Chapter 8: “America Secedes from the Empire”
~ 1775 – 1783 ~
I. Congress Drafts George Washington 1. After the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, about 20,000 Minutemen swarmed around Boston, where they outnumbered the British. 2. The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, with no real intention of independence, merely a desire to continue fighting in the hope that the king and Parliament would consent to a redress of grievances. a. It sent another list of grievances to Parliament. b. It also adopted measures to raise money for an army and a navy. c. It also selected George Washington to command the army. 1) George …show more content…
After the Declaration of Independence, Loyalists and Patriots were more sharply divided, and Patriots often confiscated Loyalist property and resell it (good way to raise money). 2. Some 50,000 Loyalists served the British in one way or another (fighting, spying, etc…), and it was an oddity that the Brits didn’t make more use of them during the war. IX. General Washington at Bay 1. After the evacuation of Boston, the British focused on New York as a HQ for operations. a. An awe-inspiring fleet appeared off the coast in July 1776, consisting of some 500 ships and 35,000 men—the largest armed force seen in America ever until the Civil War. b. Washington could only muster 18,000 ill-trained men to fight, and they were routed at the Battle of Long Island. c. Washington escaped to Manhattan Island, crossed the Hudson River to New Jersey, reaching the Delaware River with taunting, fox-hunt calling British on his heels. d. Crossing the Delaware River at Trenton on a cold December 26, 1776, and surprised and captured a thousand Hessians who were sleeping off their Christmas Day celebration