Tuesday, October 23, 2012

AP US History Revolutionary War Notes


10/23/12
The Road to the Revolutionary War
I.               After the French and Indian War
A.             Attitudes
1.             The colonists were proud to be part of the British empire
2.             The English looked down on the colonists
B.             The British were in desperate financial trouble
1.             They thought the best way to get out of financial trouble would be to make the colonists pay for the war
2.             The colonists did not want to pay
a)             They didn’t ask for the war
b)             The taxes the colonists were paying were going to Britain, and not for the colonists’ own benefit
II.              Grenville
A.             Became Prime Minister of England after the war.  He did not like the colonists- thought they were below him
B.              Proclamation of 1763
1.             It created a proclamation line that no settlers could settle past
2.             It blocked settlement in the Ohio Valley, which the whole war was fought over
3.             Why did Grenville do this?
a)             He wanted to appease the Native Americans and avoid more raids
b)             He also thought the colonists would be easier to control if they were in a smaller area
4.             This proclamation angered the colonists- they were being taxed for a war they did not want, and then were prohibited from settling in the newly conquered areas
C.            Writ of Assistance
1.             Basically a blank search warrant- the British could search any place, at any time, without any reason
2.             England did this to enforce the Navigation Acts and crack down on smuggling (no more Salutary Neglect)
3.             James Otis, a Boston lawyer, argued that Writs of Assistance were against natural law
a)             He lost the case, but many people joined in his fight
b)             Showed a slow motion towards disliking the British
D.            Sugar Act 1764
1.             Cut the tax on the Molasses Act in half
2.             Strictly a revenue tax
a)             Revenue taxes are for the purposes of raising money
b)             Protective taxes are meant to protect domestic industry by making the cost of foreign goods higher
3.             Wasn’t good for the colonists because even though the tax was being cut in half, they did not think they had to pay any taxes to the British at all
4.             This tax was strictly enforced, and anyone caught smuggling/disobeying the act was brought to military court with no due process
E.             Quartering Act
1.             Colonists had to provide shelter and food for British soldiers
2.             The colonists opposed this- they wanted the soldiers to leave!  They didn’t need British soldiers to protect them
3.             NY refused to obey this act, and their legislature was suspended
F.             Stamp Act
1.             What it was
a)             Direct tax
(1)           A direct tax is a tax you see, while an indirect tax is a built-in tax that the merchant pays and passes on in the cost
b)             Anything you bought that was made out of paper had to have a stamp on it that showed that you paid the tax
c)             Short-sighted- it wasn’t going to bring in enough money for England, yet they still antagonized the colonists with it
2.             What it caused
a)             “Taxation without representation is tyranny”
(1)           Truthfully, it was unrealistic for the colonists to have representation in Parliament
(2)           Since the colonists could not have representation in Parliament, Britain had no right to tax them
b)             Sons of Liberty
(1)           Formed by James Otis and Samuel Adams in Massachusetts
(2)           They were freedom fighters fighting for American equality
(3)           The British claimed they were terrorists
c)             In Virginia, Patrick Henry presented 7 resolutions against the Stamp Act.  The House of Burgesses passed 4 of them, but the newspapers printed all 7, as if all of the 7 resolutions were passed
3.             In October 1765, delegates from 9 colonies met, calling themselves the Stamp Act Congress
a)             Called for a boycott of all British goods- nonimportation.  It started in NY and spread to the other colonies
b)             Results
(1)           Cottage industries- began to produce goods ourselves (candles, wool, etc)
(2)           Stamp Act was repealed
(3)           The king replaced Grenville with Rockingham, who passed the Declaratory Acts
G.            Declaratory Acts
1.             Parliament has the right to make laws for Americans in all cases
2.             Americans ignored the Declaratory Acts, and smuggling continued
a)             à King George got rid of Rockingham and brought in Townshend
III.            Townshend
A.             Boasted that he could tax the colonists excessively without any difficulty and believed that the Americans would accept indirect taxes (he thought the Americans were stupid and wouldn’t realize)
B.             Kept Admiralty Courts
C.            Kept Writ of Assistance
D.            Declared that customs officials were paid out of the fines they collected
E.             These acts were not successful in raising money for Britain, and antagonized colonists against each other
IV.            Resistance
A.             At first, there was no real unified resistance
1.             Letters From a Pennsylvania Farmer, by John Dickinson- acknowledged that there was taxation without representation, but did not suggest doing anything about it.  People should not go too far, because they could be executed for treason
B.             Circular Letter (started in Massachusetts then sent around to other colonies)
1.             We need to do something, but for now we will not take any sever action that will cause problems
2.             Britain demanded that the letter be withdrawn or they will dissolve the Massachusetts legislature.  They also sent more troops to Boston, and the colonists responded with more nonimportation (boycotted British goods)
V.             Lord North- new British Prime Minister
A.             Repealed all taxes except for a very small tax on tea, to show that the British are still in charge
B.             Boston Massacre
1.             NOT a massacre, but Samuel Adams liked the catchiness of it so he named it a massacre
2.             Many British soldiers were moonlighting (soldiers during the day who took different jobs at night to supplement their income) and worked for less pay than the colonists, which created resentment
3.             Soldiers were marching on the Boston Common, and the colonists began to taunt them and something was thrown at a soldier (different stories as to what was thrown), and the soldiers fired at the people.
4.             Five colonists were killed, the British soldiers were put on trial
a)             John Adams defended the soldiers because if we do not offer due process, how can we expect it for ourselves
b)             Sam Adams used the “massacre” to rile people up
C.            Relative peace until the Tea Act of 1773
1.             British East India Company was in financial trouble so they got permission to ship the tea directly to the colonies (without stopping at a British port) and sell the tea right off the ships
2.             The British figured that even with the tax on the tea they could still sell the tea more cheaply than the smuggled tea.
3.             The colonists still didn’t buy British tea (it was like giving in), and began to tar and feather the tax collectors
4.             If cargo remained on the ship for 20 days without being sold, it would go to auction.  The night before the expiration date, colonists disguised as Native Americans went on the British ships and dumped the tea in the harbor à Boston Tea Party
a)             Result- most of the colonists did not approve- they thought it went too far and destroying property was not a right thing to do
D.            British Response to the Boston Tea Party- Coercive Acts (called the Intolerable Acts by the colonists)
1.             The port of Boston was closed until the tea was paid for
2.             The power of the royal governor was increased at the expense of the legislature
3.             Any British soldier accused of a crime in Massachusetts could be tried somewhere else and not in local court (where it would be likely for the soldier to be convicted)
4.             The Quartering Acts were strengthened (now soldiers had to be in your home)
5.             Quebec Act- extended the province of Quebec to the Ohio river, which destroyed the colonists’ chances of expansion
10/25/12
VI.            First Continental Congress
A.             Met in Philadelphia in 1774
B.             Passed the Suffolk Act
1.             Denounced the Intolerable Acts
2.             Called for stricter boycotting (boycotting was very effective because the British merchants would put pressure on the government to lighten regulations)
3.             Set up preparations for local militias (just in case)
C.            A proposition for the union of the colonies was rejected- the colonies were still independent of each other, but were starting to work together
D.            They gave it a year, and if at the end of the year things were not better, they would meet again to decide what to do
E.             In the meantime, the colonists started to stockpile weapons
1.             The British found out, and under General Gage, they decided to arrest the colonist leaders and destroy the weapon stocks in Concord, Massachusetts
a)             The colonists knew the British were coming, but they did not know how (on a land route or a water route)
b)             Paul Revere’s famous ride- “The British are coming!”
2.             70 colonists were on the green in Concord, and the British showed up with 700 troops (yikes).  The colonists were told to go home, and a shot rang out
a)             8 colonists died, many were wounded, most colonists were shot in the back (which shows that they were leaving)
b)             No one knows who shot that initial gunshot
The War Begins!
VII.          Second Continental Congress- May 1775
A.             Split in two factions
1.             Mainly New Englanders wanted to break away from the British and gain independence
2.             The middle colonies, led by John Dickenson, were not ready to go that far and break away, but agreed that something needed to be done
B.             Issued the Olive Branch Petition
1.             Sent it to King George asking him to intercede in Parliament and restore peace by stopping the outrageous taxes and control
2.             Sent it to the king and not to Parliament to prevent treasonous accusations- going against Parliament is not treason, but going against the king is
3.             King responded with the Prohibitory Act
a)             The colonies are in rebellion and no longer under crown protection
b)             à Britain began to plan for a full scale war
C.            Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense in 1776
1.             Before this, the colonists weren’t really thinking about a rebellion
2.             Paine
a)             Was a British living in the colonies for 2 years
b)             He was on the side of the colonists though
3.             Common Sense said that it was time to break away
a)             It was poorly written yet it was an instant bestseller
b)             Said that it was time to break away
D.            June 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a formal resolution in Congress, calling for independence and a national government
1.             Two Committees
a)             One was headed by John Dickinson, and its job was to frame a national government
b)             The other committee was headed by Jefferson  and its job was to write the Declaration of Independence
E.             George Washington
1.             He was put in charge of the army
a)             He really was not a great army general
VIII.         We won!
A.             Reasons
1.             The colonists had a great deal of determination
a)             Fighting for an ideal
b)             Fighting on our own soil
2.             British were arrogant
a)             They were so convinced they were right and were going to win
b)             This caused them to do some silly things
3.             Colonists practiced guerilla warfare
B.             Treaty of Paris 1783
1.             The American negotiating team- Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay
2.             Provisions
a)             The United States was recognized as an independent nation by the European nations
b)             America’s western boundary was set at the Mississippi River, its southern boundary was set at the 31st northern latitude (top of Florida)
c)             Britain kept Canada, but had to give Florida to Spain
d)             Private British creditors would be free to collect any debts owed by US citizens (the problem was that the government was not going to get involved- it was all private)
e)             Congress would recommend that the states restore confiscated loyalist property (again, the government would not be involved)
IX.             

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