The War For Independence

1
The War For Independence

• Brice Harrison
• Michael McGee

2
Advantages

• For the British
• strong navy and well equipped army
• able commanders
• America was young
• For the Americans
• fighting on home soil unlike British
• fighting for a cause
• substantial aid from abroad starting in 1777

3
The First Phase New England

• British originally believed the conflict in
  America was simply a rebellion
• Lexington and Concord began the fighting in
  April 1775, colonists laid siege on the British
  in Boston
• Battle of Bunker Hill-June 17, 1775
• British forced to leave Boston for Halifax, Nova
  Scotia on March 17, 1776
• Benedict Arnold and his men attempted to take
  Canada but the campaign failed
• British defeat at Boston caused them to see the
  Americans as more than rebels

4
The Second Phase Mid-Atlantic

• Gen. William Howe led the British army back to
  New York City
• Washington and his weak excuse for an army were
  continually beaten in a series of battles around
  New York
• He then made his famous crossing of the Delaware
  River into Pennsylvania
• On Christmas night 1776, the troops re-crossed
  the Delaware and attacked the Hessians at Trenton

5
The Second Phase Mid-Atlantic

• Howe moved his forces from New York, and after a
  brief battle against the Americans, secured their
  capital in Philadelphia
• The Americans set up their winter quarters in
  Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
• In the North, British general John Burgoyne
  suffered several defeats which culminated in the
  surrendering of his army to general Horatio Gates
  at Saratoga
• This was seen as a major turning point in the war

6
(No Transcript)
7
Iroquois and the British

• Many sections of the Iroquois tribe supported
  the British in the war. Burgoynes defeat
  destroyed a large part of the Iroquois Confederacy

8
Securing Aid From Abroad

• The Americans began to receive support from many
  European nations indirectly, including Frances
  direct support
• Thanks to the diplomatic work of Benjamin
  Franklin and the victory at Saratoga, the French
  formally began to assist the colonies in their
  war efforts
• The French assistance included money,
  ammunition, a navy, and ground troops

9
The Final Phase South

• Because the majority of loyalists (British
  supporters in the colonies) were in the South,
  that is where the British decided to focus the
  war
• From 1778-1781, the British were badly beaten
  throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, and especially
  Virginia
• Henry Clinton replaced General Howe in 1778 and
  moved the army from Philadelphia to New York
• General Benedict Arnold became a traitor by
  giving British spies information about the
  patriot stronghold at West Point

10
The Final Phase South

• Although the British won a few battles in the
  early 1780s, they were constantly harassed by
  men like Francis Marion aka the Swamp Fox who
  employed guerilla warfare
• Lord Cornwallis, Britain's leader of the
  southern forces, was forced to abandon his
  campaign after losing so a series of battles
  against Nathaniel Green
• Cornwallis moved his men to Yorktown, VA and
  waited for ships to carry his men north
• Gen. Washington, the French Gen. Rochambeau and
  Admiral de Grasse decided set a trap for
  Cornwallis at Yorktown
• After a few days of entrapment, Cornwallis
  surrendered his army of 7,000 on Oct. 19, 178.
  This ended most of the fighting between the two
  sides

11
(No Transcript)
12
Immediate Repurcussions

• Lord North resigned as Prime Minister
• The Treaty of Paris, an agreement between the
  British and Americans, was signed on Sept. 3,
  1783