american revolutionary war 1775 - 1783. factors favoring both sides colonists: homefield advantage ...
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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: 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 & ConcordApril 1775
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.
Concord Hymn
Battle of Fort Ticonderoga May 1775
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 CongressMay-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
Appointed George Washington the General-In-Chief of the Continental Army
Political Continuum
__________________________________________________________________Moderate Conservative ReactionaryLiberalRadical
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 HillJune 1775
“King of the Mountain” 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 full-scale 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 BostonMarch 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 three-part proposal:
Declare colonial independence Form foreign alliances Prepare a plan of confederation
Richard Henry Lee
Events in Declaring Independence
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 IslandJuly-September 1776
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 & PrincetonDecember 25, 1776 – January 1777
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:
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 SaratogaSeptember - October 1777
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 Years1777 - 1778
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 Years1777 - 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 Years1777 - 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
George Rogers Clark captured the Ohio Valley for the Colonies in 1779
Sir Henry Clinton
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
John Paul Jones Bonhomme Richard v. Serapis
“I have not yet begun to
fight”
Battle of Yorktown1781
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 Paris1783
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