The second period of the Revolution, begin ning with the Declaration, ends with the en trance of France into the war. During this period it was the endeavor of the British to separate Massachusetts and Virginia by gaining control of the Champlain-Hudson Valley. The battle of Long Island, August 1776, left New York in the hands of the British, and a year later Washington, defeated at Brandywine, was forced to yield Philadelphia to Howe. But in the meantime, Burgoyne, who had been sent from Canada to effect the main object of the British campaign, had been getting into diffi culty, and on 17 Oct. 1777, he was forced to surrender to Gates at Saratoga. This victory probably determined the result of the war. France, who had hitherto contented herself with secretly aiding the Americans, in February 1778 entered into a treaty of alliance with them, hoping to secure thereby the enfeeblement of her ancient enemy, England.
The United States could hardly have achieved their independence without the French alliance. France was able to furnish the sea power, with out which it is highly improbable that Yorktown could have been won. On the other hand, there is evidence that England entered into the contest with new zeal, now that she was confronted by her old enemy, France; and after the French alliance the Americans were more than once grievously near defeat.
The third period of the war ends with the signature of the treaty of peace at Paris, 3 Sept. 1783. Aside from Arnold's treason, interest in this period is confined to the South. Here the Loyalists were strong, and the British hoped to save at least Georgia and the Carolinas. In 1778 Savannah was captured and Georgia was overrun by the British. In 1780 Charleston fell and Gates was utterly defeated at Camden by Cornwallis. The tide began to turn with the opening of 1781, when Greene took command in the South. Winning no victories, he neverthe, less sold victory dearly that by September Cornwallis was retiring northward, leaving the entire South, except Savannah and Charleston, in the hands of the patriots. Cornwallis entered Yorktown, Va., and was there besieged .by the French fleet under De Grasse and the Ameri can and French armies under Washington and Rochambeau. He surrendered 19 Oct. 1781.
In the peace negotiations at Paris, which filled the year 1782, the United States was represented by Franklin, who had been in France since 1777, Jay and John Adams. They succeeded in making a favorable treaty. The western boundary of the States was set at the Mississippi, and their southern at the 31st paral el as far.as the Appalachicola River, from which point it proceeded along the present north boundary of Florida to the Atlantic. The area of the territory lying within these boundaries was 827,844 square miles. Before the war was over the States had adopted Articles of Con federation and Perpetual Union (1 March 1781). These articles apparently purported to have sovereignty in the individual States; and after the war was over, the States showed lack of ap preciation of continental obligations and privi leges. The Congress of the Confederation, in which body all the power granted by the Articles was centred, proved ineffective, for in cases of crucial need it could do little more than implore the States for funds or solicit obedience to the orders which it had issued. There was no power
in the central authority to collect taxes or regu lar commerce. Things went from bad to worse — the States eyeing each other in jealous scrutiny; the debt of the Confederation growing larger, while the States, themselves distressed, refused to furnish the needed money; England refusing with some cause to surrender the west ern ports within our territory; Spain refusing to acknowledge our right to navigate the lower Mississippi. Washington wrote, "Something must be done or the fabric will fall, for it certainly is tottering)) One great bond of union, one fact of national significance needs, however, to be mentioned. By 1786 the States that claimed land east of the Mississippi, north of the Ohio and west of Pennsylvania had sur rendered their claims, Connecticut still retain ing a small portion which was long known as the Western Reserve. For the organization of this domain, Congress passed the Ordinance of 1787, one of the great State papers of American history; it provided for temporary govern ments, for the final admission of the Territories as States, and for the permanent exclusion of slavery.
In May 1787, a convention of delegates met at Philadelphia, charged with the duty of ren dering "the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Union." The work lasted four months. Its product was the Constitution of the United States. As to whether the conven tion should disregard instructions and proceed to draw up a new constitution instead of alter ing the Confederation, there was much discus sion, tinged frequently with acrimony. The "large-state party'" insisted on a government with authority and on proportional representa tion. The °small-state party,'" some of whom were not adverse to a national government, yet feared for their States, and, in jealousy of their stronger neighbors, advocated equal representa tion of the States. The outcome was corn promise: the legislature of each State was to have the right to elect two members of one branch of the national legislature, while the principal of proportional representation was to obtain as a basis for the other house. The Con stitution, abandoning the old principle of the Confederation, provided for a government im mediately over individuals; it provided for a system whereby every citizen would be subject to two governments. The powers delegated to the new government were enumerated powers, and the field of political activity was thus di vided between the central government on the one hand and the State on the other. The Constitution provided for executive,judicial and legislative departments and applied the prin ciple of separation of the powers. The instru ment thus prepared was passed on by conven tions in the States. The struggle over the adop tion was very sharp; but by the end of 1788 the Constitution had been ratified by all the States save Rhode Island and North Carolina. The government called for by the new Constitution was put into operation before these two States ratified. To reassure those who were fearful that the national authority would be destructive of individual liberty, the first 12 amendments to the Constitution were drawn up by the first Congress, and 10 of them were ratified by the States.