Chapter 5
The American Revolution
Chapter Summary
Between 1775 and 1787, Americans struggled to win a war, make a peace, and create ideologically sound, stable governments on both the state and the national levels. By the end of the era, there was little doubt that they had accomplished the first two of their goals, but serious questions were being raised concerning the success of the last. Despite problems that would have stopped lesser men, George Washington and his army had been able to successfully keep the British at bay, winning when they could and losing as seldom as possible. Meanwhile, the Continental Congress, blessed with some remarkable diplomats, maintained a foreign policy the success of which can be seen in the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the Treaty of Paris of 1783. But once the war ended, the government that the British threat had held together found that its member states' unwillingness to centralize power created more problems than it solved. Economic dislocation, exemplified by Daniel Shays and his followers, plagued the nation, as many thoughtful men searched for a way to transform Revolutionary rhetoric into reality and to restore order without sacrificing liberty.
Objectives
A thorough study of Chapter 5 should enable the student to understand
1. The historical debate concerning the nature of the American Revolution and the reasons for disagreement.
2. American war aims and the problems experienced by the revolutionary governments in carrying on a protracted war.
3. The aim of the Declaration of Independence, the reasons for its issuance, and its influence throughout the world since 1776.
4. The indispensable contributions of George Washington to the successful outcome of the Revolution.
5. The diplomatic triumph for American negotiators embodied in the Treaty of Paris.
6. The impact of the Revolution on women, African Americans, Native Americans, and other minorities.
7. The type of governments created by the new states, and the important features in their governments.
8. The features of the Articles of Confederation, and the reasons for its creation.
9. The problems faced by the government under the Articles of Confederation and how they were addressed.
10. How America’s revolution and the whole modern notion of revolution, was to a large degree a product of the ideas of the Enlightenment.
Main Themes
1. How the thirteen American colonies were able to win their independence from one of the most powerful nations on earth.
2. How the American Revolution was not only a war for independence, but also a struggle to determine the nature of the nation being created.
3. How Americans attempted to apply revolutionary ideology to the building of the nation and to the remaking of society.
4. The problems that remained after, or were created by, the American Revolution.
5. The American Revolution was the first and in many ways the most influential of the Enlightenment-derived uprisings against established orders.
Points for Discussion
1. How did conflicts and rivalries among European nations both help and hinder the American struggle for independence?
2. Who were the Loyalists? Why did some Americans remain loyal to the king? (Document number 1 in the Study Guide relates to this question.)
3. Initially, most Americans believed they were fighting for a redress of grievances within the British Empire rather than for independence. Explain the circumstances that prompted the colonists to change their minds by July 1776.
4. Discuss the philosophy embodied in the Declaration of Independence and evaluate the document's significance as a revolutionary statement.
5. Compare and contrast the British and American conduct of the war. How did each side propose to win, how realistic was its assessment of the situation, and how did this prewar assessment influence the ultimate outcome of the war?
6. Read the section "Where Historians Disagree" in the text, and then read the descriptions of the various schools of historical interpretation in the glossary of Chapter 5 in the Study Guide. Which of these historians fit into which schools? Explain your choices. What do these various interpretations reveal about our efforts to understand our revolutionary heritage?
7. Was the American Revolution a social as well as a political revolution? What effects did the Revolution have upon the nature of the American economy and society? (Document numbers 3 and 5 in the Study Guide apply to this question.)
8. Examine the relative successes and failures of the Articles of Confederation. Do you think that this government was capable of providing the stability that the new nation needed? Why or why not? (Document numbers 4 and 6 in the Study Guide apply here.)
9. How did revolutionary ideology challenge the way minorities were treated in America? What changes in this treatment resulted from this challenge, and why did some minorities find their circumstances improved, while others did not? (Document numbers 5 and 6 in the Study Guide apply here.)
10. How did new American state constitutions differ from colonial charters? What new policies increased opportunities for social and political mobility?
11. Explain how the political ideology that was the foundation of the American Revolution influenced the writing of state constitutions and the Articles of Confederation. (The Declaration of Independence and Documents number 3, number 4, number 5, and number 6 in the Study Guide apply here.)
Interpretive Questions Based on Maps and Text
1. Note the invasion routes taken by the Americans against Canada and by the British against the rebelling colonies. What geographic factors influenced the selection of these routes, and how did these factors influence the outcome of the invasions?
2. What were the most strategic locations in the thirteen colonies? What geographic factors made this so?
3. Compare the distances covered by the British army in the South with the distances covered in New England and even the Middle colonies. What problems did this create for the invaders?
4. Why was the war in the South "truly revolutionary"? How did the geopolitical situation in the South contribute to this?
5. Why was the question of western land claims so important in the ratification of the Articles of Confederation? What advantages were to be gained from western lands?
6. How did the Ordinance of 1784 propose to deal with the lands ceded to the national government? What is significant about this with regard to the political development of the West?
7. How did the Ordinance of 1787 (the "Northwest Ordinance") differ from the Ordinance of 1784? What factors caused these differences? (Document number 6 in the Study Guide applies here.)
8. Note the territory held by Spain. How did Spanish holdings (especially along the Gulf of Mexico) threaten the westward movement of Americans?
9. Why did the Land Ordinance of 1785 appeal to land speculators? Which groups were upset with this ordinance?
Essay Questions
These essays are based on the map exercises. They are designed to test students' knowledge of the geography of the area discussed in this chapter and to test their knowledge of its historical development. Careful reading of the text will help them answer these questions.
1. The map in the text not only identifies the states' western land claims but also reflects the results of the Peace of Paris of 1783 that ended the American Revolution. Considering the fighting that took place, what claims did the United States have to the land in the West, and why was it not able to gain more?
2. If Americans agreed on nothing else, they agreed that they wanted a government that was republican. How did the western land claims, and their resolution, fit into this desire? Had the problem of western land claims not been resolved, how might the republic have been threatened? (Document number 6 in the Study Guide applies here.)
3. How did the geography of America work to the advantage of the revolutionaries and to the disadvantage of the British?
Internet Resources
For Internet quizzes, resources, references to additional books and films, and more, consult the text’s Online Learning Center at www.mhhe.com/brinkley12.
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