Chapter 10, The American Revolution

• Colonies


  13 colonies established by Britain along the eastern seaboard of North America
• Colonists


  • From Britain and other European countries
  • Largely allowed to run their own affairs through local assemblies
  • British Crown represented in each colony by a governor
• Between 1650 and 1750, the population in the colonies grew to two million and they became very prosperous through trading in tobacco, grain, cotton and fish
• Many of the colonists had left their home countries to escape religious or political persecution, while others saw the colonies as a chance to become wealthy
• The Enlightenment

  A movement of thinkers in eighteenth-century Europe who valued reason and science above faith or authority as a basis for society
• The Enlightenment thinkers challenged the idea that kings had a divine right to rule as they saw fit
• Restrictions on American trade

  Britain wanted America as a market to sell finished goods made using American raw materials, and passed Navigation Acts to force the colonies to sell some products only to Britain
• The Navigation Acts caused a lot of smuggling, which led to clashes with the British navy
• The Seven Years' War

  Britain defeated France and seized a lot of its territory in North America, leading the British government to want the colonies to contribute to the cost of the army
• The war also meant that many Americans had gained military experience through fighting in the British army
• No Taxation without Representation


  The colonists were furious about taxes imposed by the British Parliament, in which they had no representatives
• Taxes imposed by Britain

  • Stamp Act
  • Quartering Act
• There were widespread protests and violence against the Stamp Act in particular
• Groups such as the Sons of Liberty in Boston attacked British officials, organised boycotts of British goods and published revolutionary pamphlets and posters demanding changes
• The Boston Massacre, where British soldiers opened fire on a Boston mob, led to even more anger among Americans
• In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government imposed the 'intolerable acts' on Boston and the colony of Massachusetts
• Continental Army

  • 20,000 men
  • Part-time soldiers, many only serving for short periods
  • Poorly trained and equipped
  • Problems of indiscipline and disease
  • Congress was slow to pay the army
  • The soldiers had local knowledge and could use this against the British
• British Army


  • 80,000 men
  • Professional, full-time soldiers
  • Well trained and equipped
  • Large navy for supplies
  • Fighting in an unfamiliar country
  • Treated all Americans as enemies and punished civilians, increasing support for the rebels
  • Thousands of miles from home
• Bunker Hill

  Washington lost his first battle, but inflicted heavy casualties on the British
• The Continental Army won the Battle of Boston and captured cannons and rifles that were needed for the war
• After Washington was defeated at New York in 1776, he gained two small victories, at Princeton and Trenton
• In 1777, the British General Howe's army captured Philadelphia, America's largest city and the home of the Continental Congress, which was a huge blow
• Saratoga

  The American General Horatio Gates defeated a British army, reassuring the American people and leading France, Spain and the Netherlands to join the war against Britain
• Valley Forge


  Washington regrouped his army at a remote base, where they endured great hardship and hunger, but emerged transformed and well-trained
• In the decisive battle at Yorktown in October 1781, 7,000 British soldiers under Lord Cornwallis were surrounded by 9,000 American and 5,000 French troops on land and a French fleet at sea, leading to Cornwallis' surrender
• Treaty of Paris


  Signed between the former colonies and the British in 1783, marking the end of the war
• Constitution


  The set of fundamental rules for running a country that outlines the powers of government and the rights of citizens
• Federal republic


  A system of government where power is divided between a central government (usually headed by a president) and various regions or states
• The ideals of the American Revolution inspired groups like women, slaves, and indigenous Americans to keep fighting for their equal rights over the next 200 years
• Key terms


  • Revolution
  • The Enlightenment
  • Militias
  • Constitution
  • Federal republic
• In 1764, Britain passed the Sugar Act which imposed new taxes on sugar imported into the colonies from non-British sources.
• The Stamp Act was introduced in 1765 and required all legal documents, newspapers, playing cards, dice, and other items to be printed with an official stamp. This meant that people had to pay tax every time they used these things.
• The Townshend Duties were introduced in 1767 and placed duties on glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea imports. These taxes were designed to raise revenue for the British government but also served as a way to punish the colonists for defying authority.
• The Tea Act was passed in 1773 and allowed the East India Company to sell its own tea directly to the colonies without paying any import duties. This gave the company a huge advantage over local merchants and led to protests and boycotts against it.
• The Boston Tea Party took place in December 1773 when a group of men dressed up as Native Americans threw crates of tea into Boston Harbor to protest against the Tea Act.
• The Intolerable Acts were a series of harsh measures taken by the British government in response to the Boston Tea Party. They included closing the port of Boston until the colonists paid compensation for the destroyed tea, disbanding the Massachusetts colonial assembly, and allowing British troops to quarter themselves wherever they wanted.