Crash Course U.S. History: The American Revolution

Types of Revolutions

• Revolutions with Change: Example - Industrial Revolution
• Revolutions without Change: Example - French Revolution (Bourbon to Bonaparte)
• American Revolution: Mixture of both
  • Rich white men remained in power
  • However, powerful revolutionary ideas emerged

War for Independence

• British Strategy:
  • Capture cities to force colonial surrender
  • Successfully captured Boston, New York, Charleston
• Colonial Strategy:
  • Hold countryside, maintain morale
  • Home-field advantages like terrain knowledge, supply lines

Key Battles

• Battle of Trenton:
  • Washington’s surprise attack crossing the Delaware
  • Boosted morale after defeats
• Battle of Saratoga:
  • Major British defeat, due to poor leadership
  • Encouraged French support
• Yorktown (1781):
  • British surrender, end of war
  • Cornwallis trapped; French naval support

Effects on Different Groups

Continental Army

• Low morale, poor rations
• Many soldiers felt unappreciated

Loyalists & Pacifists

• Some colonists fought for the British
• Quakers and other pacifists lost property

African Americans

• British offered freedom for enslaved fighters
• Around 100,000 fled; 15,000 left with British
• Slavery not abolished till later by British Empire

Native Americans

• Many sought neutrality
• Iroquois split between Patriots and British
• Suffered brutal treatment from American forces

Women

• Minimal changes in rights and roles
• Republican Motherhood: Women educated to educate sons

Revolutionary Ideas

• Declaration of Independence:
  • "All men are created equal..."
• Constitutional Changes:
  • More voters, lowered property requirements
  • Limited to white males
• Religious Freedom:
  • Separation of Church and State
  • Virginia's Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom

Economic Changes

• End of indentured servitude, apprenticeship
• Divergence of North (paid labor) vs. South (slavery)
• Cotton gin reinvigorated Southern slavery

Intellectual Background

• Equality of property seen as essential for liberty
• Noah Webster's ideas on property and power
• Early American vision of liberty included wealth distribution concepts

The Hypocrisy of Slavery

• Noted contradiction with "all men are created equal"
• Founders, like Jefferson, often defended slavery
• Slavery protests began, especially in the North
• Gradual abolition in Northern states post-Revolution

Long-term Impact

• Revolutionary ideas on equality influenced other revolutions and global perspectives
• Despite inequalities, American revolution introduced the notion that birth wasn't destiny

Conclusion

• Real change was a process, highlighting American equality as a radical idea
• Influence extended globally, though U.S. no longer leads in equality of opportunity

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• Produced by Stan Muller, edited by Stan and Mark Olsen
• Written by Raoul Meyer and John Green
• Graphics by Thought Bubble

Questions and comments are encouraged for further discussion.