Study Questions

1. What was the 1st constitution? What powers did it give the government?
1. Articles of Confederation
2. It created a central government with no power.
1. They made the laws but the states could break them because Congress didn't have the power to punish them
3. It gave Congress the power to control the war & foreign policy 
1. Everything else would be controlled by each individual state 
4. It gave the government the power to raise an army
1. But NOT collect taxes
2. What was the paradox of the war (at least from Britain's point of view?)
1. They are fighting a losing battle, even if they win
2. If they win, they would inherit a stubborn colony that wouldn't listen
3. If they lose, they only hurt their pride
3. What was Washington's main strength as as a commander? Why did he win the war?
1. He was a strategist
2. He realized that his major task was to train an army, keep it alive and in the field, supply it and pay it
1. By doing this, he enabled all thirteen state governments, plus the Congress, to remain functioning
3. He did nothing mean, cruel or vengeful
4. He was a gentleman
4. What were the four points of the Peace of Paris - as laid out by John Adams?
1. Outright independence of the United States, & with drawl of the British forces
2. Canada to remain British & a definitive boundary to be drawn
3. Agreement on the boundaries of all thirteen states
4. Freedom for fishing off Newfoundland
1. The first international fisheries agreement
5. Why did slavery increase during the revolution?
1. There was no mention of freedom made in the Declaration
6. Who were the big loser of the war (name three)? List what they lost and explain why they are the biggest losers?
1. French
1. War cost a billion livres and ruined it's credit with the bankers of Europe
2. It did irretrievable damage to France's public finances and compelled the bankrupt monarchy to hit the road
1. Lead to the recalling of the Estates General, the Fall of the Bastille, the Terror, the Republic, military dictatorship
3. The overall American victory, coupled with the fantastic ideas of independence, inspired the French Revolution
4. Wealthy aristocrats merchants who helped pay for the war out of their own pockets laos last money
2. Native Americans
1. Sir William Johnson, greatest of British's Indian agents, died is 1774, which basically destroyed to Indian alliance with Britain
2. Britain abandoned them
3. Americans thought to treaty gave them the right of conquest
3. Loyalists
1. Lacked leaders
2. They lost jobs, estates, houses, saving, and quite often their lives.
1. Some family bonds were terminated 
1. Like Ben Franklin's
3. Had no alternative and were essentially forced to remain in America 
4. Spain
1. It's crown was weaker and poorer
2. it's viceroyalties in Central & South American were starting to look towards the North for example and inspiration
7. What happened to the Loyalists in America after the war?
1. Some went to Britain 
2. Most had no alternative but to stay in America and keep their political opinions quiet. 
1. A large percentage went to Canada
3. Some wen to the create colonies in the West Indies
4. They felt the British had betrayed them but settling for a treaty
8. What were the most important battles of the war? Why do you think they are the most important? (Note battles is plural).
1. Yorktown
2. Quebec
3. Lexington & Concord
4. Bunker Hill
5. Fort Ticonderoga
6. Saratoga
9. List at least five reasons why the Americans won?
1. They fought on their own territory, while the British had to send troops and supplied thousands of miles over seas
2. General Washington was their leader
3. They fought with a great determination to reach their goal of independence
10. Why did the British strategy for the war makes little sense?
1. Washington was fighting a war of endurance
2. Lord George Germaine, who had no military gifts, was put in charge of the war by North
1. He had never set foot in America
3. 
   
11. How did the British fail to win the war in 1776? Who was the General in charge?
1. General Howe 
2. The plan was to take New York, cutting off New England form the South, which would destroy the heart of the rebellion: Massachusetts. 
3. What actually happened was Washington took his army from Manhattan to Brooklyn and settled into the Heights. Howe had a lot more men than Washington, but George and 9,000 men were able to escape to back to Manhattan and then on to New Jersey via the Delaware
4. Howe had failed to surround and destroy Washington's army. He let him escape too, because he didn't make a large effort to follow him.