The American Revolutionary War

Unit 4

Key Ideas

Key Ideas

• Americans won their independence because the British got tired of fighting the war

• Benjamin Franklin negotiated treaty with French

• Washington kept his army out of any situation that could cripple them

The Two Sides

Patriots-Strengths

• Familiar with area - home field advantage

• Excellent leadership from Generals

• They were fighting for Independence

Patriots-Weaknesses

• Untrained and undisciplined soldiers

• Not enough food or ammunition

• No government to enforce policies

• Weak Navy

British-Strengths

• Well trained, strong army and navy

• Government with lots of money

• Help from Loyalist and Native Americans

British-Weaknesses

• Far from home and troops didn’t know the area

• Military leaders were weak

• Some British sympathized with Patriots

Questions

Questions

• Did the colonists need to overthrow the king to win the war?

• How would you use your soldiers if you were the commander of the Continental army based on the strengths and weaknesses of each army?

Major Events

Lexington and Concord

• First shots fired during the Revolutionary War

• Paul Revere rode to Lexington to warn the men there that the British were on their way

• 8 Patriot Minutemen were killed

Lexington and Concord

Bunker Hill

• Patriots were outnumbered by 1,000 men

• British were held off for two charges until the patriots finally retreated on the third

• British sustained heavy losses with 226 men killed and over 800 injured

2nd Continental CongressSpring 1775

• Sent Olive Branch Petition• Appointed committee to write Declaration of

Independence• Appointed George Washington Commander

and Chief of the new Continental Army.

July of 1776

• Declaration of Independence was signed

• 34,000 professional soldiers arrived from Great Britain in New York

• Washington was forced out of New York and moved back to Pennsylvania

Trenton

• On December 25, 1776, Washington took 2,500 men and crossed the ice filled Delaware river

• He caught the British (mostly Hessian mercenaries) sleeping and killed over 100 men while taking nearly 1,000 prisoner

• Major boost in morale for Patriots

General George Washington crossing the Delaware at the Battle of Trenton on Christmas night 1776 by Emmanuel Leutze

Princeton

• After defeat of British at Trenton, Washington lead his troops into Princeton

• Another morale boosting victory for Washington and his men

Brandywine

• Battle of Brandywine tied up British troops so they could not join up with General Burgoyne

• Burgoyne was then driven back twice and was not able to capture the Hudson River

Saratoga

• Key turning point in the war

• General Burgoyne attacked the Patriots for the third time and finally was defeated. British army surrendered

• Outcome: The major victory helped convince the French to join us against the British.

Battle of Saratoga

Valley Forge

• General Washington and his troops spend the winter of 1777-1778 in Valley Forge, about 25 miles from Philadelphia

• Men living at Valley Forge were underclothed and underfed.

Washington at Valley Forge

Monmouth

• Bloody Stalemate as British returned from Philadelphia to New York

1780

• Benedict Arnold commits treason and moves to the British side

• British move the focus of the war to the south

Benedict Arnold During Revolutionary War

• The British believed they would find support from Loyalists in the South

• They were surprised to find that most people sympathized with the Patriots in the North

• During this period of the war, the French forces began to arrive, and their navy was beginning to interfere with British efforts

• The Continental Army was growing in experience and in numbers.

Yorktown

• Following hit-and-run tactics by Continental General Greene, Cornwallis and his troops were pushed back to Yorktown

• Continental and French troops trapped Cornwallis and bombed him until on Oct. 19, 1781, Cornwallis and his 8,000 troops surrendered to the Patriots

British trapped by Continental Forces and French Allies

Cornwallis Surrendering