Empire booklet 1: American resolution and effect on British empire

Question 1

Battles of Lexington and Concord

Answer 1

April 1775
First violence
269 British killed/wounded
British General Gage

Question 2

Battle of Bunker Hill

Answer 2

June 1775
huge loss for British
1/3 of troops killed or injured

Question 3

Declaration of independence

Answer 3

1776
Angry at British for:
Depriving trial by jury
Imposing taxes
Cutting trade to all parts of the world

Question 4

Saratoga

Answer 4

1777
Burgoyne defeat for British
5895 troops surrendered and imprisoned
Not co-ordinated with General Clinton and Howe=failure

Question 5

French and Spanish involvement

Answer 5

France:
French motivated by long term feud with Britain, the possibility of regaining territory lost in the Seven Year War. French colonies treaty Feb 1778. Declared war on Britain in June 1778

Spain:
Entered in June 1779

Decreased British military in the colonies, the military dropped from 65% to 20% from 1778 to 1780
British navy dropped from 41% in 1778 to 13% in 1780

Question 6

Yorktown

Answer 6

1781
Cornwallis defeat
Washington led 16000 french/Spanish troops
Partly due to Cornwallis splitting from Clinton

Question 7

Why Britain decided to seek peace

Answer 7

Yorktown resulted at the end of the war because the political will from London faded
Parliament put pressure on the king to end the war, war perceived as bad for trade
20 March 1983

Question 8

Peace of Paris

Answer 8

April 1983
under new ministry led by Shelburne
Ordered the evacuation of the British strongholds, signed by Britain, USA, France, Spain, Holland, signed 3rd Sept 1783

Recognised America’s independence and its new boundaries

Spain gained Florida and Minorca

Britain regained the Bahamas. gave up Trincomalee to Holland but gained Negapatam in India

France regained St Lucia, Goree and Pondicherry and Tobago

Question 9

Impact of defeat on Britain

Answer 9

Diplomatic:
Britain retained Canada, Caribbean, India
Regained status quickly
offered Ireland concessions- 1780 altered mercantilist system in Ireland which had caused protests, allowed Ireland to trade directly with British colonies
1782, Irish granted effective legislative independence as the British repealed Declaratory Act of 1719

Empire:
Ireland concessions, altered Mercantile system
moved into Australia

Political:
Lord North resigned in 1782- replaced by the new ministry under William Pitt
George III still in power

Economic:
short term bad, £232 million in the national debt in 1783
the interest of £10 million yearly
British exports doubled from 1783-1792
raised taxes to supply this
supplied 4/5 of us imports