The American Revolution

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The American Revolution 1775-1783
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Performance Objectives

• PO 2. Describe the significance of key events of
  the Revolutionary War
• major battles (e.g., Lexington, Saratoga,
  Trenton)
• aid from France
• surrender at Yorktown

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More Performance Objectives

• PO 3. Describe the impact of the following key
  individuals on the Revolutionary War
• Benjamin Franklin
• Thomas Jefferson
• George Washington
• Patrick Henry
• Thomas Paine
• King George III

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Causes of the War

• British defeat French in French/Indian War
• Defeat of Indians removes colonists perceived
  need for British protection
• War costly for Brits and need addl income
• Stamp, Navigation, and Revenue Act force
  colonists to pay for protection
• 1770 Boston Massacre 5 dead after protesting
  taxation without representation

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Causes of the War (cont.)

• Quartering Act
• Colonists forced to house British troops
• 3rd Amendment of the Constitution
• Real Causes
• Colonists had intellectual differences with
  British government
• Spirit of independence brought about by frontier
  life
• Belief in democracy over oligarchy

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On the Eve of the Revolution ?
Britain Americans
Advantages ? ?
Disadvantages ? ?
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Military Strategies
The Americans
The British

• Break the colonies in half by getting between the
  North the South.
• Blockade the ports to prevent the flow of goods
  and supplies from an ally.
• Divide and Conquer ? use the Loyalists.

• Attrition the British had a long supply line.
• Guerilla tactics fight an insurgent war ? you
  dont have to win a battle, just wear the British
  down
• Make an alliance with one of Britains enemies.
• Rely on love of home to keep men fighting

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Loyalist Strongholds
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Washingtons Headaches

• Only 1/3 of the colonists were in favor of a war
  for independence the other third were Loyalists,
  and the final third were neutral.
• State/colony loyalties.
• Congress couldnt tax to raise money for the
  Continental Army.
• Poor training until the arrival of Baron von
  Steuben.

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Phase I The Northern Campaign1775-1776
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Fort Ticonderoga

• Ethan Allen, a blacksmith, leads the Green
  Mountain boys of Vermont against the fort which
  had many cannon.
• There was one guard and the officers were
  sleeping.
• The commander had to turn over 100 cannon and
  gunpowder.

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Second Continental Congress

• 13 colonies send delegates to Philadelphia.
• Many do not want a war.
• The Olive Branch Petition is sent to King George
  asking him to repeal the Intolerable Acts.
• The Continental Army is created with George
  Washington as Commander-in-Chief.

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Bunker (Breeds) HillJun 1775

• New Continental Army takes position on Breeds
  Hill
• They are told, Dont shoot until you see the
  whites of their eyes! because they have only a
  small amount of gunpowder
• British conduct frontal assault
• Poor judgement flanks/rear exposed
• 40 casualties for Brits (1,100 dead)
• Colonials repel two assaults but run out of
  ammunition.

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Bunker Hill (June, 1775)
The British suffered over 40 casualties.
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Results of Bunker Hill

• Colonists convinced standing army was unnecessary
• Showed colonial determination
• Gen Howe forever failed to press victories
• New colonial tactics
• Simple defensive
• Hold at the Hudson

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Brits Leave Boston

• By January 1776, the Continental Army surrounded
  Boston.
• The cannon captured at Ticonderoga were placed on
  Dorchester Heights, a hill overlooking Boston and
  its harbor.
• Seeing that they were trapped, General Howe
  ordered his troops to go to Halifax, Canada.

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Common Sense

• Many colonists remained loyal to Britain, even
  while patriots were fighting for freedom.
• Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common
  Sense.
• This pamphlet asked anyone to show single
  advantage this continent can reap by being
  connected with Britain.
• Hundreds of thousands of copies were sold.
• Many loyalists changed their thinking because of
  Paines arguments.

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Declaring Independence

• Delegates to the Continental Congress came to
  believe that declaring independence was
  necessary.
• Richard Henry Lee of Virginia offers a resolution
  that these United Colonies are, and of right
  ought to be, free and independent States.
• From that moment, delegates were considered
  traitors to their country. A traitor is one who
  betrays his or her own country.

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• A committee is formed to write the declaration.
• John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston,
  Roger Sherman and Thomas Jefferson undertake this
  task.
• Jefferson is asked to write the document
  explaining to the world why the colonies were
  taking such a drastic step.
• On July 4th, 1776, the Congress voted that the 13
  colonies were free and independent States.
• Fireworks were invented later ?

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The Declaration

• The first part explains the basic rights on which
  the nation is founded. Finish this phrase, We
  hold these truths to be self-evident
• The second part list the wrongs committed by
  Britain
• The last section declares that the colonies had
  become the United States of America.

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Phase II NY PA1777-1778
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New York

• Gen. Howe (Brit) heads to New York City.
• Washington takes the Continental Army to defend
  the city.
• Howe has 34,000 troops, 10,000 sailors, 30
  warships and 400 smaller boats.
• Washington has 20,000 men and no navy.
• Losing the battles for New York, the Continentals
  retreat to New Jersey.
• Nathan Hale, a young Connecticut spy is captured
  behind British lines.
• I only regret that I have but one life to lose
  for my country were his last words

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New York City in Flames(1776)
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Trenton and the Crossing

• Discouraged with losing, the Continentals are
  cold, hungry, deserting and many are due for
  re-enlistment
• A victory is badly needed.
• Washington plans a surprise attack on Hessian
  troops (German mercenaries) in Trenton , New
  Jersey.
• He gets his troops across the frozen Delaware
  River in the dead of night on Christmas.
• On Dec. 26, the Continental Army takes over 1400
  Hessians prisoner without losing a single soldier!

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Washington Crossing the Delaware
Painted by Emanuel Leutze, 1851
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Princeton

• After the Battle of Trenton, the British send
  General Charles Cornwallis to retake the city.
• Outside of Princeton, he sees the lights of
  Washingtons campfires.
• At last we have run down the old fox and we will
  bag him in the morning.
• Washington had fooled Cornwallis by leaving the
  fires burning as he marched his troops behind
  British lines, winning another surprise victory.
• The army has new hope and confidence.

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Valley Forge

• 20 miles NW of Philadelphia
• Camp where the Continental Army spent the winter
  of 1777-1778.
• Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure
  killed over 2,500 American soldiers by the end of
  February 1778.

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Baron von Steuben

• Credited with training the soldiers of the
  Continental Army
• Steuben picked 120 men from various regiments, to
  form an honor guard for General Washington, and
  used them to demonstrate military training to the
  rest of the troops.
• Our military still uses many of his methods.

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Marquis de Lafayette

• French aristocrat and military officer who fought
  for the United States in the American
  Revolutionary War.
• Close friend of George Washington
• Later, he would play an important role in the
  French Revolution.

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British Plan in Pennsylvania

• General Burgoyne (British) convinces King George
  that if New England is cut off from the other
  colonies the war will end.
• 3 British armies march on Albany, N.Y. from
  different directions.
• General Howe must take Philadelphia before going
  to Albany. He takes too much time
• General St. Leger (British) moves slowly due to
  baggage carts.
• Burgoyne is surrounded in the village of
  Saratoga.
• The 3 armies never reached Albany

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Saratoga

• The American troops cut or burned down all of the
  bridges in the path of the British
• Burgoyne sets off with an overbundance of
  supplies/equipment
• Movement extremely slow (1 mile/day)
• Guerillas could easily stay ahead and slow
  further
• This made the British an easy target for the
  American soldiers.

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Significance of Saratoga

• Turning point of Revolution
• French enter war, aligning with colonists
• British now move their focus to the South
• Spain and Holland soon join war
• Bernardo de Galvez in Spanish Florida defeated
  British forces in Natchez and Baton Rouge,
  Louisiana.

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Saratoga Turning Point of the War
A modern-day re-enactment
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A personal view of the American Revolution

• The ball first cut off the head of Smith, a
  stout heavy man, and dashed it open, then took
  Taylor across the bowels it then struck Sergeant
  Garret of our company on the hip, took off the
  point of the hip bone . Oh, What a sight it was
  to see within a distance of six rods those men
  with their legs and arms and guns and packs all
  in a heap!
• Connecticut Soldier, 1777

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Southern CampaignLate 1778

• More Loyalists live in the South
• Southern resources more valuable
• British win small victories but unable to pacify
  countryside
• Nathanial Greene vs. Cornwallis
• Greene sacrificed mass for manuever
• Smaller forces more easily could live off land
• Provided rally points for local militia
• Tempted Cornwallis to split his forces
• Militia kept Cornwallis in the South

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Phase III The Southern Strategy 1780-1781
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The Swamp Fox

• In the southern battles, Americans began to
  employ hit and run, or guerrilla, tactics.
• Francis Marion of South Carolina led a small band
  of men who slept by day and traveled by night.
• He was known as the Swamp Fox because he appeared
  suddenly out of the swamps, attacked the British,
  and then retreated back to the swamps.
• His actions kept the British off balance ?

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Banastre Tarleton

• Known as The Butcher
• He refused quarter (mercy) to surrendering men.
• Leader of the Green Dragoons
• Given the job of stopping the militia led by
  Francis Marion and failed

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John Paul Jones

• Although the American navy remained small,
  Americans attacked and captured British ships at
  sea.
• John Paul Jones, in command of the Bonhomme
  Richard, finds a British warship, the Serapis,
  guarding 39 merchant ships in the North Sea off
  the coast of Britain.
• He attacks, even though the Serapis is larger.
• When told to surrender, Jones states, I have not
  yet begun to fight!
• His men board the warship and defeat the men in
  hand-to-hand fighting.

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Tale of a Traitor

• By 1780, one of Washingtons most talented and
  successful generals, Benedict Arnold, was in
  command of the American fort at West Point.
• He was angry at what he felt was a lack of credit
  given to him for his victories.
• He offered to turn the fort over to the British!
• His plot almost succeeded but soldiers caught the
  messenger taking the offer to the British.
• Arnold escaped and joined the British and, to
  this day, a synonym for traitor is a Benedict
  Arnold.

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The Battle of Yorktown, October 1781

• The French are helping the Continental Army with
  men, weapons and warships
• The Americans and the French will corner the
  British on a small peninsula and bombard them
  with cannon fire.
• The British will surrender and end the American
  Revolution.
• The colonists will win the American Revolution
  with this victory.

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The Battle of Yorktown (1781)
Count de Rochambeau
AdmiralDe Grasse
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Impact of French

• Anxious to regain international position
• French repeatedly help American cause
• Loans of money
• Use of French ports by American privateers
• Protected American vessels near French waters
• Made English uneasy at home
• French Navy critical at Yorktown

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Cornwallis Surrender at Yorktown
The World Turned Upside Down!
Painted by John Trumbull, 1797
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The Treaty of Paris, 1783911 1845

• THE WAR ENDS WITH THESE CONDITIONS
• free, sovereign and independent states
• British must remove all troops from forts
• Boundary for United States is the Mississippi
• Loyalists would have rights and property
  protected
• captured slaves must be returned to owners

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North America After theTreaty of Paris, 1783