The American Revolution1763 to 1783

U.S. HistoryMr. Gonzalez

Democracy in Colonial America

• England had democratic traditions going back to the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights

• American colonist felt that as Englishmen, they were entitled to basic rights

• Representative democracy throughout American colonies existed

• Enlightenment influences colonial elite

Causes of the American Revolution

• French-Indian War – Proclamation Line of 1763 prohibits westward

expansion– Britain passed new taxes to help pay for the war– Colonists are not happy: “no taxation without

representation”

The “Intolerable Acts”

• Passed in response to Boston Tea Party (1773)-Boston’s Port is closed-Quebec Act gives Catholics right to settle west-Quartering Act: colonist had to let British soldiers stay in their homes

The War of Independence

• Battle of Lexington and Concord, 1775• Declaration of Independence, July 1776• Battle of Saratoga, 1777– Turning point, France decides to help U.S.

• Southern Campaign ends in stalemate• Siege at Yorktown, Virginia 1781– British troops surrender to General George

Washington

Why the Americans won

• French help• Guerilla war tactics made war seem never-

ending for British troops• Good American leadership– George Washington

A New Country

• America had 3 million inhabitants in its birth, compared to 300 million today

• America consisted of the lands between the Atlantic and Mississippi River

• Would you have predicted that America would become the country that it is today?