THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION The struggle with England had done much to change colonial atti- tudes . Local assemblies had rejected the Albany Plan of Union in 1754, re- fusing to surrender even the smallest part of their autonomy to any other body, even one they themselves had elected . But in the course of […]
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THE FORMATION OF A NATIONAL GOVERNMENT “Every man, and every body of men on Earth, possesses the right of self-government.” Drafter of the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, 1790 OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY 69 science, and the right of the majority to reform or alter the government . Other states enlarged the list of liberties
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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION STATE CONSTITUTIONS The success of the Revolution gave Americans the opportunity to give legal form to their ideals as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and to remedy some of their griev- ances through state constitutions . As early as May 10, 1776, Congress had passed a resolution advising
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THE BRITISH MOVE SOUTH With the French now involved, the British, still believing that most Southerners were Loyalists, stepped up their efforts in the Southern colonies . A campaign began in late 1778, with the capture of Savannah, Georgia . Shortly thereafter, British troops and naval forces converged on Charleston, South Carolina, the principal Southern
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FRANCO-AMERICAN ALLIANCE In France, enthusiasm for the American cause was high: The French intellectual world was it- self stirring against feudalism and CHAPTER 3: THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE OUTLINE OF U.S. HISTORY 63 privilege . However, the Crown lent its support to the colonies for geo- political rather than ideological reasons: The French government had
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DEFEATS AND VICTORIES Although the Americans suffered severe setbacks for months after independence was declared, their tenacity and perseverance eventu- ally paid off . During August 1776, in the Battle of Long Island in New York, Washington’s position be- came untenable, and he executed a masterly retreat in small boats from Brooklyn to the Manhattan
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COMMON SENSE AND INDEPENDENCE In January 1776, Thomas Paine, a radical political theorist and writer who had come to America from England in 1774, published a 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense . Within three months, it sold 100,000 copies . Paine attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy, declaring that one honest man was worth more
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THE REVOLUTION BEGINS General Thomas Gage, an amiable English gentleman with an Amer- ican-born wife, commanded the garrison at Boston, where political activity had almost wholly replaced trade . Gage’s main duty in the colo- nies had been to enforce the Coer- cive Acts . When news reached him that the Massachusetts colonists were collecting
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THE COERCIVE ACTS Parliament responded with new laws that the colonists called the “Coercive” or “Intolerable Acts .” The first, the Boston Port Bill, closed the port of Boston until the tea was paid for . The action threatened the very life of the city, for to prevent Boston from having access to the sea
THE BOSTON TEA PARTY In 1773, however, Britain furnished Adams and his allies with an incen- diary issue . The powerful East India Company, finding itself in critical fi- nancial straits, appealed to the Brit- ish government, which granted it a monopoly on all tea exported to the colonies . The government also per- mitted
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