Chapter 4
Section 4
An American Victory
Pages 124-129
Objectives
• 1. Explain the importance of the Battles of
Trenton and Saratoga.
• 2. Describe how the Patriots defeated the
British in the West and the South.
• 3. Summarize the terms of the Treaty of Paris.
The War Heats Up
• Quick review: July 2, 1776, General Howe
sailed into the New York Bay and landed
troops on Staten Island. The British won easily
continued to go after the Patriots.
• Thomas Paine knowing the war effort wasn’t
going well for Washington and the Patriots
wrote the The Crisis.
Battle of Trenton
• General Howe thinking the war was won decided
to celebrate Christmas in New York.
• He assigned some Hessians to Trenton, New
Jersey to watch the Patriots. The Hessians were
confident in defeating the Patriots.
• Washington took advantage of the Hessian
confidence. On Christmas night Washington
crossed the Delaware River to surprise the
Hessians. The Hessians surrendered after having
their camp attacked at daybreak.
• The British field commander General Charles
Cornwallis began planning a counterattack.
American troops quietly slipped into the night
while campfires continued to blaze to fool the
British.
• Washington struck inland ambushing British
regiments at Princeton. The first offensive win
for the Patriots, greatly raised the morale.
British disaster at Saratoga
• The British decided to rethink the New England area where the
rebellion began. The British had control of Canada to the north and
New York City to the south.
• British general “Gentlemen Johnny” Burgoyne decided to setup
three separate British forces to meet in Albany. What he didn’t
think about were the obstacles in front of them such as lakes,
swamps, ponds, hills, and forests all with waiting Patriots.
• The plan that Burgoyne devised failed. Two of the British forces
never met with the Burgoyne troops. Burgoyne had left Canada in
June heading south. Not realizing that the Patriots had destroyed
bridges and trails along their way. In September the troops crossed
the Hudson River, and clashed with Patriot General Horatio Gates
in the Battle of Saratoga. Burgoyne was definitely outnumbered by
the Patriots. The British surrendered on October 17, 1777.
European powers provide aid
• France had been secretly aiding the Patriots.
The win at Saratoga was the turning point in a
formal alliance.
• The French recognized the Patriots drive for
independence and supplied them with gold,
military support, and other needed
necessities.
• 1777: France declared war on Great Britain.
• 1778: Spain joined in the war on the side of
France.
• 1780: Netherlands became involved in the
war.
• Bernardo de Galvez: governor of Spain’s
Louisiana area gave the Patriot supplies.
Galvez also defeated the British in battles
along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River.
• Other’s volunteered in the Revolution from
Europe such as:
• Baron Johann Kalb: France’s German born
officer
• George Farragut: Minorca’s Spain, fought in
Indian campaigns in 1813-14. Lived in
Knoxville, TN with his wife and five children.
Ended up in Louisiana fighting with the navy.
• Kazimierz Pulaski: Poland
• Tadeusz Kosciuszko: Poland, helped to rescue
the army led by Nathanial Greene in South
Carolina. Made a U.S. citizen after the
Revolution. Returned to Polish to fight for
their independence.
• 1777: Marquis de Lafayette of France came to
fight against the British. Developed a
relationship with General George Washington
and became part of his staff.
• Prussian Baron von Steuben developed
training and drills for the Continental Army
• 1777-78-The Patriots received good news in
regard to the support of France in their quest
for independence.
Fighting in the West and South
• 1778: The Patriots had better luck in the West
fighting in small detachments.
• George Rogers Clark: led the expedition to
secure the Illinois country, with the help of
French settlers.
• February 1779: Clark led a surprise attack on
the British to retake the outpost of Vincennes
which they had lost earlier.
• Late 1778: The British concentrated their efforts in the
southern colonies where they thought they would have
Loyalists support.
• 1780: The British using their naval support attacked
inland from Charleston and defeated the Patriots in the
Battle of Camden.
• Guerilla Warfare: was a tactic that Francis Marion
(Swamp Fox), Nathanael Greene, and other Patriots
used to force Cornwallis back to the coastline. They
disrupted British communications, convinced Loyalists
not to fight for the British, and hit and run battles.
• October, 1780: The guerilla warfare tactics
worked at Kings Mountain, South Carolina
where the British were defeated.
The Patriots Emerge Victorious
• Grievances from the Declaration of
Independence and Provisions of the Treaty of
Paris.
• Choose a partner and create a two-column
chart with the above headings.
• Analyze them to see how many of the
grievances of the Declaration of Independence
were addressed in the Treaty of Paris.
• 1781: Cornwallis moved his army to Yorktown,
Virginia. At this location he had access to the
British fleet and supplies.
• October 19, 1781, Battle of Yorktown: With
the support of the French and their navy the
British were outnumbered.
Treaty of Paris
• Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783.
• Granted U.S. independence
• Received land from the Atlantic coast westward to the Mississippi
River and from the Great Lakes south to Florida.
• U.S. received fishing rights in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and off the
coast of Newfoundland.
• Treaty declared that U.S. should pay any debts owed to the British.
• The Americans only negotiated with the British. If they had the
involvement of France and Spain. They would gain independence,
but very little else. Spain want to expand northward to the Ohio
Valley.
• The treaty allowed the U.S. more room to grow as it developed a
new country.