The American People and the

American Revolution

Battle of Bunker Hill—Breed’s Hill?

Americans react to the Revolution—Will he fight?

William Prescott steadies his men at Bunker Hill with the words, “Don’t fire until you can see the whites of their eyes.”

Because muskets were so inaccurate,

soldiers stood in close order so the

massed fire would have more impact

The Decision for Independence

Second Continental Congress— “Olive Branch Petition,” Aggressive British response—suspended trade, seized ships, freed slaves

The Declaration—Committee job, but it’s mostly Thomas Jefferson; Blaming George III; “self-evident truths,” “unalienable rights,” “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” “endowed by their

creator” *their fates

John Dickinson’s

Olive Branch Petition

*Contrasting Views of Loyalist Support—What’s worse? British or radicals?

Sources of Loyalist support—one-fifth to one-third; 1st Civil War?

The Fighting in the North

George Washington, General—dressed to lead

“Regulars” versus the militia—pick and choose

Women of the Army—camp followers

Nancy Hart, after killing a man and wounding another, holds the remaining Tories at gun point until they could be hanged. Considering Nancy Hart’s "dislike" of the Tories and the continuous attempts on both sides to "get the better" of the other, the climax of her life must have been the capture of the Tories who had savagely murdered Colonel John Dooley, a fellow Patriot. Nancy Hart is said to have sung, "Yankee Doodle" as she watched them die, fulfilling her vow to avenge their deed!

British assumptions—one big battle

Howe brothers—low casualties; reconcile

British capture New York—“chasing Charlie”

Rebel victories at Trenton and Princeton

Brandywine and Germantown—British wins; Philadelphia taken (End of Reading)

Richard Howe

Washington crosses the Delaware on his way to Trenton and the Hessians.

The Turning Point

Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga—why turning point?

Army uprisings—bad food, clothing, arrears in pay: Congress promises, two ringleaders executed

Women and the war—home front burdens

Britain’s southern strategy—valuable colonies, numerous loyalists, rebels occupied w/ slaves: then North

Rebels and loyalists battle for backcountry—ugly civil war, atrocities on both sides: British blamed

British Victory at Camden—British still own conventional battlefield—good news? Greene takes over

John “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne, liver of the high life, ladies man, American POW, and future

playwright, who tried to hack his way through the American wilderness with champagne, women and

children in tow.

The Struggle in the South

Horatio Gates (center of painting and above) accepts the surrender of Burgoyne and the British army at Saratoga.

Cowpens—Morgan routs Tarleton’s British fragment

Value of the militia—undisciplined, but ambush,

harassment tires British, intimidates Loyalists White fears of rebellion—fears dissipate, British

hesitant to inspire counterproductive slave rebellion African American quests for liberty—pick a

side, but freedom oftentimes an illusion

Nathaniel Greene, architect of the southern patriot strategy who knew he couldn’t defeat entire British force, so he divided his army to force the British to divide theirs.

A fancifully dressed Francis Marion, the Swampfox, eludes British dragoons

"From encampments hidden deep in the lowcountry swamps, General Francis Marion launched surprise hit-and-run raids against the king's soldiers."  He and his men were dressed in little more than rags, unpaid, and had not the neat appearance the artist has shown on this illustration. General Marion constantly carried a bottle

of vinegar in his pocket into the swamps, drinking it straight constantly as a folk remedy to stave off "swamp fever" (malaria).  Modern science has revealed that drinking vinegar makes the skin smell strange and mosquitoes are less likely to

bite, the truth in this old folk remedy.  Marion was a beloved commander, and an effective partisan—a sword in the side of the Redcoats.

The World Turned Upside Down

Treaty of Paris

Benjamin West’s painting of the signing of the Treaty of Paris: (left to right) John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin. Unfortunately for West, the British commissioners refused to pose, and the picture was never finished.

Trapped British surrender at Yorktown.

Citizen-soldiers fight on their own terms—poorest ranks bore the burden, maintained their personal independence

That summer of 1781, the British had expected Washington to attack New York City. But when he learned that he might be able to capture the British forces on the Yorktown Peninsula in Virginia, he executed one of the boldest moves of the entire war, moving his army 400 miles in order to catch his enemy by surprise. He marched his troops toward New York City first, to scare the British into hunkering down for an attack. Then he quickly moved south. The British commander only realized what Washington was doing two days after he'd already gone. Washington's men and their French allies marched every day from 2:00 a.m. until it grew too hot to continue during that blistering summer, and one day, more than 400 men passed out. Few armies in history had ever moved so far so fast. By the second week of October, they had reached Yorktown and surrounded Cornwallis. He finally agreed to a surrender. The one soldier who didn't surrender was Cornwallis himself. He sent his sword with his second-in-command to be offered to the French general, signifying the British had been defeated by the French, not the Americans. Washington was furious, but it didn't matter. England didn't have enough money to raise another army. Two years later, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the war was officially over.

Yorktown