XX. The Revolutionary War
A. Second Continental Congress sought allies
1. asked West Indies
a. too dependent & richest colonies
b. war would begin here
2. asked Canadians to attend Continental congress
a. new colony
b. French & Indian War was enough for them
c. did not want to ally with one set of British against other
B. Not unanimously supported
1. 1/3 supported war
2. 1/3 remain neutral
a. The extreme poor could care less
i. worried about food
ii. worried about welfare
3. 1/3 opposed war
a. Loyalists misunderstood & bear burden of the loosing
b. Only 1/5 of all colonists activity opposed revolution
i. Many opposed British policy
a. Stamp Act of 1765 (an end to Salutary neglect)
ii. Only loyalist after Boston Tea Party
a. opposed tea act
b. feared mob action and chaos
c. 1/10 loyalists worked for government or rich merchants
d. new immigrants
i. Georgia
ii. Highland Scots who fought in 7 years war & retired
C. British Army strongest in World and brought to America
1. 50,000 regulars
2. 30,000 Hessian mercenaries
D. Americans Untested in War
1. 16,000 troops to start
2. Congress feared standing army
3. undisciplined troops
a. left camp
b. abandoned sentry duty
c. took potshots at British
E. Women
1. generally stayed home and worked.
2. poor women followed their husbands in war
a. one woman for every 15 men
b. cooked, washed, mended, scavenged fields
3. both sides had camps of women followers
4. Women Patriots
a. Daughters of Liberty
i. volunteer organization
ii. harassed and humiliated loyalists
b. Mass. 400 women march on merchant hording coffee
c. Ladies Association of Philadelphia collected contributions
i. women's groups start all over
d. Molly Pitcher
XXI. Military Campaign
A. Washington's victory at Boston a fluke
1. Gen. William Howe orders removal from Boston
2. Washington occupies Dorchester Heights, 3/1776
3. British discover American artillery & retreated
B. British wage conventional war attack New York
1. cut colonies in two and isolate northern resistance
2. British troops not very dedicated in fighting.
a. Gen. William Howe worried about cost
b. Adm. Lord Richard Howe liked Americans
3. British are slow to capitalize on advantages
a. 8/ 22/1776 Howe bothers attack New York
b. Washington retreats over East R. to Manhattan
c. Washington indecisive but Howe's stops
d. Washington crosses Delaware retreats to Penn.
4. British winter in NY leave Hessians in NJ.
a. Washington goes back to attack Trenton 12/25
b. Hessians had hangovers and surrendered easily
c. William Howe sends troops to Trenton
d. Washington avoids main attack & retreats
C. British troops defeat political purposes
1. Quartering troops in New York brought resentment
a. shortages of food & housing
2. Hessians far worse
a. pillaged countryside
b. stole everything they wanted
c. kidnapped and rapped local women
3. Armed bands of citizens raid British patrols
D. Gen. William Howe takes Philadelphia summer of 1777
1. Hopes to goad Americans into a final decisive battle
2. British leave 7,300 troops in New York
3. Washington tries to stop at Brandywine Creek but lost
4. holds Delaware R. stop supplies to British until Nov.
E. Saratoga The Turning Point of the War
1. Gen. John Burgoyne leads march from Quebec to NY
2. Gates fortified Bemis Heights & waited
3. Benedict Arnold leads attack
4. British lead retreat back to Canada
a. Burgoyne surrenders on 10/17/1777
5. Victory gains support for Americans
a. French openly support(covert since 1776)
b. British offered Congress return to 1763
c. Spain join France 1779 to win back territory
F. Winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge
1. Conditions poor
a. Food and clothing scarce
b. sever winter with little protection
2. Congress lacks money to pay and equip troops
a. most Americans refuse to sell to army
b. British pay in sterling, good anywhere
3. Baron Friedreich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian
a. teaches use of artillery & military tactics
b. turns continental forces into a functioning army
G. War in the South
1. Washington requests Greene replace Horatio Gates
2. Green Splits forces in half
a. half join General Daniel Morgan in Virginia
b. Gen. Cornwallis hears & believes victorious
c. Cornwallis worries about Morgan in Carolinas
d. Cornwallis splits his forces in half
e. Morgan defeats Tarleton, Hannah’s Cowpens 1/81
3. Cornwallis chases after Greene
a. Greene forces Cornwallis’s retreat 3/15/1781
4. Cornwallis waits Yorktown
H. Benedict Arnold joins Cornwallis
1. distressed by personal finances
2. discussed at way Congress is treating army
3. sold secrets starting in 1779, plans to Westpoint
4. defected in 1780 became British officer
I. Victory at Yorktown
1. Comte de Rochambeau in Conn. advises Washington
a. Rochambeau wanted a land-sea assault of VA
b. Washington wants to take New York
c. Clinton receives Hessian reinforcements
d. French fleet headed to Chesapeake
e. Washington tricks Clinton
2.Cornwallis, British surrender Oct, 17, 1781
J. Victory & Treaty of Paris 9/3/1783
1. Beginning in 1782 British loose several battles
a. India
b. West Indies
c. Florida
2. French & Spanish challenge British everywhere
a. British fight navel battles in the English Channel
b. Spanish attempt to retake Gibraltar
c. British decide to cut losses in America
3. Americans John Jay,Benjamin Franklin,John Adams
a. Congress orders them to listen to French
b. French wants America weak
c. Americans disobey entered direct negotiations
b. Spanish to settle for Florida & Minorca
4. British recognize American Independence
a. present border with Canada to Mississippi R.
b. 31st parallel on the south