British Strengths and Weaknesses
• Strengths
– Population – 7.5 million
– Professional army
– Financial strength
• Hired Hessians
• Weaknesses
– Ireland – smoking volcano
– French awaiting payback
– Confused and inept
government
– Whig faction
– Provisions were scares
– Operating 3000 miles from
home
– Communication gap
– America’s varied
geography
Colonial Strengths and Weaknesses
• Strengths
– Great Leadership
• George Washington
• Ben Franklin
• Marquis de Lafayette
– Fighting defensively
– Self-sustaining
agriculture
– Moral Advantage –
just!
• Weaknesses
– Poorly organized
– Lacking in unity
– Sectional jealousies
– Economic problems
• “Continental” was
worthless
George Washington
• Chosen by 2nd Continental Congress
– All 13 colonies represented
– Chose GW to lead army
• Dignified Virginia planter
• Not a military genius, but a great leader with
strength of character
• Patient, courageous, and disciplined
• A political choice
– New England army wasn’t trusted
Thomas Paine: Common Sense
Thomas Paine: Common Sense
• Argued the superiority of a republic over a
corrupt monarchy
– People would have the power
– Government derives power from popular
consent
– Sacrifice personal self-interest for common
good
• The tiny island of Britain should not rule
over the vast continent of America
Colonial Inconsistency
• Colonists were affirming loyalty to the king
while raising armies and shooting redcoats
• May 1775 – Benedict Arnold and Ethan
Allen captured British garrisons at
Ticonderoga and Crown Point
– Artillery ready for a siege of Boston
Bunker Hill (June, 1775)
The British suffered over 40% casualties.
Bunker Hill (June, 1775)
• Colonists had seized the hill from which they
menaced Boston
• British launched frontal attack
• The entrenched Colonists mowed down the
Brits, but ran out of gunpowder and retreated
• July 1775 - Continental Congress offered
Olive Branch petition – professing loyalty
• King George slammed the door shut
– Hired Hessians to help crush the rebellion
Declaration of Independence (1776)
Declaration of Independence (1776)
• Richard Henry Lee of VA moved that the
colonies become free
– Motion adopted on July 2 by Congress
• Needed an inspirational appeal to American
people and invite foreign assistance
– Enter Jefferson’s Declaration
Declaration of Independence
Independence Hall
Washington’s Headaches
Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a
war for independence [the other third were
Loyalists, and the final third were neutral].
State/colony loyalties.
Congress couldn’t tax to raise money for the
Continental Army.
Poor training [until
the arrival of
Baron von Steuben].
• Loyalists –
colonists loyal
to king
• “Tories”
• Wealthy,
educated
• British vets
• Recent
immigrants
• Anglicans
Loyalist Strongholds
Military Strategies
The Americans
Attrition [the Brits
had a long supply
line].
Guerilla tactics [fight
an insurgent war 
you don’t have to win
a battle, just wear
the British down]
Make an alliance with
one of Britain’s
enemies.
The British
Break the colonies in
half by getting
between the No. &
the So.
Blockade the ports to
prevent the flow of
goods and supplies
from an ally.
“Divide and Conquer”
 use the Loyalists.
Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]
Phase I: The Northern Campaign
[1775-1776]
• Americans attempted a 2 prong attack of
Canada
– Their assault was beaten off
– French Canadians did not join the rebel cause
• British forced to evacuate Boston
Phase II:
NY & PA
[1777-1778]
New York and PA
• British goal was to sever New England from
the rest of the colonies
• Burgoyne’s troops would push down along
Lake Champlain, Howe would advance up
from NY, and St. Leger would come from
the west
• Benedict Arnold disrupted plans – held
them off until winter
• Howe attacked PA instead
New York and PA
• Howe wanted to force engagement with
Washington’s army and destroy it
• Washington was defeated at Brandywine
Creek and Germantown
• Howe settled in Philadelphia
• Washington’s troops went to Valley Forge
for the winter
– Trained by Baron von Steuben – Prussian
drillmaster
Washington Crossing the Delaware
Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851
Leads to British defeat in NJ and raised morale
Saratoga:“Turning
Point”of the War?
Burgoyne was forced to surrender to
General Gates
Revived the colonial cause
Made French aid possible
A modern-day re-enactment
Phase III: The Southern
Strategy [1780-1781]
Britain’s “Southern Strategy”
Britain thought that there were more Loyalists
in the South.
Southern resources were more valuable/worth
preserving.
The British win a number of small victories, but
cannot pacify the countryside [similar to U. S.
failures in Vietnam!]
Good US General:
Nathanial Greene – strategy of delay –
wear out the British in pursuit
The Battle of Yorktown (1781)
Count de
Rochambeau
Admiral
De Grasse
North America After the
Treaty of Paris, 1783