22 French ships & 4000 soldiers in addition to 15000 troops

could not take Savannah • Savannah stayed under British control till the end of the war

Revolutionary War Fighting in Georgia

• Georgia was divided between patriots (people that were rebelling against Great Britain; fighting for freedom) and loyalists (people that remained loyal to Great Britain).

• Savannah captured and looted by British troops in December 1778; lootings, murders, and burnings occurred

• Sunbury port captured in early 1779; Augusta was also attacked

• Georgia militia not effective against well-trained British troops. French military leaders and reinforcements were brought in to train and assist the Continental Army.

• Governor Wright eventually returned from Great Britain to govern Georgia. Continued to govern from Savannah until 1783.

What do you know about Loyalists & Patriots? (Similarities and differences)

• Patriots/Rebels • Loyalists/Tories

• Identify all of the counties that were named after significant people from the Revolutionary War.