Help… I’m
Surrounded!!!
W
L
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THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION: 1776-1783
The War is Won
Vive la France
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Critical point in the war
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Both needing a victory to win the war
Both making plans to outsmart the other
Patriots waited for aid from French
Brits waited for Washington to attack
July 1780
French warships appear off coast of RI !
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Carried more than 5,000 soldiers under
French General Rochambeau
Crowds cheered their bright uniforms &
plumage
French aid had arrived at last but…
Brit fleet arrived soon after trapping them
off RI
Fall 1780
Washington camps just north of NYC
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He could keep eye on Clinton and Brits in
NYC
Plan was to attack as soon as 2nd fleet of
French arrive
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Don’t arrive for almost another year!!!
Change in Plans
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Washington knew of the fighting in the south
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Knew Cornwallis was bottled up at Yorktown,
VA
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G-Dub had previously sent Lafayette’s troops to
keep them from north
August 1781- 2nd French fleet heads to the
Chesapeake instead of NYC
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Washington hatches NEW Patriot plan…
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Keep Clinton thinking they would attack NYC, but
secretly move south instead
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Rochambeau and Washington secretly march 200
miles in 15 days to meet up w/ Lafayette north of
Yorktown
Meet up w/ 2 French fleets
Basically…
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This would keep Clinton in the north
Can’t help Cornwallis from disaster
approaching
3 armies north
2 French fleets off east coast
Continental Army of the south (left intact when
Cornwallis gave up on Carolinas)
All surrounding Cornwallis’ army @ Yorktown, VA
Help… I’m
Surrounded!!!
W
W
L
LR
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The Siege of Yorktown
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Washington wondered if complicated
plan would work
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Hoped he had fooled Clinton
Hoped French fleet would reach
Yorktown in time
5 September 1781
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G-Dub receives news that fleet is nearly
there
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Plan worked perfectly, and Brits still bored
waiting in NYC!!!
14,000 Patriot and French troops had
the 7,500 Brit and Hessian troops of
Cornwallis trapped!!!
French fleets kept Cornwallis from
escaping by sea
Continentals of South kept from
retreating south
Meanwhile, Clinton sits and waits bored
in NYC waiting for the attack that would
never come
Are these guys ever
gonna attack… I am
soooo bored!!!
Cornwallis’ Defeat
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9 October 1781
American and French forces begin
massive bombardment
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So extreme, bodies lay everywhere
of Cornwallis’ army
Supplies run low for Brits and so many
soldiers dead or wounded
Cornwallis realizes the hopelessness
of the situation
19 October 1781
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Cornwallis surrenders
Patriots had won the Battle of
Yorktown
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Brits marched b/t rows of French and
Patriot forces handing over their
weapons
Cornwallis surrenders his sword to
Washington!
Independence
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Fighting didn’t end @ Yorktown
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Brits still held Savannah, Charles Town, & NYC
Few more fights but…
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2 sides send delegates to Paris to work out treaty
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Victory @ Yorktown convinces crown war too costly
to con’t
Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay for USA
3 September 1783- Treaty of Paris signed ending
the war
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Also peace treaties b/t French and Spanish too
Terms for Brits
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Great Britain would recognize USA as independent
nation
Land claim from Atlantic to Mississippi R. and
Canada to Spanish Florida
Brits withdraw all troops from territory
Fishing rights off coast of Canada
Terms for USA
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USA would allow Brit merchants to collect debts from
colonists
Loyalist land would be returned
The Newburgh Conspiracy
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After surrender, Washington maintained
army w/ HQ @ Newburgh, NY
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Plan was to disband after peace treaty
signed
Anger mounted but not toward Brits
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Congress refused to fund their pensions, and
other pay
Distrust so bad…
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Plan to not disband and march on Congress if
not paid
Washington shocked and worried
 Revolt like this could destroy new
nation!!!
 Persuaded army to be patient
 He met w/ Congress urged them to
pay
 Washington’s leadership ended threat
and Congress got busy writing checks
British troops leave NYC in Nov. 1783
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War truly over
Washington could finally give up his command
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4 December 1783- Washington says farewell to
his troops
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He returned home to Mount Vernon where he
planned on retiring quietly
Why the Americans Won
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How did they manage to win?
How defeat strongest military in world?
Patriots had several advantages…
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Fought on own land
French and Spanish aid
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Blocked Brit navy
Brits could control cities, but not
countryside
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Soldiers, navy, generals, $$$
Patriots knew terrain, and could hide
easily
Brave, impulsive generals
Most important…
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It was the people’s cause
Had personal interest in outcome
Determination and spirit that could never
be beaten
The Influence of the American
Revolution on the World
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1776- colonists began a
revolution
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Ideas lead influence to French
people to question their own lives
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Making clear principles of
freedom and rights of people
Ideas shouted by French rebels
during French Revolution in 1789
Caribbean Islands push for
independence as well
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But from France!?!
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When France overthrown by natives
and slaves in Caribbean, Haiti in
particular…
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European control in the New World
began to quickly disappear