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:

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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 & Concord
April 1775
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Concord Hymn

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.
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga
May 1775
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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 Congress
May-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
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Appointed George Washington the General-In-Chief of the Continental Army
Political Continuum
Radical
Liberal
Moderate
Conservative
Reactionary
__________________________________________________________________
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 Hill
June 1775
“King of the Mountain”
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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 fullscale 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 Boston
March 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 threepart proposal:

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Declare colonial independence
Form foreign alliances
Prepare a plan of confederation
Richard Henry Lee
Events in Declaring Independence
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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 Island
July-September 1776
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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 & Princeton
December 25, 1776 – January 1777
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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:
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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 Saratoga
September - October 1777
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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 Years
1777 - 1778
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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 Years
1777 - 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 Years
1777 - 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
Sir Henry Clinton

George Rogers Clark captured the Ohio
Valley for the Colonies in 1779
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
“I have not
yet begun to
fight”
John Paul Jones
Bonhomme Richard v. Serapis
Battle of Yorktown
1781

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 Paris
1783

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