Revolutionary War

1
Revolutionary War
2
War Beginning

• Both sides thought the war would be short
• British thought they would immediately crush the
  Patriots
• The Patriots thought that the British would give
  up after a few battles

3
Advantages

• British
• Strongest navy
• Experienced, well-trained army
• Money
• More people
• Loyalists
• African American and Native American help
• Less threatened
• Better chance of freedom

• Patriots
• Fighting on own ground
• Protecting all they own
• Freedom was at stake
• George Washington was in charge
• Foreign help
• Spain
• France
• Inspired by Thomas Paine
• Common Sense

4
Disadvantages

• Patriots
• No regular army or navy
• Inexperienced soldiers
• Primarily volunteers
• Lacked training
• Short enlistment terms
• Lacking supplies
• Weapons and ammo
• Food
• Clothing, socks, and shoes
• Low morale

• British
• Unfamiliar with terrain
• Headquarters 3000 miles away
• Mercenaries fought for money
• Uniforms easy to see and shoot at

5
Loyalists

• Left the British colonies
• Fighting against the British would be treason
• Frightened by the colonial threats

6
Lexington and Concord

• 49 minutemen died
• 73 British soldiers died

7
Fort Ticonderoga

• On Lake Champlain
• May 10, 1775
• Led by Ethan Allan
• Green Mountain Boys
• Patriots successfully captured the fort
• A few days later captured Crown Point
• Prompted the Patriots to invade Canada
• Failed and wilthdrew by the spring of 1776

8
Battle of Bunker Hill

• 2200 British vs. 1200 Patriots
• Fought north of Boston
• Patriots dug in and waited to see the whites of
  their eyes.
• One of the bloodiest battles
• British lost 1,000
• Americans lost 441
• Residents of Boston watched from their rooftops
• Patriots forced to retreat (British won)
• Showed the British the war would not be easy to
  win

9
Battle of Long Island

• Late August 1776
• Patriots (Americans/Colonists) were outnumbered
• 32,000 British vs 20,000 Americans
• Lost again
• Inexperienced and walked into a trap
• Nathan Hale
• Hung as a spy
• I only regret that I have but one life to lose
  for my country.
• British wanted New York
• Good harbor
• By controlling NYC and the Hudson River they
  could divide the colonies and it would be easier
  to conquer
• British controlled NYC the rest of the war
• By late September 1776, the Revolutionary War was
  looking like a lost cause

10
Major Battles of the Revolution

• Trenton and Princeton
• Saratoga
• Yorktown

11
Battle of Trenton, New Jersey

• Americans were discouraged
• Lost battle after battle
• British army settled for the winter
• Most of the troops in NYC
• Some in Trenton and some in Princeton
• Washington and his troops were across the
  Delaware River
• Surprised the British on Christmas night, 1776
• Captured 900 Hessians
• 45 minutes
• 4 Patriots wounded
• 2 froze to death

12
Battle at Princeton

• 1 week after Trenton
• Washington quietly attacked British troops
• Patriots caused heavy damage
• Forced British out of New Jersey
• TRENTON AND PRINCETON BOOSTED MORAL, GAVE
  AMERICANS HOPE, AND CONVINCED MANY TO ENLIST

13
Saratoga

• What was supposed to happen
• (British Plan)

Burgoyne from Canada
St. Leger from Ontario
Albany,NY
Howe from New York City
14
Saratoga

• What actually happened
• Howe spent the winter in Philadelphia
• St. Leger was forced to retreat by Benedict
  Arnold
• Burgoyne traveled too slowly
• Defeated by the Green Mountain Boys
• Colonists won
• British outnumbered 31
• Trapped with no food
• Forced to surrender (October 1777)
• Turning Point of the Revolution
• Victory convinced the French to support the
  colonists
• Ben Franklin instrumental in winning their
  support
• Followed by Spain and the Netherlands

15
The War Moves West and South

• Most of the fighting involved Native Americans
  who sided with the British
• Chief Joseph Brant
• Mohawk
• New York and Pennsylvania
• George Rogers Clark
• Brother of William Clark (Lewis and Clark)
• Patriot commander in the west
• Captured Vincennes and Kaskaskia
• Indiana and Illinois

16
War at Sea

• British frequently used blockades
• American navy weak
• 2nd Continental Congress hired privateers
• John Paul Jones
• Commander of the Bonhomme Richard
• Defeated British Serapis
• One of the most courageous naval commanders in
  the Revolution

17
War in the South

• Less patriot support
• Used guerilla warfare (hit and run)

18
Yorktown

• Cornwallis is cut off from supplies
• Surrounded by the French and patriots
• Forced to surrender
• Ended the Revolutionary War

19
Treaty of Paris

• Signed September 3, 1783
• Formally recognized US as an independent nation
• Terms
• US claimed lands from the Atlantic to the
  Mississippi and from Canada to Spanish Florida
• Florida returned to Spain
• Britain would withdraw all of its troop
• America claimed fishing rights off of Canada
• Americans had to pay debts to British merchants
• Loyalists got back property taken from them
• US and Britain could use the Mississippi for trade