THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTION

American Strengths and

Weaknesses Patriotism

Help from French

George Washington

Small army and short

of soldiers

Few trained for battle

Army plagued by

shortage of guns,

gunpowder, food and

uniforms

British Strengths and

Weaknesses

Strengths

50,000 soldiers and

30,000 Hessian

mercenaries to help them

fight

Well trained, experienced

Well supplied with food,

uniforms, ammunition and

weapons

Weaknesses

Sending troops and

supplies from Britain to

America was slow and

costly

British were not

passionate about

defeating the rebels and

they had poor leadership

Britain Almost Wins the War

Britain was going to capture NYC and then

move north to Massachusetts to capture

the rebels at their heart – Boston

Washington takes his troops to NYC

Has Declaration read to them to increase their

motivation

Many of this troops believed freedom and

chance to create their own country were goals

worth fighting for

African Americans in the War

They were not sure if independence would

apply to them

Thousands of slaves fought for Loyalists

because banned from Continental Army

Shortage of volunteers caused Washington to

change his mind on the ban

Many Americans questioned their believes on

slavery and by end of war some states had

taken steps to end slavery

Defeat in New York

Aug 27, 1776

2 days of fighting British lost 377 men

while Americans lost 1407

British thought they had just about won

Washington did not give up but he had to

retreat for his troops to survive

Fading Hopes

NYC battle was 1st of many defeats for

Americans – things looked bleak

Trying time for soldiers – no food to eat,

soldiers were weak

Many soldiers were going home once their

enlistment was up

Americans needed more troops and more

supplies very quickly

The Crisis

British thought war was ending

Howe offered to pardon all rebels who

signed a statement promising obedience

to the king – many took him up this

Thomas Paine’s new pamphlet – G.

Washington read the words to this soliders

to fire them up

Victory in Trenton Dec 25, 1776 – Crossing Delaware – famous

painting (pg 92 in text has picture)

Snow and ice were torture-ous to the

Americans but they persevered

Hessians were happily sleeping off their

Christmas feast when Washington attacked

Washington did not lose a single man and

took 868 prisoners

Took 300 troops at Princeton a few weeks

later

Many Americans were re-energized to fight

Tide Begins to Turn

To start both sides were trying to defeat

the other side in one big battle

Washington revised this strategy and

decided to fight a defensive war

Hoped to tire out the British

New British Strategy

Germain (leader of British troops) was

going to divide and conquer

Take control of NY’s Hudson River Valley

would do this

General Burgoyne left Canada in June and

planned to move an army south to Albany,

NY where he would meet up with Howe

who was supposed to march his army

North from NYC

Problems for Burgoyne The route Burgoyne chose to take to get to

Albany took him through 20 miles of tangled

wilderness that his army was not prepared

to cross

Moved very slowly with 600 wagons

Also, Howe did not head to Albany, instead

he went to Philadelphia to try to get the

Colonists capital

Howe wanted to get into battle with GW –

GW instead made Howe chase him, playing

hide and seek

Turning Point

When Burgoyne finally gets to Saratoga

Springs on the Hudson river there are a lot

of colonial militia there

Burgoyne is outnumbered but orders

attack anyway

Burgoyne has to surrender at Saratoga

Many Americans are inspired again and

the French also join the Americans after a

while

Valley Forge War is still far from over

Howe still occupies Philadelphia

Valley Forge is the place Washington’s troops

camped for winter of 1777-1778

Had hardly any food or supplies (many farmers

sold their food to the British for money)

Baron Friedrich von Steuben – volunteer from

Prussia in charge of training – hoped to distract

men from their misery

Army grew stronger everyday

Valley Forge (cont.)

Von Steuben drilled the men every day

and the army grew much stronger

Marquis de Lafayette also helped raise

troop’s spirits

Used his own money to buy the troops

supplies

That spring the British were about to

abandon Philadelphia - Washington

wanted to put his troops to the test

Battle of Monmouth Sir Henry Clinton had taken over for General

Howe at this time

Clinton orders British to retreat from

Philadelphia

June 28, 1778 Washington’s troops catch up

with British near Monmouth, New Jersey

Washington cheers his troops on and after 2

days the British retreat

War in the north was over

War Goes South

British have not conquered any state in the

north so they change strategies

Move war to South – British thought there

were Loyalists there waiting to help out

Clinton began “southern campaign” –

succeeded in Georgia, N. and S. Carolina

After that Clinton leaves Cornwallis in

charge of the south and Clinton returns to

NYC

Saving the South

Guerilla – soldiers not a part of official army

kept American cause alive

Hit- and – run raids on the British in the south

1780 – Washington sent Nathaniel Greene to

slow the British in the south

Greene lead Cornwallis on a wild goose

chase through the south

Cornwallis grew tired and took his troops to

Yorktown in Virginia

Trap at Yorktown Cornwallis settles into Yorktown, France

sends 5000 troops to join Washington

Washington learns that another 3000 French

soldiers are coming in French warships

Washington traps Cornwallis – moves army

to Virginia and surround Yorktown on land

with 16,000 troops

French warships show up in time to block the

entrance to the Bay the British were on so

the British are surrounded

Cornwallis Surrenders

Oct 19, 1781

British troops marched to surrender

American army was weak and faded – did

not even have uniforms

Cornwallis could not bear to surrender to

this type of army so he did not participate

in the ceremony

War Ends

Months dragged on before King George

officially surrendered because he did not

want to give up

Americans were happy but freedom was

not cheap

6,200 died in battle

10,000 died in camp of disease

8,500 died as British prisoners

Treaty of Paris

1783 representatives of US and Britain

signed a treaty in Paris

3 parts:

1 – England recognizes the US as

independent nation

2 – Britain gave up its claim to all lands

between Atlantic Coast and Mississippi River

from Canada to Florida

3 – US agreed to return all rights and property

taken from Loyalists during the wary

Loyalists react to Treaty

Many loyalists did not trust the Patriots

Loyalists had not been treated well during

the war

More than 80,000 Loyalists left the US and

settled in Canada

Influence of the Revolution

Impacted other part of the world

1800s it helped inspire revolts against

European rule in South America

Inspired French Revolution