Revolutionary Heroes

Revolutionary Heroes

• Civilians, or people not in the military, aided the Continental Army and Navy during the Revolutionary War.
• Nathan Hale, an American spy and teacher in New York City, was hanged by the British.
• Hale's legendary last words were: "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
• John Paul Jones, an American navy commander, fought larger British ships.
• During one battle at sea near Britain, Jones refused to surrender, saying, "I have not yet begun to fight," and ultimately won.
• Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley, known as Molly Pitcher, became famous for bringing water to American troops at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.
• When her husband was wounded, McCauley took his place loading cannons in battle.
• Word of the fight for freedom spread, leading to more volunteers.
• Tadeusz Kosciuszko left Poland to serve in the Continental Army.
• Kosciuszko helped design plans for a fort at West Point, New York, now part of the United States Military Academy.

Britain Moves War to the South

• The British moved fighting to the South after learning the French were helping the Americans.
• The British had already captured several cities in the North.
• They hoped to defeat the Americans in the South before French assistance arrived.
• The British believed that many Loyalists lived in the South and would help them.
• They also aimed to capture Southern ports for supplies from British navy ships.
• Inland fighting proved more difficult for the British.
• The British lost several frontier battles, including Vincennes, in present-day Indiana.
• Savannah, Georgia, was the first British target in the South, with 3,500 British soldiers landing to attack American defenders on November 25, 1778.
• In 1780, the British captured Charles Town (Charleston) in South Carolina, where Americans were outnumbered.
• Benedict Arnold, a former Continental Army officer, became a traitor and led British attacks on Virginia towns in 1781, motivated by perceived unfair treatment by the Army.
• General Nathanael Greene led the Continental Army in the South and encouraged his soldiers to persevere.

Victory at Cowpens

• General Daniel Morgan led the Americans to a major victory at Cowpens, South Carolina, in January 1781 proving American forces could defeat the British there.
• The British army moved into North Carolina and fought at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781.
• The British held the field at Guilford Courthouse, but were weakened by the battle where both lost many soldiers.

The War Ends

• By the summer of 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis established headquarters in Yorktown, Virginia.
• Yorktown's location on Chesapeake Bay was advantageous for supplies, but also susceptible to encirclement.
• The French and Americans planned to surround Cornwallis at Yorktown.
• Both French and American soldiers marched south to encircle Yorktown.
• The French navy took control of the Chesapeake Bay, trapping General Cornwallis.
• Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781, after being surrounded for weeks.
• After Yorktown there were still small battles until April 1782 when the sides met in Paris to negotiate peace.
• American negotiators John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams sought British recognition of American independence and the removal of British soldiers from American lands.
• The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, which officially ended the war.
• The Treaty of Paris named the United States of America as a new nation and established its new borders.

New Ideas

• By 1776, states began writing their own constitutions, with Virginia's constitution as one model.
• Virginia's constitution began with a list of basic freedoms, including trial by jury, freedom to hold elections, and freedom of the press.
• The Declaration of Independence changed some Americans' views on people's rights, stating each person has the right to life and liberty.
• However, state constitutions didn't extend this freedom to all, with women and most African Americans not receiving the same rights as men.

Attempts to End Slavery

• In 1775, Quakers in Philadelphia formed the country's first abolitionist group.
• Antislavery sentiments increased after the Declaration of Independence.
• Elizabeth Freeman, an enslaved woman in Massachusetts, sued for freedom based on the Declaration’s assertion that all people are born equal, and won her case.
• In 1783, Massachusetts abolished slavery.
• Over time, other northern states also abolished slavery.

Western Settlements

• After the Revolutionary War, the United States lacked funds to pay all its soldiers in currency.
• The U.S. Congress compensated some soldiers with land instead, using land won from the British.
• Soldiers received land based on rank and time served, some receiving hundreds of acres west of the Appalachians.
• Many former soldiers moved west.
• Others moved west of the Appalachians to start farms.
• Congress sold large amounts of land to settlers and land companies, raising money.
• The United States stretched west to the Mississippi River, still with British troops in some northwest forts.
• Spain also had claims along the country's western and southern borders.
• Many Native American groups lived along the Ohio River.
• Lands south of the Ohio River were fast-growing, with over 100,000 people moving to the area that later became Kentucky or Tennessee during the American Revolution.
• The Northwest Territory was the land north of the Ohio River.
• A territory is land belonging to a nation but isn't a state and lacks national government representation.

Governing the Land

• Initially, no plan existed for dividing land in the Northwest Territory, so it was hard to tell where each property ended.
• In 1785, Congress passed a land ordinance, outlining how the land would be measured, divided, and sold.
• Land was divided into townships, then into 36 smaller squares, or sections.
• In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which established a plan for governing the area to the north and forming new states from its lands.
• Once a region had more than 60,000 people, it could become a state.
• The ordinance guaranteed settlers freedom of religion and prohibited slavery in states formed from the territory.

Native American Battles for Land

• Following the Revolutionary War, the British left many of their western forts, making it harder for Native Americans to stop settlers from moving onto their lands.
• Native Americans in the Northwest Territory united to fight against the settlers.
• Their leaders included Michikinikwa (Little Turtle), a member of the Miami tribe.
• In the early 1790s, Native American forces soundly defeated United States soldiers in battles in what are now the states of Indiana and Ohio.
• However, in 1794, a larger United States military force won a decisive victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers, near modern-day Toledo, Ohio.
• In 1795, Michikinikwa and other tribal leaders agreed to the Treaty of Greenville, ceding most of their land in the Northwest Territory.
• Many Native Americans resented the United States' land demands and lost trust in the government after signing the treaty.
• Some Native Americans sold land to companies like the Holland Land Company wanting land in western New York.
• Seneca leader Segoyewatha (Red Jacket) advised his tribe against the deal.
• Other leaders ignored him and signed the Big Tree Treaty, allowing the company to buy most of the Seneca's land.
• Settlers moved farther and farther in future years.