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II. Bunker Hill and Hessian Hirelings
1. In the first year, the war was one of consistency, as the colonists maintained their loyalty while still shooting at the king's men.
2. In May 1775, a tiny American force called the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold, surprised and captured the British garrisons at Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
• The importance of this raid lay in the fact that they captured much-needed cannons and gunpowder.
3. In June 1775, the colonials seized Bunker Hill (prior known as Breed's Hill).
• Instead of flanking them, the Redcoats launched a frontal attack, and the heavily entrenched colonial sharpshooters mowed them down until meager gunpowder supplies ran out and they were forced to retreat.
4. After Bunker Hill, George III slammed the door for all hope of reconciliation and declared the colonies to be in open rebellion, a treasonous affair.
5. The king also hired many German mercenaries, called Hessians, who, because they were lured by booty and not duty, had large numbers desert and remained in America to become respectful citizens. VI. Jefferson's "Explanation" of Independence
1. Members of the Philadelphia 2nd Continental Congress, instructed by their colonies, gradually moved toward a clean break with Britain.
2. On June 7, 1776, fiery Richard Henry Lee urged for complete independence, an idea that was finally adopted on July 2, 1776.
3. To write such a statement, Congress appointed Thomas Jefferson, already renowned as a great writer, to concoct a Declaration of Independence.
• He did so eloquently, coming up with a list of grievances against King George III and persuasively explaining why the colonies had the right to revolt.
• His "explanation" of independence also upheld the "natural rights" of humankind (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).
4. When Congress approved it on July 2nd, John Adams proclaimed that date to be celebrated from then on with fireworks, but because of editing and final approval, it was not completely approved until July 4th, 1776. IX. General Washington at Bay
1. After the evacuation of Boston, the British focused on New York as a base for operations.
• An awe-inspiring fleet appeared off the coast in July 1776, consisting of some 500 ships and 35,000 men—the largest armed force seen in America ever until the Civil War.
• Washington could only muster 18,000 ill-trained men to fight, and they were routed at the Battle of Long Island.
o Washington escaped to Manhattan Island, crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey, reaching the Delaware River with taunting, fox-hunt calling Brits on his heels.
• He crossed the Delaware River at Trenton on a cold December 26, 1776, and surprised and captured a thousand Hessians who were sleeping off their Christmas Day celebration (drinking).
• He then left his campfires burning as a ruse, slipped away, and inflicted a sharp defeat on a smaller British detachment at Princeton, showing his military genius at its best.
• It was odd that Gen. William Howe, the British general, didn't crush Washington when he was at the Delaware, but he well remembered Bunker Hill, and was cautious. X. Burgoyne's Blundering Invasion
1. London officials adopted a complicated scheme for capturing the vital Hudson River valley in 1777, which, if successful, would sever New England from the rest of the colonies. The plan was such that...
• General Burgoyne would push down the Lake Champlain route from Canada.
• General Howe's troops in New York, if needed, could advance up the Hudson and meet Burgoyne in Albany.
• A third and much smaller British force commanded by Col. Barry St. Ledger would come in from the west by way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley.
2. However, Benedict Arnold, after failure at Quebec, retreated slowly along the St. Lawrence back to Lake Champlain, where the British would have to win control (of the lake) before proceeding.
• The Brits stopped to build a huge force, while Arnold assembled a tattered flotilla from whatever boats he could find.
• His "navy" was destroyed, but he had gained valuable time, because winter set in and the British settled in Canada, thus, they would have to begin anew the next spring.
o Had Arnold not contributed his daring and skill, the Brits most likely would have recaptured Ticonderoga and Burgoyne could have started from there and succeeded in his venture.
3. Burgoyne began his mission with 7,000 troops and a heavy baggage train consisting of a great number of the officers' wives.
• Meanwhile, sneaky rebels, sensing the kill, were gathering along his flanks.
4. General Howe, at a time when he should be starting up the Hudson, deliberately embarked for an attack on Philadelphia.
• He wanted to force an encounter with Washington and leave the path wide open for Burgoyne's thrust. He thought he had enough time to help Burgoyne if needed.
• Washington transferred his troops to Philadelphia, but was defeated at Brandywine Creek and Germantown.
• Then, the fun-loving Howe settled down in Philadelphia, leaving Burgoyne "to the dogs."
• Ben Franklin, in Paris, joked that Howe hadn't captured Philadelphia, but that "Philadelphia had captured Howe."
5. Washington finally retired for the winter at Valley Forge, where his troops froze in the cold, but a recently arrived Prussian drillmaster, Baron von Steuben, whipped the cold troops into shape.
6. Burgoyne's doomed troops were bogged down, and the rebels swarmed in with a series of sharp engagements, pushing St. Legers force back at Oriskany while Burgoyne, unable to advance or retreat, surrendered his entire force at the Battle of Saratoga, on October 17, 1777.
• This was perhaps one of the most decisive battles in British and American history.
• The importance of Saratoga lay in the fact that afterwards, France sensed America might actually win and came out to officially help America. XIII. Blow and Counterblow
1. French reinforcements, commanded by Comte de Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780, but flares sometimes erupted between the Americans and the French.
2. In 1780, feeling unappreciated and lured by British gold, Gen. Benedict Arnold turned traitor by plotting with the British to sell out West Point.
o When the plot was discovered, he fled with the British.
o "Whom can we trust now?" cried George Washington in anguish.
3. The British devised a plan to roll up the colonies from the South.
• Georgia was ruthlessly overrun in 1778-1779.
• Charleston, South Carolina, fell in 1780.
• In the Carolinas, Patriots bitterly fought their Loyalist neighbors.
• However, in 1781, American riflemen wiped out a British detachment at King's Mountain, and then defeated a smaller force at Cowpens. XIII. Blow and Counterblow
1. French reinforcements, commanded by Comte de Rochambeau, arrived in Newport, Rhode Island in 1780, but flares sometimes erupted between the Americans and the French.
2. In 1780, feeling unappreciated and lured by British gold, Gen. Benedict Arnold turned traitor by plotting with the British to sell out West Point.
o When the plot was discovered, he fled with the British.
o "Whom can we trust now?" cried George Washington in anguish.
3. The British devised a plan to roll up the colonies from the South.
• Georgia was ruthlessly overrun in 1778-1779.
• Charleston, South Carolina, fell in 1780.
• In the Carolinas, Patriots bitterly fought their Loyalist neighbors.
• However, in 1781, American riflemen wiped out a British detachment at King's Mountain, and then defeated a smaller force at Cowpens. XV. Yorktown and the Final Curtain
1. Before the last decisive victory, inflation continued to soar, and the government was virtually bankrupt. It announced that it could only repay many of its debts at a rate of 2.5 cents on the dollar.
2. However, Cornwallis was blundering into a trap.
• Retreating to Chesapeake Bay and assuming that British control of the seas would give him much needed backup, Cornwallis instead was trapped by Washington's army, which had come 300 miles from NY, Rochambeau's French army, and the navy of French Admiral de Grasse.
3. After hearing the news of Cornwallis' defeat, Lord North cried, "Oh God! It's all over!"
4. Stubborn King George wanted to continue the war, since he still had 54,000 troops in North America and 32,000 in the U.S., and fighting did continue for about a year after Yorktown, especially in the South, but America had won. XVI. Peace at Paris
1. Many Brits were weary of the war, since they had suffered heavily in India and the West Indies, the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean which had fallen, and the Rock of Gibraltar was tottering.
2. Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay met in Paris for a peace deal.
• Jay suspected that France would try to keep the U.S. cooped up east of the Alleghenies and keep America weak.
• Instead, Jay, thinking that France would betray American ambition to satisfy those of Spain, secretly made separate overtures to London (against instructions from Congress) and came to terms quickly with the British, who were eager to entice one of their enemies from the alliance.
3. The Treaty of Paris of 1783
• Britain formally recognized U.S. independence and granted generous boundaries, stretching majestically to the Mississippi River to the west, the Great Lakes on the north, and to Spanish Florida on the South.
• The Yankees also retained a share in the priceless fisheries of Newfoundland.
• Americans couldn't persecute Loyalists, though, and Congress could only recommend legislature that would return or pay for confiscated Loyalist land. VI. The Articles of the Confederation: America's First Constitution
1. The main thing to know regarding the Articles is that they set up a very weak government. This was not by accident, but by plan. The reason a weak government was desired was simply to avoid a strong national government that would take away unalienable rights or abuse their power (i.e. England).
2. The Articles had no executive branch (hence, no single leader), a weak Congress in which each state had only one vote, it required 2/3 majority on any subject of importance, and a fully unanimous vote for amendments.
3. Also, Congress was pitifully weak, and could not regulate commerce and could not enforce tax collection.
• States printed their own, worthless paper money.
• States competed with one another for foreign trade. The federal government was helpless.
4. Congress could only call up soldiers from the states, which weren't going to help each other.
• Example: in 1783, a group of Pennsylvanian soldiers harassed the government in Philadelphia, demanding back pay. When it pleaded for help from the state, and didn't receive any, it had to shamefully move to Princeton College in New Jersey.
5. However, the government was a model of what a loose confederation should be, and was a significant stepping-stone towards the establishment of the U.S. Constitution.
6. Still, many thought the states wielded an alarmingly great of power. VI. Hamilton Battles Jefferson for a Bank
1. Hamilton proposed a national treasury, to be a private institution modeled after the Bank of England, to have the federal government as a major stockholder, to circulate cash to stimulate businesses, to store excess money, and to print money that was worth something. This was opposed by Jefferson as being unconstitutional (as well as a tool for the rich to better themselves).
2. Hamilton's Views:
• What was not forbidden in the Constitution was permitted.
• A bank was "necessary and proper" (from Constitution).
• He evolved the Elastic Clause, AKA the "necessary and proper" clause, which would greatly expand federal power. This is a "loose interpretation" of the Constitution.
3. Jefferson's Views:
• What was not permitted was forbidden.
• A bank should be a state-controlled item (since the 10th Amendment says powers not delegated in the Constitution are left to the states).
• The Constitution should be interpreted literally and through a "strict interpretation."
4. End result: Hamilton won the dispute, and Washington reluctantly signed the bank measure into law. The Bank of the United States was created by Congress in 1791, and was chartered for 20 years.
• It was located in Philadelphia and was to have a capital of $10 million.
• Stock was thrown open to public sale, and surprisingly, a milling crowd oversubscribed in two hours. XIV. The Clash of Federalists and Anti-federalists
1. Knowing that state legislatures would certainly veto the new Constitution, the Founding Fathers sent copies of it out to state conventions, where it could be debated and voted upon.
• The people could judge it themselves.
2. The American people were shocked, because they had expected a patched up Articles of the Confederation and had received a whole new Constitution (the Convention had been very well concealed and kept secret).
3. The Federalists, who favored the proposed stronger government, were against the anti-federalists, who were opposed to the Constitution.
• The Federalists were more respectable and generally embraced the cultured and propertied groups, and many were former Loyalists. These folks lived nearer the coast in the older areas.
4. Anti-federalists truthfully cried that it was drawn up by aristocratic elements and was therefore anti-democratic.
• The Anti-federalists were mostly the poor farmers, the illiterate, and states' rights devotees. It was basically the poorer classes who lived westward toward the frontier.
• They decried the dropping of annual elections of congressional representatives and the erecting of what would become Washington D.C., and the creation of a standing army. X. Washington's Neutrality Proclamation
1. With war came the call by the JDR's (Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans) to enter on the side of France, the recent friend of the U.S., against Britain, the recent enemy.
2. Hamilton leaned toward siding with the Brits, as doing so would be economically advantageous.
3. Washington knew that war could mean disaster and disintegration, since the nation in 1793 was militarily and economically weak and politically disunited.
4. In 1793, he issued the Neutrality Proclamation, proclaiming the U.S.'s official neutrality and warning Americans to stay out of the issue and be impartial.
5. JDR's were furious, and this controversial statement irked both sides, France and England.
6. Soon afterwards, Citizen Edmond Genêt, landed at Charleston, South Carolina, as representative to the U.S.
• On his trip to Philadelphia, he had been cheered rousingly by Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans, who supported France, and he came to wrongly believe that Washington's Neutrality Proclamation didn't truly reflect the feelings of Americans.
• Also, he equipped privateers to plunder British ships and to invade Spanish Florida and British Canada.
• He even went as far as to threaten to appeal over the head of Washington to the sovereign voters. Afterwards, he was basically kicked out of the U.S.
7. Actually, America's neutrality helped France, since only in that way could France get needed American foodstuffs to the Caribbean islands.
8. Although France was mad that the U.S. didn't help them, officially, the U.S. didn't have to honor its alliance from the Treaty of 1778 because France didn't call on it to do so. XI. Embroilments with Britain
1. Britain still had many posts in the frontier, and supplied the Indians with weapons.
2. The Treaty of Greenville, in 1795, had the Indians cede their vast tract in the Ohio country to the Americans after General "Mad Anthony" Wayne crushed them at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. It was here that the Americans learned of, and were infuriated by, British guns being supplied to the Indians.
3. Ignoring America's neutrality, British commanders of the Royal Navy seized about 300 American merchant ships and impressed (kidnapped) scores of seamen into their army.
4. Many JDR's cried out for war with Britain, or at least an embargo, but Washington refused, knowing that such drastic action would destroy the Hamilton financial system. XII. Jay's Treaty and Washington's Farewell
1. In a last-ditch attempt to avert war, Washington sent John Jay to England to work something out.
2. However, his negotiations were sabotaged by England-loving Hamilton, who secretly gave the Brits the details of America's bargaining strategy.
3. The results of the Jay Treaty with England weren't pretty:
• Britain would repay the lost money from recent merchant ship seizures called "impressment", but it said nothing about future seizures or supplying Indians with arms.
• America would have to pay off its pre-Revolutionary War debts to Britain.
4. Result‡ the JDR's from the South were furious, as the southern farmers would have to pay while the northern merchants would be paid. Jay's effigy was burnt in the streets. However, war was avoided.
5. At this time, the Pinckney Treaty of 1795 with Spain gave Americans free navigation of the Mississippi and the large disputed territory north of Florida. Oddly, it was the pro-British Jay Treaty that prompted Spain to be so lenient in the Pinckney Treaty (since Spain didn't want America buddying up to their enemy, England).
6. After his second term, Washington stepped down, creating a strong two-term precedent that wasn't broken until FDR was president.
• His Farewell Address warned (1) against political parties and (2) against building permanent alliances with foreign nations.
• Washington had set the U.S. on its feet and had made it sturdy. XIV. Unofficial Fighting with France
1. France was furious about the Jay's Treaty, calling it a flagrant violation of the 1778 Franco-American treaty, and so began seizing defenseless American merchant ships.
2. In the XYZ Affair, John Adams sent three envoys (including John Marshall) to France, where they were approached by three agents, "X," "Y," and "Z," who demanded a load of 32 million florins and a $250,000 bribe just for talking to Talleyrand.
• Even though bribes were routine in diplomacy, such a large sum for simply talking weren't worth it, and there was no guarantee of an agreement.
• The envoys returned to America, cheered by angry Americans as having done the right thing for America.
3. Irate Americans called for war with France, but Adams, knowing just as Washington did that war could spell disaster, remained neutral.
4. Thus, an undeclared war mostly confined to the seas raged for two and a half years, where American ships captured over 80 armed French ships. XVII. The Virginia (Madison) and Kentucky (Jefferson) Resolutions
1. Resentful Jeffersonians would not take these laws lying down, and Jefferson feared that the Federalists, having wiped out freedom of speech and of the press, might wipe out more.
2. He wrote a series of legislation that became the Kentucky Resolution in 1798-99, and friend James Madison wrote another series of legislation (less extreme) called the Virginia Resolution.
• They stressed the "compact theory" of government which meant that the 13 states, in creating the federal government, had entered into a contract regarding its jurisdiction, and the individual states were the final judges of the laws passed in Congress. In other words, the states had made the federal government, the federal government makes laws, but since the states made the federal government, the states reserve the right to nullify those federal laws. This compact theory is heard at this point, then again in 1832 regarding the national tariff, then again in the 1850s over slavery. Civil War erupts afterwards. Notably, this theory goes by several names, all synonymous: the "compact theory," "states' rights theory," or "nullification."
• This legislation set out to kill the Sedition and Alien Laws.
3. Only those two states adopted the laws.
4. Federalists, though, argued that the people, not the states, had made the contract, and it was up to the Supreme Court to nullify legislation, a procedure that it adopted in 1803.
5. While neither Madison nor Jefferson wanted secession, they did want an end to Federalist abuses.