The American Revolution
Chapter 6
Objectives: You will be expected to
• identify the major eras in U.S. history
through 1877 and describe their defining
characteristics
• explain the significance of the following
dates: 1776
• analyze the leadership qualities of
elected and appointed leaders of the United
States such as George Washington
Objectives:
• analyze causes of the American Revolution,
including mercantilism and British
economic policies following the French
and Indian War
• explain the roles played by significant
individuals during the American Revolution,
including Samuel Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, King George III, Thomas
Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette,
Thomas Paine, and George Washington
Objectives:
• explain the issues surrounding important
events of the American Revolution,
including
• declaring independence,
• writing the Articles of Confederation,
• fighting the battles of
•Lexington,
•Concord,
•Saratoga, and
•Yorktown,and
• signing the
Treaty of Paris, 1783
Objectives:
• identify the influence of ideas from
historic documents including the Magna
Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the
Declaration of Independence, on the U.S.
system of government
• identify colonial grievances listed in the
Declaration of Independence and explain
how those grievances were addressed in the
U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
Objectives:
• define and give examples of unalienable
rights
• analyze the contributions of people of
various racial, ethnic, and religious
groups to our national identity
• identify the political, social, and
economic contributions of women to
American society
Our Story Begins…
• In the English colonies,
located on the Atlantic
coast of North America,
where colonists have
become increasing
dissatisfied with
conditions imposed on
them by the British
government and
frustrated by the king
and Parliament’s
responses to their
petitions.
Causes of the Revolution
•British mercantilist policies after
the French and Indian War
• Mercantilism: Colonies
exist to benefit the parent
country by provided raw
materials and markets for
manufactured goods
• Taxes to repay the large
debt from the war
• Reinforcement of the
Navigation Acts to stop
colonial manufacturing and
illegal trade with other
nations (smuggling)
More British Mercantilist Policies
To tax or
not to tax… ?
TAX!
• Proclamation of 1763
• Quartering Act
• Colonial Belief that their rights as
Englishmen were being violated
• Ignoring the tradition of colonial self-government
• Trial by jury suspended in some areas
• Taxation without Representation (in
Parliament)
•
•
•
•
Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Townshend Acts
Tea Act
Mercantilism is where a colony exists to
make money for the mother country
A. True
B. False
The colonists had no representative in
the British Parliament. This is called
A.
B.
C.
D.
Taxation
Opportunity
Taxation without representation
Taxation with representation
Causes of the Revolution
• Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts
• Put Boston under martial law
• Suspended trial by jury
• Appointed General Sir Thomas Gage royal
governor of Massachusetts
• Banned town meetings (local government
in New England)
• King George III’s eventual refusal
to respond to colonial petitions
First Continental Congress
• September 1774 –
Delegates from all the
colonies except Georgia
arrived in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
• They wanted to unite
the colonies against
Britain.
Disunity in the Colonies
• Patriots – supported
war vs. Britain
• Loyalists – didn’t think
there was a good
enough reason to fight
Britain; remained loyal
to Britain
Loyalists
Patriots
Neutral
• Patriots were in the
minority when the
war broke out.
Loyalists and Neutrals
• Loyalists opposed the war
Loyalists
• Most lived in the Carolinas and Georgia
• Wanted to protect government jobs or
official positions or didn’t think colonies
could win
• Neutrals – didn’t take either side
• Quakers – pacifists
• Western farmers who were far from the
conflict
Patriots
Neutral
Money Problems
• To pay for the war,
Congress and the states printed
hundreds of millions of dollars of
paper money.
• The paper quickly lost its value
and in turn led to inflation.
• Congress stopped issuing paper
money because no one would use it.
– “Not worth a Continental”
Advantages and Disadvantages
British Army
Colonists
•strongest navy in world
•experienced, well-trained
army
•larger population
•support of Loyalists in
colonies
•fighting on own ground
•great determination to
protect area & for the cause
•more at stake in the fight
fought harder
•GEORGE WASHINGTON-
•British officers
underestimated Patriots
and made major errors
•had to “invade” colonies
and supply troops from
across the sea in England
•relied on mercenaries
•lacked regular army, navy
•soldiers lacked experience,
weapons, ammunition
•volunteers enlisted for a short
time (1 year or less) then went
home – GW constantly had to train
new, inexperienced troops
•neutral (Quakers) & Loyalists
groups wouldn’t assist them
courage, honesty, determination
Timeline of Major Events
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
First Continental Congress meets
Lexington and Concord – April 19, 1775
Ticonderoga
Bunker Hill – May 1775
Second Continental Congress Meets
“Common Sense” published - 1776
Independence Declared – July 4, 1776
Trenton - 1776
Timeline of Major Events
• Saratoga – 1777 – TURNING POINT
• “The Crisis” published - 1777
• Valley Forge – winter of 1777-1778
• French Alliance – 1778
• War in the South – 1778-1781
• Charleston - 1780
• Yorktown – 1781
• Treaty of Paris - 1783
The Midnight Ride of … William Dawes?
• April 18, 1775
• Paul Revere, William
Dawes, Samuel Prescott
ride to alert minutemen
at Lexington and Concord
that the British were
marching toward them.
• Paul Revere – better
publicity?
Minutemen to Arms!
The Redcoats are
coming!
Lexington and Concord (Mass.)
• April 19, 1775
• First battles of the war!
• King George III: The colonies
are in a state of rebellion.
• General Gage sent a detachment
led by Major Pitcairn to arrest
leaders of the Sons of Liberty
(Sam Adams and John Hancock)
in Lexington and to seize the
militia’s supplies stored at
Concord
• Fighting breaks out on Lexington
Green and at the Old North
Bridge in Concord.
British vs. militiamen, Lexington, April 19,
1175.. IRC. 2005. unitedstreaming. 7
November
2006http://www.unitedstreaming.com/
Battles at Lexington and Concord
• Militia Leader: Captain John Parker
• British defeat minutemen at Lexington
but are chased back to Boston from
Concord, fired upon along the way by
minutemen using guerilla tactics
• Hancock and Adams escaped, and
some of the militia’s supplies were
hidden before the British arrived.
• “The Shot Heard ‘round the world”
– would lead to colonial
independence and inspire
revolutions around the world
Reenactment of the charge of
the American militia.. IRC.
2005. unitedstreaming. 7
November 2006
http://www.unitedstreaming.
com/
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World
• From a poem by Ralph
Waldo Emerson called,
“Concord Hymn”:
By the rude bridge that
arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze
unfurled;
Here once the embattled
farmers stood;
And fired the shot heard
round the world…
"Minuteman Statue." Minuteman
National Park - History and Culture.
National Park Service. 9 Nov 2006
<http://www.nps.gov/mima/historycult
ure/index.htm
Fort Ticonderoga – May 1775
• Patriots led by Benedict Arnold
and Ethan Allen and the Green
Mountain Boys capture the fort.
• Cannons are taken
from the fort to Boston
and used in the
Battle of Bunker Hill.
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold (1741-1801).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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Second Continental Congress – May
1775
• Created to govern the colonies.
• Actions
• Olive Branch Petition
• Not accepted by King George III
• Instead, he sent German mercenaries
(Hessians) to fight the colonists
• Most important: created
Continental Army under the
command of George Washington
Privates in the Hessian Grenadier forces.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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The Continental Army
• Disorganized and
undisciplined
• Lacked training, supplies,
money
• Militia members were used to
electing officers and serving for
only short periods
The Continental Army
• Congress had difficulty enlisting
soldiers and raising an army to fight
the War because colonists were
unwilling to transfer power to
Continental Congress – really like 13
different wars run by separate colonies.
Congress established the Continental
Army but depended on states to recruit
(enlist) soldiers.
• Washington would have trouble
throughout the course of the war
Battle of Bunker Hill – June 1775
• Patriot Commander: William
Prescott: “Don’t fire until
you see the whites of their
eyes!”
• Patriots surrendered when
they ran out of ammunition,
but the victory was costly
for the British.
• The British learned that the
war would be longer and
more difficult than they
expected.
A 1775 map of Boston.. IRC. 2005. unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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“Common Sense” – January 1776
• Thomas Paine’s
pamphlet
• Called for complete
independence from
Britain
• Convinced many
to support the
Patriot cause
Title Page from Thomas
Paine's Common Sense.
Corbis. 2006.
unitedstreaming. 10
November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreami
ng.com/>
From “Common Sense”
Independence
• Declared July 4, 1776
• Second Continental Congress
• Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed
resolution for independence
• Thomas Jefferson wrote much of the
Declaration of Independence
• First Signer: John Hancock, president
of the Second Continental Congress
The Declaration of Independence
1. The preamble states that people forming a
new government should explain their
reasons
2. Statement of the natural rights people
have and the reasons for creating or
dissolving governments:
3. List of grievances against Parliament and
how their petitions had been ignored
4. Announcement of American independence
and a pledge of, “our lives, our fortunes,
and our sacred honor” to support it.
Unalienable Rights
We hold these truths to be self- evident,
that all men are created equal, that they
are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.
Disaster in New York – Winter 17761777
• Washington and the Continental
Army suffered a series of brutal
defeats against General Sir William
Howe in New York. The
Continental Army was repeatedly
outnumbered and outmaneuvered.
• They were forced to retreat first to
New Jersey then across the
Delaware River to Pennsylvania.
• Soldiers deserted in great
numbers; others went home
because enlistments were up.
• The Continental Army seemed
near collapse.
Nathan Hale
• Nathan Hale volunteered to spy on
British troops; the 21-year-old
masqueraded as a teacher.
• He was discovered and hanged without
a trial in 1776; his last words reported
were, “I only regret that I have but
one life to lose for my country.”
African Americans Join the Fight
• Washington needed more troops, so he
asked Congress to enlist free African
Americans which alarmed Southerners who
feared the enslaved Africans would revolt
• By the end of the war, every state except
South Carolina enlisted African Americans
like Lemuel Hayes and Peter Salem.
• Rhode Island had an all African
American regiment in 1778.
• Despite this assistance, the Continental
Army was at a low point during the winter of
1776-1777.
Thomas Paine to the rescue… again!
• New pamphlet, “The Crisis”
• Renewed vigor and support for the Patriot
cause
• Washington read it to his troops on Christmas Day
1776
These are the times that try men's souls. The
summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this
crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but
he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks
of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily
conquered; yet we have this consolation with us,
that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the
triumph.
"Thomas Paine." Wikipedia. Wikimedia, Inc.. 10 Nov 2006
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_paine>.
Victory at Trenton – December 1776
• Gen. Howe left
his troops in
winter quarters
in Trenton and
Princeton, New
Jersey while he
left to spend the
winter in New
York
• Washington and
men crossed the
icy Delaware
River on
Christmas night,
1776
• He surprised the
Hessians in
Trenton and
captured 900.
Victory at Princeton - January 1777
• Patriots defeated British
troops at Princeton soon
after.
Princeton
• These victories raised
morale and convinced many
to enlist in the Continental
Army
New British Strategy – Hudson River
• Realizing they needed a new strategy,
Britain decided on a three-pronged
attack on the Hudson River Valley in
New York, to isolate New England
from the rest of the colonies.
• They expected to defeat New England
and then move south
to conquer the remaining
colonies.
3-Prong Attack on Hudson River Valley
Hudson River
1. General John “Gentleman
Johnny” Burgoyne would lead
8,000 troops from Canada.
2. Lt. Col Barry St. Leger would
move east from Lake Ontario.
3. General Howe would move
north from New York City
The three forces would meet at Albany,
NY and destroy Patriot forces.
Howe’s Blunder
My
Bad!
• Howe bombarded Philadelphia,
eventually capturing and
occupying the city, but not
before the members of the 2nd
Continental Congress escaped.
• Determined to capture the
delegates and send them to
England for trial for treason, Howe
delayed moving north to meet
Burgoyne’s army and remained in
Philadelphia.
Sir William Howe (1729-1814).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
Burgoyne progressed slowly
Meanwhile, problems delayed British
plans to take Albany
• British General Burgoyne’s army
traveled more slowly than planned
because of his desire to travel in
luxury, harassment by Patriot
groups, traveling with many
Loyalist civilians seeking British
help
• After a defeat by the Green Mountain
Boys in Bennington, he retreated to
Saratoga, NY, short of supplies and
men.
General John Burgoyne (1722-1792).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
The Battle of Saratoga – Oct 1777
• Expected British forces
did not arrive due to
Howe’s delay in
Philadelphia.
• Horatio Gates (Patriot)
blocked the path south.
Burgoyne was
surrounded by an army
3x his own in size
Hudson River
• Burgoyne’s problems
Oops!
My
Bad!
Horatio Gates (1727-1808).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
The Battle of Saratoga – Oct 1777
• October 17, 1777 –
Burgoyne surrendered
at Saratoga & 5700
British soldiers handed
over their weapons to
Americans.
• The British battle plan
had failed
• This battle would
prove to be the
turning point in the
war.
Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga,
New York.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
Saratoga – Turning Point of the War
• Franklin had been traveling Europe,
trying unsuccessfully to persuade France
and other nations to ally with the
Americans. Although they wanted to see
Britain defeated, they were reluctant to
openly ally with the colonists, in case the
British won the war.
• The British loss at Saratoga
convinced France and other
European nations that the
Continental Army had a
chance to defeat the British.
They ally with the Patriots.
The Turning Point – New Allies
• France declared war on
Britain and gave the
Americans money, equipment,
and troops – February, 1778
• Spain and the Netherlands also assisted
the colonies.
• The Netherlands sent gunpowder.
• Spanish Governor Bernardo de Galvéz tied up the British
army along the Gulf Coast, preventing those troops from
engaging the colonists and making resupply via the Gulf of
Mexico difficult.
Cause and Effect:
France Allies with Colonies
Valley Forge, 1777-1778
• Washington’s troops spent a
harsh winter in quarters at
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
• The army lacked food, clothing,
and shelter.
• Some men deserted; others
resigned as enlistments expired.
• Almost ¼ of the Continental
Army died of exposure and
disease.
Reconstructed soldiers' cabins, Valley Forge, PA.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
Valley Forge
• In early 1778, news of France’s alliance
cheered the troops.
• European volunteers arrived to train
the Continental Army to fight using
European military tactics.
• Marquis de Lafayette
• Friedrich von Steuben
• Casimir Pulaski
• Thaddeus Kosciusku
Marie Joseph Paul, Marquis de Lafayette.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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New Allies at Valley Forge
• A French nobleman, Marquis de
Lafayette, offered his services and
became one of Washington’s
trusted aides and very popular
with the troops.
• Friedrich von Steuben from
Germany drilled Washington’s
troops and taught them military
discipline, making them a more
effective fighting force.
Baron Freidrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730-1794).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com
New Allies at Valley Forge
• Casimir Pulaski, a Polish
cavalry officer, helped the army
and died fighting for the
Continental Army in 1780
• Thaddeus Kosciusko, a
Polish military engineer helped
with defenses at West Point
and Charleston
Casimir Pulaski (1748-1779).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
Thaddeus Kosciuszko (1746-1817).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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Other allies
• Juan de Miralles from Spain lent
money, became friends with Patriot
leaders, and convinced Cuba, Spain,
and Mexico to send financial aid to the
colonies.
The War to 1777
War in the West
• Fighting on the western
frontier often involved Native
Americans, who stood to
benefit more if the British
won than if the colonists won.
• Native Americans were more
worried about American
settlers than about the
British.
• Conducted raids on American
settlements.
A Shawnee Indian.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
British Commander Henry Hamilton
• British commander at Detroit
• Rumored he offered rewards for
American scalps
• “the Hair Buyer”
http://156.63.45.195/ohc/history/path/people/hamiltonh.shtml - Nov 8, 2005
Hamilton vs. George Rogers Clark
• George Rogers Clark –
American commander
• Captured Kaskaskia, IL, and
Vincennes, IN
• After losing Kaskaskia to
Hamilton, Clark retook the fort
• Clark’s victory at
Vincennes Kept American
hold on Great Lakes area
and strengthened position
in West
Detail of "A Plan of Several Villages ...". IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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Help from Spain
• 1777- Bernardo de Galvéz, governor of Spanish
Louisiana
• Loaned $1000s
• Opened port of New Orleans to Americans
• Shipped tons of supplies up Mississippi River to
George Rogers Clark, to help him in 1779
• After Spain declares war on Britain in 1778,
Galvéz raises an army and strikes British
posts on Gulf of Mexico
• Victories opened supply lines for military
goods from Spain, France, Cuba, and Mexico
Colonial Glory at Sea
• British Navy attempted
to blockade the coast,
to prevent Patriots and allies
from supplying and
reinforcing the Continental
Army.
• Privateers attempted to
break the blockade –
captured more ships than
the weak American navy
The battle between the French and British fleets.. IRC. 2005. unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com
John Paul Jones
• Most famous privateer, raided
British ports
• Captain of Bonhomme
Richard (Poor Richard – after
Franklin’s almanac)
• Engaged the British ship
Serapis in battle, 1779
• Jones’ ship was so badly
damaged, the British captain
asked if he wanted to
surrender
John Paul Jones (1747-1792).. IRC. 2005. Bonhomme Richard vs. H.M.S. Serapis.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
John Paul Jones’ Response
• Jones’ response: “I have not yet
begun to fight.”
• Captured the Serapis before his ship
sank
• Naval hero for
Patriots
Serapis & Bon Homme Richard battle.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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The War Moves South, 1778-1781
• After the British defeat at Saratoga
ends the attempt to cut off the New
England colonies, the British decided
on a new strategy - to move the war
to the South.
• Hoped to gain support and aid
from Loyalists in the Carolinas
and Georgia.
• British would face more guerilla
warfare in the South
Francis Marion – “The Swamp Fox”
• Harasses British troops with
guerrilla tactics, raiding,
sabotaging supply &
communication
lines, & rescuing
prisoners.
• Retreated into the
swamps to hide.
Struggles in the South - Charleston
• British wanted a decisive victory to end
war  hard-hitting offensive in 1778
• British capture Savannah and overrun
most of Georgia.
• British captured Charleston, SC, in
1780
•Worst Patriot defeat of war
•Lost an entire army
Struggles in the South - Camden
• Camden, SC – 1780
• Patriots lose another army
when Horatio Gates
surrendered to Gen. Charles
Cornwallis
The battle of Camden, August 1780 IRC.
2005. unitedstreaming. 7 November
2006
<http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>
• However, Cornwallis soon
learns that he cannot
control the countryside –
guerrilla forces like Francis
Marion’s catch the British offguard and ambush them
Patriot Victories – Kings Mountain, SC
•Sept, 1780
•Patriot Victory brought new
support for independence from
Southerners
•Southern farms/homes were
being destroyed by war –
wanted it to end
Nathaniel Greene
• Replaced Gates as commander of Southern
army
• Former Quaker who had given up pacifism
to fight the British
• Tactics – avoid large-scale battles; spread
rumors to lead British all over the
countryside chasing him, then attack when
British were worn out and lower on
supplies
• Split forces – some joined Marion’s guerrilla
raids
Nathanael Greene (1742-1786).. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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Patriot Victories – Cowpens and Guilford
Courthouse
• Cowpens, SC: Daniel Morgan
led half of southern army
and defeated British
• Guilford Courthouse - NC:
Greene’s entire forces met
up vs. Cornwallis; Patriots
were forced to retreat, but
Cornwallis’ losses led him to
abandon the Carolina
campaign
• These victories opened the
way for victory at
Yorktown, VA
Lord Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) .. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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British Retreat – Yorktown, VA
• Cornwallis set up camp in Yorktown, VA,
to await orders from Gen. Clinton and
supplies
• This sets up the last major battle of the
Revolution
Our
Hero!
George Washington at Princeton, early 1777.. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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Boo!
Hiss!
Lord Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805) .. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 13 November 2006
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Victory at Yorktown
• 1781 - both armies need a decisive
victory to win the war
• July 1780 – French fleet arrives with
5,000 soldiers
under the command
of the Comte de
Rochambeau
Washington’s plan
• Washington knew Cornwallis
was camped in Yorktown,
Virginia, where Lafayette’s
troops were keeping him
trapped on the Yorktown
peninsula.
• Admiral Francois de Grasse
headed to the Chesapeake Bay
with the second French fleet.
Forces of France and U.S. trap
English Army. IRC. 2005.
unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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/>
The Siege of Yorktown
• September, 1781 – 14,000 American
and French troops trapped
Cornwallis’s 7,500 British and
Hessian troops at Yorktown.
• DeGrasse’s French fleet kept
Cornwallis from escaping by sea or
by being reinforced or resupplied
by the British Navy.
Cornwallis’ Defeat
• October 9 – bombardment of
British camp began by
Washington and the Comte de
Rochambeau.
• British supplies ran low,
soldiers were wounded or
sick.
October 19, 1781 – Cornwallis
surrendered.
Independence
• British armies remained in America and
some fighting continued after
Yorktown, but the Patriot victory at
Yorktown convinced many British
subjects that the war was too costly
to continue.
Negotiating a Treaty
• Under pressure, the British
government decided to negotiate for
peace.
• Ben Franklin, John Adams, and
John Jay met with British delegates in
Paris to negotiate.
Signing of Preliminary Treaty of Peace at Paris.. IRC. 2005. unitedstreaming. 7 November 2006
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The Treaty of Paris, 1783
• Great Britain recognized American
independence.
• US borders: Atlantic Ocean to
Mississippi River, Canada to
Spanish Florida
• British would withdraw troops
The Treaty of Paris, 1783
• Americans would have fishing rights
off Canadian coast
• US agreed that British merchants
could collect on debts owed by
Americans.
• Congress would recommend that
Loyalists’ property be returned.
North America in 1783
The Newburgh Conspiracy
• Continental soldiers awaiting
discharge in Newburgh at the end of
the war were angry because retirement
pensions not paid by Congress
• Officers threatened to refuse to
disband the army, even though the
war was over.
• Washington was appalled.
Washington Reacts
• Washington worried that the officers’
action could lead to a revolt that could
destroy the new nation. The military could
not be allowed to dominate the new
government. It had to be run by elected
representatives.
• He urged Congress to meet the soldiers’
demands for pay, stressing that they had
been faithful to their duty and deserved
more than poverty in their old age.
• Washington’s leadership ended the first
threat to the new nation.
Washington’s Farewell to his troops
• By the end of November, British
troops had left New York City
and the war was truly over.
• December 4, 1781 –
Washington said farewell to his
officers in Manhattan.
“With a heart full of love and
gratitude, I now take my leave of
you… Having now finished the
work assigned me I retire. . . and
take my leave of all the
employments of public life.”
– G. Washington
Washington Resigns
• He formally resigned his commission as
commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army and returned to his
home in Mount Vernon, VA, where he
planned to live quietly
• Washington would reluctantly return to
public service in a few years, when his
leadership would again be critical for
the new country’s survival.
George Washington
George Washington
actually lost more
battles than he won.
However, he met his
goal of keeping the
army in the field.
“First in war, first in peace,
first in the hearts of his
countrymen.”
Why the Americans Won
• They fought on their own land,
while British had to bring in troops and
supplies from overseas. Yorktown
showed how dependent the British
were on help from the sea.
• British occupied the cities but could
not control the countryside. They
were ambushed by Patriots who knew
the local terrain.
Why the Americans won
• Patriots received help from other
nations.
• French soldiers and ships; loans
• Spanish attacks on British on Gulf of
Mexico and Mississippi Valley
• Financial aid from several countries
• Foreign training at Valley Forge
Perhaps the most important reason…
• The American Revolution was a
people’s movement, not
dependent on any one battle but
on the determination and spirit
of all the Patriots
• Washington recognized this when he pointed
to the crowds wishing his troops well on the
way to Yorktown: “We may be beaten by the
English…but here is an army they will never
conquer.”
Influence of the American Revolution
• First colonial possession to rebel
against its parent country
• Inspires revolutions in France, Poland,
Mexico, Texas, the Caribbean, and
South America
• Haiti would become the 2nd colony in the
Americas to throw off European control.
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”
• French Revolution – “Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity” & “Men are
born and remain free and equal in
rights.”
• The Declaration of Independence is
quoted in revolutionary movements
even today.
Life on the Homefront - Slavery
• The issue of slavery was
questioned, especially in light of the
ideals of freedom for which people
went to war.
• African Americans fought as
soldiers in the Revolutionary War they hoped that they would soon see
the day when slavery would be
abolished.
African Americans:
• Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of
Virginia, announced that enslaved
people who fought for the British side
would be freed.
• Continental Army did not enlist African
Americans until after 1778
Life on the Home Front - Women
• Women often took over the duties of
men while the men were in the
military.
• Some, like Abigail Adams, began to
question their place in society.
African Americans &
Women in the War
Women:
•Margaret Corbin - accompanied husband,
took his place when he died in battle
•Mary Ludwig Hayes –a.k.a. “Molly Pitcher” –
went w/husband, took water to soldiers, took his
place firing cannon when he was wounded
•Deborah Sampson – disguised self as a boy and
enlisted
Since the colonists were fighting for the ideals of
freedom and liberty, some began to question the
lack of liberty for women and slaves.
Life on the Home Front - Loyalists
• The Loyalists in the colonies faced
hard times.
•spying - arrested and tried as traitors.
•victims of mob violence or ignored by
their neighbors.
• Many fled to Britain, to Spanishowned Florida, Canada, or to the
frontier.
Textbook pictures and maps:
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/ushistory/tar12003/index
.php4