• SS8H3 The student will analyze the role of Georgia in the American Revolution
• a. Explain the immediate and long-term causes of the American Revolution and their impact on Georgia; include the French and Indian War (i.e., Seven Years War), Proclamation of 1763, Stamp Act, Intolerable Acts, and the Declaration of Independence.
unit-4—almost-there—civil-war-and-reconstruction—study-guide
Main Causes of the American Revolution
Long Term Causes
– French and Indian War Debts
– Taxation without Representation
Immediate Causes
– Battle of Lexington and Concord
– Declaration of Independence
French and Indian War (AKA Seven Years War)
• In the same year, 1754, that John Reynolds arrived in Georgia as Governor, England went to war with France.
• The War was called the Seven Years War in Europe but called the French and Indian War in the Colonies because many of the Indians disliked the colonials taking more and more land so the Indians joined the French in the fight against the Colonists
• Spain, who disliked the English, jumped in to help the French
• It ended with a n English Victory and they signed the Treaty of Paris in 1763. They agreed to the following: (map before War) (map after War)
– France gave up all land in North America EAST of the Mississippi River
– Spain gave up claim to Florida
– Cherokee and Creeks gave up much of their land in GA
- GA boundary was set as the Mississippi river to the West and St. Mary’s river to the South
(Ga BEFORE and AFTER the French and Indian War)
King George II of England made an additional rule for the colonists at the end of the French and Indian War that said
Colonists could NOT settle west of the Appalachian Mts
British Controls or Laws that led to American Revolution
• Stamp Act – Tax on any papers goods including newspapers and legal documents
• Intolerable Acts – a series of laws passed by Parliament as a means to punish the colonists that included:
– Closed the Port of Boston until tea paid for
– No town meeting without Governor’s okay
– British citizens were to be tried in British Courts
– Quartering Acts – colonists had to house and feed British soldiers
• Written by Thomas Jefferson
• Was a legal document that can be broken into 3 parts
– Part 1 – Preamble – this part lists the colonists ideas about democracy and self gov’t
– Part 2 – List of 27 grievances (complaints) against Great Britain
– Part 3 – declared the colonies independent of Great Britain
• Was signed on July 4th, 1776
• Signers from Ga –Lyman Hall, George Walton and Button Gwinnett
B. The student will analyze the significance of people and events in Ga during the Revolutionary War: include Loyalists, Patriots, Elijah Clark, Austin Dabney, Nancy Hart, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton, Battle of Kettle Creek, and Siege of Savannah
People To Know
• Loyalist- AKA Tories- colonists that wanted to remain part of Great Britain
• Patriots – AKA Whigs- Colonists that wanted to break away from Great Britain and form anew nation
• Elijah Clark – Military leader from Ga that had several successful battles for GA
• Austin Dabney – former slave that fought for the patriots in the Revolution
• Nancy Hart – Patriotic woman that battled the British in the frontier of Ga. Only woman to have a county of Ga named after them
Battles to know in Ga
• Kettle Creek
happened in Spring 1779
American forces led by Elijah Clarke surprised and defeated British forces at Kettle Creek
The British fled so fast that they left everything behind – even knocking their cooking kettles over into the creek as they hurriedly left (Hence the name Kettle Creek)
Americans got badly needed supplies such as guns and ammo
Never again did the Tories gather a large force in the backcountry
After the fall of Saratoga, French forces decided to help the colonists
Fall 1779, Colonists and French forces began attacking Savannah
Count Casmir Pulaski, a Polish nobleman, led a cavalry charge against the British in the city and was killed in combat
The siege failed and Savannah remained in British hands
Colonists Win War and Defeat Great Britain
• 1781 British General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia and marked the end of the American Revolution
• It took awhile for British troops to leave America and especially GA where the king had remained in control for so long
War officially ended w/ Treaty of Paris 1783
