APUSH Ch 8 – Flashcards

met in Philadelphia on May 10,1775; all 13 colonies were represented; the conservative element was still strong; no real sentiment for independence, just a desire to fix the problems; drafted new appeals to the British that were rejected; the delegates adopted measures to raise money + create an army+navy; selected George Washington to head the army besieging Boston

chosen to be the commanding general; the "one indispensable man"; from Virginia (the richest colony) so he brought needed support from the south; doesn't use Euro battle tactics of marching+ shooting in straight line; powers of leadership + strength of character; greatly trusted; insisted on serving without pay but kept a careful expense account; as a man of wealth by inheritance + marriage, he could not be accused of being a fortune seeker; retreated northward after the defeat at the Battle of Long Island and had a brilliant New Jersey campaign; defeated at Brandywine Creek + Germantown; retired to winter quarters at Valley Forge; attacked at Monmouth on a hot day- battle was indecisive + British escaped to New York; helped defeat Cornwallis; kept the languishing cause alive in the months after the win

the Congress adopted this, professing American loyalty to the crown and begging the king to prevent further hostilities; King George III refused

the colonials seized this hill, actually called Breed's Hill; following this defeat, King George III ended all hope of reconciliation

King George III hired thousands of these German troops as foreign mercenaries; this shocked the colonials who felt that the quarrel was between themselves; seduced by American promises of land, hundreds deserted + remained in America

a successful assault on this territory would add a fourteenth colony, while depriving Britain of a valuable base or striking at the colonies in revolt; large-scale attack contradicted the colonial claim that there were fighting defensively; nearly conquered

formerly of the British army, he pushed up the Lake Champlain route + captured Montreal; he was joined at Quebec by General Benedict Arnold's army where he was killed

(March 1776) marks the day that the British were forced to leave Boston; still celebrated annually in Boston

(1776) one of the most influential pamphlets ever written; author was Thomas Paine; in a few months reached 120,000 copies; said that nowhere in the physical universe did the smaller heavenly body control the larger one- then why should England control America?; America had a moral obligation to the world to set itself up as an independent, democratic republic, disassociated with Britain; called for republicanism

once an impoverished corset-maker's apprentice; wrote Common Sense; his pamphlet was persuasive + helped thousands of American waverers side with the colonials; also reminded Americans that they could not hope for open aid from France as long as they swore allegiance to the British King

his resolution was the formal "declaration" of independence; shortly after his motion, Congress began to prepare an appropriate statement

chosen to draft the formal Declaration of Independence; invoked the natural rights of humankind; wrote a long list of the misdeeds of George III; owned many slaves but still wrote "all men are created equal"

formally approved by Congress on July 4, 1776; basically Mr.Jefferson's advertisement of Mr.Lee's resolution; invokes natural rights of humankind; includes long list of presumably tyrannous misdeeds of George III; "shout heard round the world"; Lafayette hung a copy of this on his wall

colonials loyal to the king; called Tories; about 20% of the American people; more numerous among Conservatives, moderates, Anglicans, and the older generation; included king's officers and other beneficiaries of the crown (people who knew which side their daily bread came from); most numerous where Anglican church was strongest (except in Virginia); least numerous in New England- self-gov strong + mercantilism weak; subject to mild brutality until after Dec. of Ind. when harsher methods prevailed; about 80,000 were driven out or fled, several hundred thousand mild supporters allowed to stay; some bore arms for the British, served as spies, incited the indians;

the American rebels; called Whigs

the dominant political factions in England; Patriots bitterly said "A _ is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched."

the opposition factions in England

a neutral group (neither Loyalists nor Patriots) during the American Revolution

a British fleet of 500 ships and 35,000 armed men appeared off New York in 1775; George Washington could only get 18,000 ill-trained troops together; 1400 Americans killed; Washington barely escaped to Manhattan Island, and kept retreated northward to the Delaware River, the British close behind

after Washington escaped to the Delaware River,the Patriots fled across the river; General Howe was unable to crush the American forces (too busy sleeping with mistress); Washington recrossed the Delaware River and at Trenton he surprised +captured 1000 Hessians who were recovering from their drunk Christmas celebration; a week later another surprise attack on a British detachment at Princeton showed "Old Fox" at his best

Washington's adversary; defeated at Bunker Hill; unable to crush the Americans in their New Jersey campaign; embarked with a main British army for an attack on Philadelphia-the rebel capital, when the obvious move would be starting up the Hudson River + joining General Burgoyne; wanted to destroy Washington's army to leave the path open for Burgoyne

chosen to lead the main invading force to capture the Hudson River Valley; General Howe's forces could help if needed, and Colonel St. Leger's forces would come from the west; began his invasion with 7000 regular troops but moved at a slow place compared to the Americans; surrounded by American militiamen north of Albany where in a series of sharp engagements (Arnold was shot in the leg again) the British army was trapped; forced to surrender his entire command at Saratoga (1777) to General Gates

after his hold off at Quebec (1775) he retreated slowly along the St.Lawrence River back to the Lake Champlain area; British pursed his forces but could not move farther south until they won control of the lake; his tiny flotilla was destroyed after desperate fighting, but the British were forced to retire to Canada as winter began; if he had not contributed his daring+skill, British invaders of 1776 would have penetrated as far south as Fort Ticonderoga; turned traitor for money- plotted with British to sell out key stronghold of West Point; plot detected in nick of time

a strong, hilly position about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia; here, Washington's troops were frostbitten + hungry

Prussian-drill master

forced General Burgoyne to surrender his entire command at Saratoga (1777)

(1777) one of the most decisive battles in the war; General Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire command to General Gates; the victory revived the faltering colonial cause; made possible the needed foreign aid from France

wanted revenge against Britain; decided to support the colonies because they were Britain's most valuable overseas possessions and if they were taken from Britain, it would cease to be a front-rank power; this nation might then regain its former prestige that it lost in the Seven Years' War; after the shooting at Lexington (1775) they provided the Americans with gunpowder and other munitions- about 90% of all gunpowder used by Americans in the first 2.5 years of war came from their arsenals; open aid to the rebels might provoke England into a declaration of war, which they were not ready to fight; Louis XVI's ministers convinced him to offer the Americans a treaty of alliance in 1778; treaty promised everything the British were offering + independence; provided Americans with a lot of money, equipment, half of America's regular armed forces, and most of its naval strength; shared in the defeat of Cornwallis; in a painful position because it had induced Spain to enter the war on its side + promised to deliver British-held Gibraltar + Spain wanted the trans-Allegheny area; desired a feebly independent United States; approved the terms of the peace+ relieved by the prospect of bringing costly war to an end + freeing itself from embarrassing promises to Spain

scared of openly aiding the Americans and starting a war with Britain; his ministers convinced him that hostilities were inevitable so the French had better fight while they have an American ally, rather than fight both Britain + its reunited colonies

organized by Catherine the Great, who later called it "Armed Nullity"; neutral countries agreed not to declare war, but rather assume an attitude of passive hostility toward England

commanded a powerful French army of 6000 troops; arrived in Newport; at this point Americans were suspicious of the French and there were minor altercations; no real military advantage from this reinforcement

distinguished himself by his strategy of delay; standing then retreating he exhausted his foe, General Cornwallis; lost battle but won campaigns, succeeded in clearing most of Georgia +South Carolina of British troops; nicknamed "Fighting Quaker"

British who allegedly paid Native Americans for rebel scalps

term for the year of 1777

two nations of the Iroquois Confederacy that sided with the Americans

a nation of the Iroquois Confederacy that sided with the British; urged by Joseph Brant

Mohawk chief who converted to Anglicanism; believed that a victorious Britain would restrain American expansion into the West

the first treaty between the United States and an Indian nation; forced the Indians to cede most of their land

an audacious frontiersman who came up with the idea of seizing scattered British posts in the Illinois country by surprise; with the help of Virginia and depreciated currency, he sailed down the Ohio River with 175 men and captured the forts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Vincennes

the most famous of the daring American navy officers

privately owned armed ships specifically authorized by Congress to prey on enemy shipping; over 1000 sailed with about 75,000 men ("sailors of fortune") + captured 600 British prizes while British captured just as many; not purely an asset- had the negative effect of diverting manpower from the main war effort+ involving Americans in speculation; plusses: brought in urgently needed gold, harassed the enemy, raised American morale by providing victories at a time when victories were few; British shipping so badly effect that insurance rates skyrocketed

after unsuccessful operations in Virginia, he had fallen back to Chesapeake Bay to await seaborne supplies +reinforcements; assumed Britain would continue to dominate the sea but there was a short period where their superiority slipped away; surrendered his entire force of 7000 men when he was cornered by Washington + Rochambeau (land), and Grasse (sea)

operated with a powerful fleet in the West Indies; advised the Americans that he was free to join with them in an assault on Cornwallis at Yorktown; he, Washington, and Rochambeau cornered Cornwallis, who surrendered his troops

after the defeat of Cornwallis, Lord North cried that it was all over; George III refused to give up; the nation still had 54,000 troops in N.Am.; many were weary of war and wanted an end; suffered losses in India + West Indies, Minorca had fallen, Rock of Gibraltar was on the edge; Lord North's Tory ministry collapsed (1782) and was replaced by a Whig ministry; practically gifted the trans-Allegheny area to the Americans because they were trying to seduce America from its French alliance; the Whigs were trying to est. better relations with the Americans, but their policy was not carried on

one of the three American peace negotiators; had explicit instructions from Congress to make no separate peace + to consult with their French allies at all stages of negotiations; suspicious of the French- perceived that the French could not satisfy the conflicting ambitions of both the Americans + Spanish; saw signs indicating the Paris Foreign Office was going to betray America's trans-Allegheny interests to satisfy those of Spain; so, he made separate proposals to London; British came to terms speedily

agreement in which the British: formally recognized the independence of the United States + granted generous boundaries- stretching from Mississippi in the west, to the Great Lakes in the north, to Spanish Florida in the south (Spain recently conquered it from Britain); the Yankees were to retain a share in the priceless fisheries of Newfoundland; Americans: end persecution on Loyalists + Congress was to "recommend" to the state legislatures that confiscated Loyalist property be restored; states were bound let English collect their long owed debts;

the most qualified to be the commanding general, but the Second Continental Congress chose Washington instead

America's perception of the result of the Battle of Bunker Hill because, although physically the losers, they lost far fewer men than Britain did and only had to surrender due to lack of ammunition

this group consisted of 5 members: 2 from the New England- John Adams + Robert Livingston, 2 from the middle colonies- Ben Franklin + Roger Sherman, 1 from the south- Thomas Jefferson; John Adams suggests that only one person should draft the Declaration of Independence so that it flowed better- they choose Jefferson

Thomas Paine's other work; labels people as summer soldiers + sunshine patriots- negative terms; Washington had this read to the soldiers at Valley Forge

George Washington's wife; gave her little cape to a cold soldier

those who only fight when conditions are favorable

those who supported the Patriot cause only when the war was going well