American Revolutionary War

1775 - 1783

Factors Favoring Both Sides

Colonists: Homefield Advantage British Overconfidence Stronger Patriotism Assistance from France Better Local Political Organizations

Factors Favoring Both Sides

British: Help from Tory Colonists Colonist’s lack of Military Training & Experience Colonist’s lack of Military Discipline Colonist’s lack of Money Conflict of Interest between the Colonies

Battles of Lexington & ConcordApril 1775

General Thomas Gage & British troops tried to capture Sam Adams & John Hancock at Lexington & Patriot supplies at Concord

Paul Revere, William Dawes Jr., & Dr. Samuel Prescott rode to warn colonists that the British were coming

Colonial minutemen confronted the British on Lexington green & suffered casualties

Became known as “the shot heard ‘round the world” in an 1837 poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The British failed & took heavy casualties while returning to Boston from Concord.

Concord Hymn

Battle of Fort Ticonderoga May 1775

The British are supplying their troops from Canada via Lake Champlain

Ethan Allen, his Green Mountain Boys, & Benedict Arnold attacked these forts, which guarded the entrance to the Hudson River Valley

The forts capture disrupted the British supply route from Canada & provided much needed supplies for the continentals.

Benedict Arnold’s traitorous ideas began here when he received little credit for the forts capture Ethan Allen

Second Continental CongressMay-June 1775

Thirteen Colonies sent delegates to Independence Hall in Philadelphia & did the following things: Debated Independence – radicals like Sam Adams & Patrick Henry

wanted independence while conservatives like John Dickinson wanted further negotiations

Patrick Henry John Dickinson

Second Continental Congress

Drafted a last petition to King George III

Appointed George Washington the General-In-Chief of the Continental Army

Political Continuum

__________________________________________________________________Moderate Conservative ReactionaryLiberalRadical

Will use any means necessary, including violence to gain change

Will use the governmental system to gain change

Holds a position between two viewpoints

Will use the governmental system to keep things the same or go back to the way things used to be

Will use any means necessary, including violence, to go back to the way things used to be

Battle of Bunker HillJune 1775

“King of the Mountain” Although both Bunker & Breed’s Hill were fortified

by the continentals, the battle was actually fought on Breed’s Hill

The British took the hill on a third try, but it was a moral victory for the colonists as the British took heavy casualties.

This convinced the British government that this was no minor rebellion.  What they faced was a full-scale revolution

General Thomas Gage was then replaced by General William Howe as commander of all British troops

British Account The Real Story

British Evacuation of BostonMarch 1776

Henry Knox delivers the artillery from Fort Ticonderoga to General George Washington, allowing him to fortify Dorchester Heights

Washington surrounds Boston with 90,000 soldiers, which forces General Howe to strategically retreat by sea

The evacuation of the British & loyalists from Boston is Washington’s first big victory in the Revolutionary War

Reasons for Caution in Declaring Independence

Fear of anarchy if British control is removed

Execution for treason if the revolt fails

Loss of support from powerful people in Great Britain

Events in Declaring Independence

Three events pushed the colonists closer to independence & away from reconciliation: King George III cut the colonies off from trade King George III supplemented his troops with soldiers from Hesse-Cassel

(Hessians) known for their fierce fighting ability. In January 1776, Thomas Paine issued a pamphlet Common Sense that further

incites colonists to seek independence.

Thomas Paine

Events in Declaring Independence

June 7, 1776 – Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee suggested a three-part proposal:

Declare colonial independence Form foreign alliances Prepare a plan of confederation

Richard Henry Lee

Events in Declaring Independence

Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence with input from four others (Committee of Five) & presented it on June 28, 1776

Jefferson, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Robert Livingston, & Roger Sherman

Independence was declared on July 2 & the Declaration was officially adopted on July 4, 1776 & first read in public on July 8, 1776

Parts of Declaration

Preamble – explains the justification for separation

Declaration of Rights – identifies justification for a change in government

Reasons for Separation – 27 charges against the King & Britain

Declaration of Separation – first mention of the United States of America

Declaration of Independence

Battle of New York / Long IslandJuly-September 1776

The early success that encourages the colonists to declare independence quickly disappears in New York.

General William Howe & Admiral Richard Howe defeat Washington. The British capture New York, but allow the Continental Army to withdraw to live to fight

another day. The colonial evacuation of New York is followed by defeats at White Plains & Fort Lee.

Battles of Trenton & PrincetonDecember 25, 1776 – January 1777

General Washington & continental troops crossed the Delaware River & surprised Hessian mercenaries on Christmas Day 1776

Although a small victory, it proved to be a daring plan by Washington that gave the continentals a much needed morale boost at a time when many began to question the cause & Washington’s leadership

A colonial victory at Princeton in early 1777 also revitalized the patriot cause.

Washington’s Crossing

British Plan for a 3-Pronged Attack

Purpose – defeat the Northern Continental Army & cut off the New England colonies from the rest

William Howe Barry St. Leger John Burgoyne

British Plan for a 3-Pronged Attack Parts of the Plan:

General John Burgoyne (“Gentlemen Johnny”) moved South from Canada along the Hudson Valley reclaimed Fort Ticonderoga (July 1777) & marched toward Saratoga

Colonel St. Leger moved from Lake Ontario to Albany to meet up with Burgoyne, but he gave up Fort Stanwix (August 1777) after a skirmish with colonial militia & rumors spread by Benedict Arnold

General William Howe was to move up the Hudson River from New York City towards Saratoga, but a victory at Brandywine Creek (September 1777) set his sights on capturing Philadelphia instead. This caused the Continental Congress to flee Philadelphia.

Battles of SaratogaSeptember - October 1777

At the Battle of Freeman’s Farm, Benedict Arnold held off a British attack. At the Battle of Bernis Heights, Burgoyne’s army was driven from the field

by General Horatio Gates. Burgoyne withdrew to Saratoga, but with limited soldiers decided to negotiate his surrender

The colonial victory is considered the “Turning Point of the Revolution”

Horatio Gates

Battle of Saratoga

This marked the turning point of the revolution for the following reasons: This defeat meant an end to British military control of the northern

colonies British Parliament now offered to suspend the intolerable acts & pardon

the patriots, but independence was too close France, Spain, & Holland now recognized our new nation & provided

foreign aid

Discouraging Years1777 - 1778

There was a shortage of colonial soldiers Devaluation of Continental Currency because of inflation &

Congress had no power of taxation

What makes money valuable?

Discouraging Years1777 - 1778

General Washington’s Continental Army was forced to camp outside at Valley Forge during the winter while General Howe rested in Philadelphia

"The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes, their feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them."

- Marquis de Lafayette

Discouraging Years1777 - 1778

Some of Washington’s commanders proved to be disloyal

General Horatio Gates tried to have him assassinated

Benedict Arnold, a traitor, tried to betray Fort West Point but failed

Benedict Arnold

Aid is Sent

France sent the following:

French troops led by Marquis de Lafayette who helps plan Yorktown & other key battles

War materials to supply colonial troops

Naval ships to try to break the blockade of the British

Marquis de Lafayette

Aid is Sent

Prussia sent Baron von Steuben to train colonial recruits.

Poland sent Casimir Pulaski & Thaddeus Kosciusko to plan the defense of New York

Baron Von Steuben Casimir Pulaski Thaddeus Kosciusko

British Weaknesses that led to their Defeat

The British were unable to hold large areas of land, because they did not have enough troops

They made serious tactical mistakes like giving up to easily on the northern colonies

Hessian mercenaries & loyalists (Tories) were poorly organized

Hessian Soldiers

War shifts to the Southern Front

General Howe is replaced by Henry Clinton

George Rogers Clark captured the Ohio Valley for the Colonies in 1779

Sir Henry Clinton

George Rogers Clark

War shifts to the Southern Front

The British captured key seaport cities in the South like Charleston & Savannah to resupply their troops

Privateers like John Paul Jones were hired to break the British blockade. His ship the Bonhomme Richard defeated the British Man of War Serapis

John Paul Jones Bonhomme Richard v. Serapis

“I have not yet begun to

fight”

Battle of Yorktown1781

General Charles Cornwallis is trapped along the east slope of the Appalachian Mountains by Lafayette & Von Steuben

With the help of the French fleet led by Admiral de Grasse, Washington defeated Cornwallis in the last major battle of the revolution

Charles Cornwallis Count de Grasse

Treaty of Paris1783

Results of the Revolutionary War:

The Colonies gain their independence from Great Britain

New boundaries are established – Canada & the Great Lakes to the north, the Mississippi River to the West, & Florida to the South

A new government must be established