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APUSH Chapter 5 Homework—The American Revolution

1. Explain the circumstances that prompted the colonists to change their minds by July
1776.
a. The costs of the war were so high that people began to feel that a redress of
grievances would not be enough to justify them.
b. Americans lost any respect or affection they had for the English when they began
to recruit Indians, African Slaves, and foreign mercenaries (Hessians; German
soldiers recruited by the British used in the American Revolution) against them.
c. Colonists thought that the British were forcing them toward independence by
rejecting the Olive Branch Petition and instead enacting “Prohibitory Act,” which
closed all oversea trade to the colonies and made no concessions to American
demands except one offer to pardon rebels.

2. Compare and contrast the British and American mobilization and advantages of the
war. How did each side propose to win, how realistic was its assessment of the
situation?
British American
Advantages Disadvantages Advantages Disadvantages
- Possessed the - Fighting away from - They financed the war - Finding necessary
greatest navy and best- their homeland. with the funds donated supplies was very
equipped army in the - British people only by other countries. difficult.
world. half-heartedly - They created the - Paper money was
supported the war. Continental Army created to pay for
under the authority of supplies. This led to
George Washington. inflation.
- They were fighting on
their own ground.
- Americans were very
passionate about the
war effort.
- Allied with France
who was competing
with England for
European supremacy.
Battles
PHASE 1: 1775-1776
Bunker Hill – June 17, 1775. Boston. Patriots suffered severe casualties, but inflicted much more losses on
the British who dealt with their heaviest casualties of the entire war. General Thomas Gage’s army was
seized here.
Invasion of Canada – Americans launched this invasion to get rid of any British threats and win over the
Canadians to their cause. Benedict Arnold, who led a small American force, threatened Quebec in late
1775 and with the help of Richard Montgomery, attempted to take siege of the city. This ultimately failed
and the Canadians would stay out of the war, and the new nation.
PHASE 2: 1776-1778
The British Take New York – William Howe brought a large British Navy fleet into the waters of New York.
He gave the colonists a choice between surrendering to the king and fighting a difficult battle. Being the
colonists, they chose to fight the battle. The navy pushed the defenders off of Long Island, out of
Manhattan, through New Jersey and across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
Saratoga – October 1777. Upper New York State. The Continental Army defeated the British under
General Borgoyne and Horatio Gates. After this, France was persuaded to become an ally of the
Americans.
Yorktown – George Washington, Count Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau and Admiral Joseph Paul de Grasse
set out to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown. Perfectly timed operations trapped Cornwallis between land and
sea. After some resistance, he surrendered on October 17, 1781.

How did each propose to win and how realistic was its assessment of the situation?
British American
- The British believed that the Americans were - The Americans were very passionate about the
much unprepared, which at the beginning of the cause and realized that the only way they could be
war, they were. However, they greatly happy was if they were completely separated from
underestimated the Americans. As the battles went the British authority.
on and the British began making rookie mistakes - The Continental Army was much unprepared at
here and there, the Americans became much the start, making it much easier for the British to
stronger and capable. Once the French joined the win battles.
war, it was much more difficult for the British to - However, as the British started to get sloppy in
win each battle because of the tensions caused by their work, making mistakes and blunders as time
the struggle for the title of supreme European went on, the Americans started to overcome their
power between France and England. forces.
- Because they overlooked much of the war, the - By gaining support from many other countries,
British were unsuccessful, proving that their most significantly France, they became very
assessment of the situation was not at all realistic. successful.
- Many blamed Howe for the British defeat, - The American assessment of the situation was
claiming that they would have won if he had stuck much more realistic than that of the British. They
to the original plans with the Northern Campaign. took advantage of anything they could and it
Instead he decided to attack Philadelphia. proved to work out at the conclusion of the war.

3. What effects did the Revolution have upon the nature of society?
a. Minorities –
i. Loyalists fled the country leaving behind all of their goods and homes.
ii. Anglicans suffered, losing virtually all their clergy men to either death or
those who fled the country as loyalist refugees.
iii. Due to their pacifism, Quakers also suffered and were greatly weakened
during the war.
iv. The Roman Catholic Church gained from the war. Because of the
American’s acceptance to them during the war, bitterness toward the
Church eroded. It gained much strength as an institution.
b. Slavery –
i. Some received freedom because they took advantage of the British in
the South to escape.
ii. Most were very influenced by the soul idea of liberty. It was all around
them and hard to avoid.
iii. A daunting fact was that people were fighting for freedom for some, but
also fighting to preserve slavery for others.
c. Native Americans –
i. Most tribes ultimately tried to stay out of the war.
ii. Some sided with the British because they were afraid that the ruling
situation would shift from British control—those who they somewhat
trusted—to American control—those who had taken their land and
pride.
iii. The Patriot victory increased the white demand for western lands. This
brought the attitudes toward the tribes to a new level of tension.
iv. The Revolution itself brought great division between the tribes and
made it incredibly difficult for them to find a common ground to
connect and resist the power of the whites.
d. Women –
i. They were left to control farms, businesses and other affairs while the
men were fighting in the war.
ii. Others flocked with the Patriot armies to stay with their male relatives.
iii. At the camps they completed tasks like cooking, cleaning, and nursing.
iv. Some became involved in combat. (Molly Pitcher – carried pitchers of
water to soldiers on the battlefield. When her husband fell, she took his
gun and began fighting.)
v. Some even dressed as men to be able to fight.
vi. Women’s Rights Activists arose during this time.
1. Abigail Adams requested a modest expansion of women’s rights
to her husband. She wanted protection from tyrannical men.
2. Other’s like Judith Sargent Murray took it much further. She
stated that girls deserved as much education as boys did.
3. Political figures like Ben Franklin and Benjamin Rush also
advocated women’s rights.
vii. Women were still under the father/husbands authority in the household.
1. She had no control over her children.
2. She couldn’t file for divorce.
3. She had no property rights.
viii. In New Jersey women obtained the right to vote (but it was repealed in
1807)
ix. The Revolution did not challenge patriarchal society; it strengthened it.
x. Many women accepted that their place was in the family.

The Articles of Confederation


Successes Failures
- Congress remained the central - It didn’t have the power to
institution of national authority. regulate trade, draft troops, or
- Powers expanded the government levy taxes directly on the people.
to give it authority to conduct wars - There was no executive branch—
and foreign relations and to only the presiding officer at the
appropriate, borrow and issue sessions of congress.
money. - It lacked power to deal with
interstate issues.
- Disagreements ensued about
representation, whether by
population or split evenly.
4.

Hessians – German troops hired through their rulers by the British Empire to aid the British in
the American Revolutionary War.

Thomas Gage – A General whose army was besieged at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston.

Lord Cornwallis – Clinton’s choice as British commander in the South. While moving inland to
Camden, South Carolina, he met and crushed a Patriot force under Horatio Gates. Gates was
recalled and Nathanael Greene took his place. On October 7, 1780, some Patriot riflemen
killed, wounded or captured around 1,100 Tories that Cornwallis was using as auxiliaries.
Greene confused him more by using quick strategic tactics. Cornwallis withdrew to Wilmington
to receive supplies. He was then ordered to retreat to Yorktown and began to build forts.
Benedict Arnold – led a small American force, threatened Quebec in late 1775 and with the
help of Richard Montgomery, attempted to take siege of the city. During the final stage of the
war, a period of calmness and stalemate, he shocked the American forces when he became a
traitor. He conspired with British agents to betray the patriots at West Point on the Hudson. It
failed, and he spent the rest of the war at the British camp.

Saratoga – October 1777. Upper New York State. The Continental Army defeated the British
under General Borgoyne and Horatio Gates. After this, France was persuaded to become an
ally of the Americans.

Yorktown – George Washington, Count Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau and Admiral Joseph Paul
de Grasse set out to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown. Perfectly timed operations trapped
Cornwallis between land and sea. After some resistance, he surrendered on October 17, 1781.

John Locke – Heavily influenced the Declaration with his theory that governments were
formed to protect the rights of life, liberty, and “property”. This was later changed to “the
pursuit of happiness.”

Thomas Paine – Author of Common Sense, a pamphlet that shot incredible patriotism
throughout the colonies. It rallied many colonists to the cause of the fight for independence.

Thomas Jefferson – A delegate from Virginia who wrote most of the Declaration of
Independence, with Ben Franklin and John Adams.

Alexander Hamilton – Served as Washington’s Chief of Staff in 1777. He handled letters to


congress and other important individuals.

Northwest Ordinances 1785 & 1787 – 1785 – Congress created a system for surveying and
selling the western lands (north of the Ohio River was to be surveyed and split up into many
sections and townships, which, when sold, would serve to support creation of a public school.
1787 – This Ordinance took the 10 separate areas from the 1784 ordinance and combined
them into what is now known as the American Midwest.

Treaty of Paris – The final settlement between the British and the Americans that was made on
September 3, 1782.

Shays’s Rebellion – Daniel Shays, a former captain in the army, issued a set of demands that
included paper money, tax relief, a moratorium on debts, the relocation of the state capitol
from Boston to the interior, and the abolition of imprisonment for debt. Shays rebels advanced
on Springfield in the winter, hoping to seize weapons from the arsenal. A militiamen army met
and dispersed his rebels in January 1787.

Benjamin Banneker – a free black astronomer, surveyor, mathematician, almanac author, and
farmer.

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