Module 6 Lesson 4 - Read

Read: The Inevitable End to an Interminable War

The Dawning of a New Day

Although the American military was still enduring losses in 1780, the outlook for General Washington and the Americans never looked better. The French were making a difference. The French navy was disrupting the British blockade and more than 5,000 French troops arrived in Rhode Island to assist the Continental Army. French commanders such as Lafayette and Rochambeau earned the respect and admiration of the American troops, and the British were failing to close the deal. The British occupied much of the South, yet they were unable to mobilize the local Loyalists.

Grumbling in England grew louder over the war's expense and duration. The morale of Washington's men improved daily. The war was by no means over, but by 1780, Washington and his troops saw a bright side.

The Siege of Yorktown

In 1781, a large squadron of British troops led by Lord Cornwallis billeted in Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis hoped to keep his men in the Chesapeake town, providing a protected harbor, until fresh supplies and reinforcements could arrive from Britain. The French and the Americans conspired to capture the British before that could happen.

A French naval unit led by Admiral De Grasse headed north from the West Indies. Washington's army was stationed near New York City at the time. Washington's troops, joined by the French troops from Rhode Island, marched over 300 miles south toward Yorktown. Along the way, Washington staged fake military maneuvers to keep the British off guard.

When Washington reached Virginia, Americans led by Lafayette also joined in the siege. The French navy kept the British out of Chesapeake Bay until Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire unit of nearly 8,000 troops on October 19, 1781. The capture of the troops severely hampered the British war effort. Lord Cornwallis is often credited with handing the Americans their victory, not just in Yorktown, but in the war itself.

 

Peace and the Treaty of Paris

During the winter months of 1781-1782, the British military continued to fight, but the Battle of Yorktown had turned the British public against the war. The following March, a pro-American Parliament was elected, and peace negotiations began in earnest.

Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay met with the British in the hopes of securing a peace treaty. When peace negotiations first began with representatives from the Colonies, France, Spain and England all vying for the best outcome for their countries. Spain was even willing to continue fighting if it ensured capture of Gibraltar from the British. Both France and Spain wanted large tracts of land. John Jay, realizing he could negotiate better terms for his new country by playing off European rivalries. Through direct negotiations with the British, Jay was able to produce a very favorable settlement with Britain, including a large territory for the future United States. This left France and Spain to negotiate and sign their own peace treaties with Britain.

The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1783. It contained 10 articles, ranging from granting independence to the United States to fishing rights in Newfoundland. The first two articles had the greatest impact, as they granted sovereignty and independence from the British Crown, and set the boundaries between the U.S. and Britain in North America.

Preamble: In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity. It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg, arch-treasurer and prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire etc., and of the United States of America, to forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually wish to restore, and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory intercourse , between the two countries upon the ground of reciprocal advantages and mutual convenience as may promote and secure to both perpetual peace and harmony; and having for this desirable end already laid the foundation of peace and reconciliation by the Provisional Articles signed at Paris on the 30th of November 1782, by the commissioners empowered on each part, which articles were agreed to be inserted in and constitute the Treaty of Peace proposed to be concluded between the Crown of Great Britain and the said United States, but which treaty was not to be concluded until terms of peace should be agreed upon between Great Britain and France and his Britannic Majesty should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly; and the treaty between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, his Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, in order to carry into full effect the Provisional Articles above mentioned, according to the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is to say his Britannic Majesty on his part, David Hartley, Esqr., member of the Parliament of Great Britain, and the said United States on their part, John Adams, Esqr., late a commissioner of the United States of America at the court of Versailles, late delegate in Congress from the state of Massachusetts, and chief justice of the said state, and minister plenipotentiary of the said United States to their high mightinesses the States General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esqr., late delegate in Congress from the state of Pennsylvania, president of the convention of the said state, and minister plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the court of Versailles; John Jay, Esqr., late president of Congress and chief justice of the state of New York, and minister plenipotentiary from the said United States at the court of Madrid; to be plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the present definitive treaty; who after having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers have agreed upon and confirmed the following articles.

Article 1: His Brittanic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free sovereign and independent states, that he treats with them as such, and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and territorial rights of the same and every part thereof.

Article 2: And that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz.; from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix River to the highlands; along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, to the northwesternmost head of Connecticut River; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy; thence along the middle of said river into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said lake until it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; thence along the middle of said communication into Lake Erie, through the middle of said lake until it arrives at the water communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence along the middle of said water communication into Lake Huron, thence through the middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward of the Isles Royal and Phelipeaux to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long Lake and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most northwesternmost point thereof, and from thence on a due west course to the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of the said river Mississippi until it shall intersect the northernmost part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude, South, by a line to be drawn due east from the determination of the line last mentioned in the latitude of thirty-one degrees of the equator, to the middle of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle thereof to its junction with the Flint River, thence straight to the head of Saint Mary's River; and thence down along the middle of Saint Mary's River to the Atlantic Ocean; east, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river Saint Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source directly north to the aforesaid highlands which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river Saint Lawrence; comprehending all islands within twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part and East Florida on the other shall, respectively, touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, excepting such islands as now are or heretofore have been within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia.

Article 3: It is agreed that the people of the United States shall continue to enjoy unmolested the right to take fish of every kind on the Grand Bank and on all the other banks of Newfoundland, also in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and at all other places in the sea, where the inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish. And also that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as British fishermen shall use, (but not to dry or cure the same on that island) and also on the coasts, bays and creeks of all other of his Brittanic Majesty's dominions in America; and that the American fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled, but so soon as the same or either of them shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen to dry or cure fish at such settlement without a previous agreement for that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the ground.

Article 4: It is agreed that creditors on either side shall meet with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling money of all bona fide debts heretofore contracted.

Article 5: It is agreed that Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the legislatures of the respective states to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated belonging to real British subjects; and also of the estates, rights, and properties of persons resident in districts in the possession on his Majesty's arms and who have not borne arms against the said United States. And that persons of any other decription shall have free liberty to go to any part or parts of any of the thirteen United States and therein to remain twelve months unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several states a reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly consistent not only with justice and equity but with that spirit of conciliation which on the return of the blessings of peace should universally prevail. And that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to the several states that the estates, rights, and properties, of such last mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any persons who may be now in possession the bona fide price (where any has been given) which such persons may have paid on purchasing any of the said lands, rights, or properties since the confiscation. And it is agreed that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights.

Article 6: That there shall be no future confiscations made nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or persons for, or by reason of, the part which he or they may have taken in the present war, and that no person shall on that account suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be in confinement on such charges at the time of the ratification of the treaty in America shall be immediately set at liberty, and the prosecutions so commenced be discontinued.

Article 7: There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his Brittanic Majesty and the said states, and between the subjects of the one and the citizens of the other, wherefore all hostilities both by sea and land shall from henceforth cease. All prisoners on both sides shall be set at liberty, and his Brittanic Majesty shall with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same; leaving in all fortifications, the American artilery that may be therein; and shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds, and papers belonging to any of the said states, or their citizens, which in the course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored and delivered to the proper states and persons to whom they belong.

Article 8: The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great Britain and the citizens of the United States.

Article 9: In case it should so happen that any place or territory belonging to Great Britain or to the United States should have been conquered by the arms of either from the other before the arrival of the said Provisional Articles in America, it is agreed that the same shall be restored without difficulty and without requiring any compensation.

Article 10: The solemn ratifications of the present treaty expedited in good and due form shall be exchanged between the contracting parties in the space of six months or sooner, if possible, to be computed from the day of the signatures of the present treaty. In witness whereof we the undersigned, their ministers plenipotentiary, have in their name and in virtue of our full powers, signed with our hands the present definitive treaty and caused the seals of our arms to be affixed thereto. Done at Paris, this third day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three. D. HARTLEY (SEAL) JOHN ADAMS (SEAL) B. FRANKLIN (SEAL) JOHN JAY (SEAL)

Expand:  Analyzing an Unlikely Victory

Keys to the Colonial Victory

The world was changing even as fighting continued in North America, and these changes would likely have ultimately secured the Americans a victory. The following keys to the colonial victory were in play even as France’s participation hastened the outcome of the war.

1. Allies (especially France): Support from the French came not just from funding and their Navy, but also from their military expertise and previous experiences fighting the British. The U.S. Forces were poorly trained and not well enough equipped or financed to fight a war. The French sent vast supplies to the colonies, and sent over 1.3 billion livres of direct financial support. Spain provided additional financial support, including essential funds for the Battle of Yorktown. Britain’s battles with both Spain and France in the West Indies, India, and Europe placed a further drain on her finances and military resources.
2. Strength of Resolve (Nationalism): The British had radically underestimated the resolve of the colonists. This commitment to not only the ideas of the Revolution, but the underlying loyalty to the colony and the new country instead of to “Crown and Country” was a manifestation of the beginnings of “nationalism” in the world. The depth and breadth of the colonial support for the Revolution was significantly higher than the British had believed, meaning there was far less “Loyalist” support for the British and their efforts than the British had anticipated. This “nationalistic” fervor would continue to grow during the 18th century all throughout the Western hemisphere. It would be the basis for many of the coming revolutions and, ultimately, one of the major causes of World War I.
3. Knowledge of Terrain: The importance of the “home field advantage” was increasing exponentially. As the weapons and technology of war continued to advance, the ability of a small force with knowledge of the terrain to harass and even defeat a larger force was becoming more prevalent. Weapons that relied on up-close encounters (swords, lances, even bows and arrows) began to be replaced with more modern weapons that could be effective at much greater distances. These new weapons, and local knowledge of the terrain, allowed for guerrilla warfare. Even an archer at a distance would have a limited number of arrows, but now every soldier had a rifle and a significant amount of ammunition and powder. Straight forward attacks in large numbers became less and less effective as the rifles became more and more accurate. The Continental Army’s knowledge of the land, the terrain, and the transportation routes allowed them to fight more effectively and efficiently than the British forces.
4. More Effective Military Leadership: Throughout modern history, time and again we see seemingly superior forces lose because they are fighting – and continue fighting – the wrong war. The American Revolution was no exception. The British military commanders were still fighting the same European wars they had fought for the last century.Their armies entered the battlefield in long rows, marched toward each other, stopped, kneeled and traded salvos, and then attacked with bayonets and knives in close combat. Washington, Gates, and other American commanders recognized the impact of the evolving military technology and their advantage as the “home team.” They did not fight the “old war.” Instead, they fought the “new war.” They began splitting their forces into smaller groups, harassing, and attacking the larger British forces from the trees and other cover, causing considerable damage to the British forces with little loss of life. Washington also rejected the idea of fighting by honorable rules of war: no attacking during winter or on holidays, armies meet straight on, etc. Washington crossed the Delaware on December 24th, and in an unexpected sneak attack, did significant damage to the British mercenary forces from Germany. Fighting the wrong war is a mistake many successful military commanders make, leading them to lose a war unexpectedly.
5. Distance and Size: England was approximately 3,600 miles from the colonies. Every soldier who had to be replaced and every item of warfare had to travel approximately 3,600 miles by sailing ship across the Atlantic. Washington could receive recruits, supplies, and support from his own backyard in America. Also, the perception of the enormous size of the colonies was difficult for the British to comprehend. The land granted to the Thirteen Original Colonies in the Treaty of Paris was approximately 830,000 square miles, compared to the 93,000 square miles in the United Kingdoms of Scotland and England. France, the largest country in Western Europe, was only 240,000 square miles. The sheer size of the possible battleground was inconceivable to the average British military commander until he was actually in the colonies. Planning a war in America from England was impossible. The enormity of the American colonies made occupation impossible, and the British were simply in a no-win situation.

 

Module 6 Lesson 4 of 4