American Revolution

1763-1781
 Colonists Get Mad at Britain
• In the 1700s, Americans in the 13 colonies began to
feel more independent. They wanted to be left
alone.
• Colonists did not like that Britain (England) had told
them not to live across the Appalachian Mountains.
• After the French & Indian War, Britain (England)
owed lots of money. So, it began to tax the
colonists.
“No Taxation without Representation”
• Colonists did NOT like being taxed without
their approval.
• The most famous slogan was “no taxation
without representation”
• It meant that England shouldn’t tax colonists
unless colonists could elect people to make
laws for them.
 The Stamp Act of 1765
• The Stamp Act was a British
law saying that all colonists
had to pay taxes on things
made of paper.
• For example, when you
bought playing cards, you
had to pay extra for a stamp.
The stamp was the tax.
 Colonists React to the
Stamp Act
• Colonists got angry!
• In Boston, Massachusetts, a
group of colonists called the
“Sons of Liberty” began. They
hung from a tree a dummy of
the “stamp man”, who was
supposed to collect the stamp
taxes.
• What was the message?
• Rioters also threatened to tar
and feather tax collectors
 Reaction in North Carolina to Stamp Tax

• In Wilmington, NC
colonists forced their
stamp collector to quit
also.

On Saturday, November 16th, 1765, Dr. William Houston, arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina for
a short visit. Houston had recently been appointed as distributor of stamps for the colony of North
Carolina. A crowd of three or four hundred people accompanied by drums and flags appeared at his
inn and escorted Dr. Houston to the courthouse. There, in the presence of Wilmington’s mayor,
Houston was told that he would have to resign his position as stamp distributor. Having not wanted
the job in the first place, Dr. Houston resigned on the spot. This made him the crowd’s hero, and
Houston was carried in an armchair back to his inn and toasted by his admirers with “the best
Liquors to be had.” More toasting followed around a bonfire that night as opponents of the new tax
cheered themselves and their noble actions. The assault on Dr. Houston, was a sign of the growing
divisions between the thirteen colonies and their British kingdom. (from learnnc.org)
 “Repeal of the Stamp Tax”
• Eventually, Britain got rid of the stamp tax.
• More taxes followed though.
 Boston Massacre
• In March 1770,
BRITISH soldiers
shot and killed 5
colonists.
• This got colonists
more upset, mostly
because of the
picture they saw of
the event.

The picture was drawn by Paul Revere.

 Boston Tea Party (1773)
• In 1773, colonists were mad about
Britain’s new tax – the tea tax.
• In Boston, the secret organization called
the “Sons of Liberty” decided to show
their anger.
• Boston’s Sons of Liberty was led by
Samuel Adams.
• In December of 1773, the Sons of Liberty
dressed up as Indians and boarded a
cargo ship holding tea in Boston Harbor.
• They threw all the tea overboard, but
damaged nothing else. It was equal to one
million dollars in today’s money.
Edenton Tea Party (NC)

• A group of women got together

to protest Britain.
• They signed a petition agreeing
to boycott British tea and drink
Dutch tea.
• Boycott means to refuse to buy.
• Importance: these women were
some of the first women to be
involved in politics.
• Look at the picture:
1. Do you think this a British or an
American cartoon? Why?
2. What do you think the message
is?
Write these answers under your
journal!!
 The “Intolerable Acts”
• The Boston Tea Party really made the
British government mad!!
• As a result, they created the Coercive
Acts, but the colonists called them the
Intolerable Acts.
• These laws said many things, including:
– Soldiers could stay in your home without
your permission.
“We’re not going
– Boston’s port was closed.
To tolerate this!”
– No one in Massachusetts was allowed to
meet together for any reason without
approval of British government
 The 1st Continental Congress
• Until the 1st Continental Congress, most
colonies thought of themselves like
separate nations.
Where they met in Philly
• Many asked: “How do Massachusetts’
problems affect us?”
• At the 1st Cont. Congress, representatives
decided to join together to protest
Britain’s unfair laws/rules, especially the
Intolerable Acts. If the Intolerable Acts
were not ended, the 13 colonies would
stop sending exports to Britain.
• Patrick Henry said: “the distinction
between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, and New- Patrick Henry speaking
at the Congress
Englanders is no more. I am not a Virginian,
but an American."
 Patriots
• About 1/3 of the colonists were Patriots. Patriots were
people who supported Revolution. Eventually, Patriots
wanted independence from Britain.
• Patriot leaders gave passionate speeches and urged
others to join “the cause” of liberty.
• Patrick Henry was a famous Patriot whose speeches got
others to join up – his words: “give me liberty or give
me death”.
• Patriots were also called Whigs.
 Loyalists, or Tories
• 1/3 of the colonists were Loyalists who supported
Britain. What were the other 1/3 of colonists?
• Loyalists were also called Tories.
• Loyalists often helped British soldiers to stop
Patriots from speaking out.
• At the end of the Revolution, many Loyalists left
America for good.
• Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Samuel Prescott warned
colonists to get ready for redcoats. The redcoats were
coming to get Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
 Battles of Lexington and Concord –
the war begins
• April 19, 1775
• At Lexington, Mass. ,
the “shot heard ‘round
the world” started the
Revolutionary War.
• At Concord, Mass., the
colonists showed that
they would use guerilla
warfare, hiding behind
trees and walls to
shoot at the British.
 NC delegates:
2 Continental Congress
nd

• Each state sent delegates to this Cont.

Congress
• The 2nd Continental Congress took over as a
government in charge of running the war.
• This Congress began doing several very
important things, including: Richard Caswell
– It created the “Continental Army”
– It appointed George Washington as General
– It issued paper money
– It obtained financial loans from Europe
• Some of the Continental Congress’ most
famous members were: Thomas Jefferson,
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock,
and Patrick Henry Joseph Hewes
 The Battle of Bunker Hill
• June 17, 1775 - Boston
• In Boston, the colonists were
attacking the city (laying siege to)
• Colonists – in secret – built a fort
on Breeds Hill one night.
• The next morning, the British
decided to attack up the hill
(dumb!) because they were so well
trained and equipped.
• At the battle’s end, the British won
the hill BUT lost 25% to 33% of
their troops!!!
• The Americans showed they’d be a
“The Death of General Warren”
force to reckon with.
 Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge
• Location: near Wilmington, NC
• Date: February 27, 1776
• Background: The British had been recruiting
a Loyalist army in NC. The Loyalists heard
that the British were sending troops from
the North to invade in Charleston, SC. The
Loyalists wanted to meet up with the British
troops in Wilmington, NC.
• Battle: After taking the bridge planks off General Clinton’
and greasing the beams, the Loyalists were Troops to
Charleston, SC
shot at and many fell into the creek. The
Patriots – led by Richard Caswell – defeated Loyalists to
the Loyalists. Meet up

• Result: Loyalists were discouraged from

starting an army and they kept quiet in NC.
 The IDEA of Independence
• North Carolina decided it was time once and for all
to declare independence from Britain.
• NC created the a “resolution” called the Halifax
Resolves. This gave NC’s members (“delegates”) of
Continental Congress permission to vote for
independence. NC was first to give its delegates
permission!!
• Joseph Hewes was one of NC’s members of
congress – he was one of the loudest voices for
independence.
 Thomas Paine and “Common Sense”
• Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called
“Common Sense” that changed the world.
• In “Common Sense”, Paine said that
people don’t need kings/queens to rule
them. Kings/queens are no better than
you!!
• King George of England had been a
“monster” to Americans
• Therefore, we should declare
Thomas Paine
independence!
• Nothing else written has ever been read by
so many people as this was. General
Washington had it read to his troops
• Paine convinced many colonists that
independence was a good thing.
 Declaration of Independence

Thomas Paine – the man who first

Convinced Americans that Independence
Thomas Jefferson – the writer of
Was necessary.
The Declaration of Independence
• “When in the course of human events it becomes
necessary to dissolve political bonds…”
• “…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their
creator with certain unalienable rights, that among
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness…”
• “…whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive, it is the Right of the People to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
• “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
 1776 – America is Desperate
• The war was going BAD. America had lost New
York to the British!! George Washington was
about to lose the war.
• Some said that all George Washington knew how
to do was run away.
• The Declaration of Independence meant NOTHING
unless America won the war.
•
Battle of Trenton
 The American Crisis letters
• In December of 1776, Thomas Paine inspired troops to
keep fighting with his letters called The American Crisis.
• Paine wrote: “Let it be told to the future world, that in the
depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could
survive, that we, alarmed at one common danger, came
forth to meet and to repulse it”
• Paine wrote “These are the times that try men’s souls…the
summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis,
shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it
now, deserves the love and thanks of everyone.”
• Paine: “tyranny, like hell, Is not easily conquered, yet we
have this consolation, that the harder the conflict, the
more glorious the triumph”
 Christmas 1776
• With things desperate, George Washington decided on “victory or
death” (his words)
• Washington and his troops crossed the half-frozen Delaware River in
the middle of Christmas night. Washington’s troops surprised the
Hessian troops the next morning in Trenton, New Jersey.
• The Americans won their first battle in a long time and started to gain
hope.
 Help from the French
• After some more American victories (like at the Battle of
Saratoga, NY), France decided it would begin giving money,
weapons, and soldiers.
• Benjamin Franklin had been in France for some time trying
to convince the French king to give support.

Marie Antoinette, King Louis the 16th

French Queen of France
 Marquis de Lafayette
• Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier,
or the Marquis de La Fayette 
• La Fayette was 20 yrs. old when he snuck out of
France and joined the American army.
• He quickly became one of George Washington’s
favorite generals.
• In the middle of the war, he went back to
France to convince France to provide more
soldiers for the Americans.
• He helped Washington trap Cornwallis in
Virginia to end the war.
 The War Moves South
• By 1780, the British decided they would take
advantage of all the Tories in the South and
invade the South.

Lord Cornwallis – general of the

Nathaniel Greene – American general British troops in the South
Of Patriots in the South
 Two Major Battles in NC

• King’s Mountain – “Over Mountain Men” came

from the mountains to help Patriots beat the British
and keep them from invading North Carolina.
• Guilford Courthouse – One of last battles of war.
Nathaniel Greene tired out the British and
destroyed their army, so Cornwallis retreated to
Yorktown. At Yorktown, the British surrendered.
Battle of King’s Mountain
End of War at Yorktown, VA
Why did the Americans win?