The Revolutionary War: America s War for Independence

The Revolutionary War: America s War for Independence

Standard Analyze the ideological, military, social, and diplomatic aspects of the American Revolution.

The Fighting Begins King George III responded to the First Continental Congress by announcing that REBELLION had broken out in the colonies And promised an immediate crackdown Colonists responded by organizing MILITIAS Citizen armies And called themselves PATRIOTS. The Patriots began to gather an enormous stockpile of weapons outside of MA, in Concord.

Confrontation at Lexington On April 18, 1775, a force of 800 British Redcoats marched toward Concord to seize the Patriots stockpile of weapons And met a force of 70 Patriots outside of Lexington. The British commander ordered the Patriots also called MINUTEMEN To throw down their weapons and surrender.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord The Patriots slowly began to withdraw, but did not drop their weapons and then somebody PANICKED and fired a shot It was the SHOT HEARD ROUND the WORLD, but the shooter is still a mystery. When the shot was fired, the Redcoats fired one volley into the Patriot line, killing eight men The Patriots scattered; the Redcoats marched on to Concord, whereupon they SEIZED the stockpile.

In April of 1775, fighting in Lexington and Concord broke out between British soldiers and... A.) German Hessians. B.) New York Tories. C.) French Mercenaries. D.) Massachusetts Minutemen.

Retreat to Boston The events at Lexington were a DECISIVE display of British Redcoat skill and discipline But when it was over, the Redcoats found themselves in ENEMY TERRITORY, 20 miles from Boston And as they began the long march back, Patriot snipers began to pick them off one by one Every so often, the Redcoats would organize into formation and fire another volley But this time, there was nobody to shoot at By the time the British reached Boston, 70 British soldiers had been killed and 202 had been wounded or were missing. The Revolutionary War had begun.

The Second Continental Congress One month after the violence in Massachusetts Delegates from all over the colonies met in Philadelphia to organize a response to the crisis And discovered DEEP DIVISIONS among themselves Some demanded INDEPENDENCE Some declared the movement for independence to be TREASON And demanded COMPROMISE with the King.

The Olive Branch Petition The Olive Branch Petition was created by the COMPROMISERS It expressed loyalty to the Royal Crown And begged King George III to step in and stop the fighting. The King refused to read it.

Common Sense Was A 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, published in 1776. His aim was to explain the crisis in straightforward that EVERY READER could understand. He argued that 1. It is ridiculous for an island to rule over a continent 2. The distance between Britain and America made proper governance impossible 3. All men are created equal at birth; royalty is a false concept, and should be replaced by self government. We have it our power to begin the world over again. A situation similar to the present hath not happened since the days of Noah The book remains one of the all-time American best-sellers And nearly every reader came away convinced that revolution was NECESSARY and INEVITABLE.

The so-called "Olive Branch Petition" can be seen as a symbol of... A.) Americans' unity in supporting Revolution. B.) the power and authority of General George Washington. C.) Americans' uncertainty over splitting with Great Britain. D.) Thomas Jefferson's theories on natural law and human rights.

The pamphlet "Common Sense" urged Americans to... A.) declare independence from Great Britain. B.) establish a boycott of British goods. C.) remain loyal to King George III. D.) maintain their military alliance with France.

Committee of Five On June 11, 1776, the Continental Congress selected Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, John Adams, and Robert Livingston to draft a declaration of independence. This group is known as the Committee of Five.

The Philosophy of Independence The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson But it was heavily influenced by two sources: 1. The Enlightenment an 18 th century movement that called for problemsolving through use of reason, and the scientific method 2. And by the writings of John Locke, an English philosopher Who had argued that EVERY HUMAN is born with three NATURAL RIGHTS Life, liberty and property That those rights come from GOD (NOT GOVERNMENT) And that government exists SOLELY to protect those rights.

The Declaration of Independence Jefferson took John Locke s phrase, life, liberty & property And changed it to Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration of Independence also borrowed from Locke s CENTRAL PRINCIPLE: Every person is born with those three rights Government exists to protect those rights The British government has FAILED to protect those rights in the American colonies Therefore, Americans have an OBLIGATION to change the government.

Ratification & Treason The Declaration of Independence was RATIFIED by the Continental Congress on July 2 And officially presented to the public on July 4, 1776. Every man who signed it was publically committing TREASON against the Royal Crown of the British Empire An offense punishable by DEATH.

The Four Stanzas of Independence Part One: The Preamble, an explanation of purpose. Part Two: An explanation of the political ideas upon which the document was based. Emphasized Natural Rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Part Three: A list of grievances against King George III (examples on following slide). Part Four: A resolution that these United Colonies are and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.

Which of the following arguments would MOST LIKELY be contained within the Declaration of Independence? A.) kings are selected by God and have the absolute right to rule. B.) the power to govern can come only from the people who are being governed. C.) taxes are necessary to maintain a peaceful and prosperous society. D.) armed revolution is a violation of natural law and should never occur.

All of the following are contained within the Declaration of Independence, EXCEPT... A.) a definition of peoples' natural rights. B.) a description of the purpose of government. C.) the establishment of a military alliance with France. D.) a list of grievances against King George III.

Strengths and Weaknesses: The British The British had a good army and the BEST NAVY in the world Almost 50% of colonists either supported the King Or opposed independence However, the war was VERY UNPOPULAR in Britain The war was also EXPENSIVE And it took place on enemy soil, far, far away from home.

Strengths and Weaknesses: The American Patriots The Americans were fighting at HOME, using the techniques of GUERILLA WAR And they were fighting to the DEATH traitors were usually hanged. However, they were not professional soldiers And DESERTION was a huge problem Patriot generals rarely knew how many battle-ready men they had under command.

MAJOR FIGURES In America s War for Independence

George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army Responsible for developing America s war strategy And held the American side together despite a number of terrible early defeats.

Marquis de Lafayette A French aristocrat who joined the American Continental Army Became George Washington s most trusted advisor And was on hand for a number of key battles Including the Battle of Yorktown.

The Fighting Begins

From Declaration to Disaster In the months after the Declaration of Independence, the Americans lost every battle NYC and Philadelphia had been abandoned to British occupation Thousands of Patriots deserted the Continental Army Which had dwindled to less than 5,000 men While many more thousands of Americans were dying on British prison ships at harbors up and down the east coast.

The Battle of Trenton At the LOWEST LOW POINT for the American Continental Army George Washington chose to undertake an extremely dangerous winter crossing of the Delaware River In order to attack a huge encampment of German mercenaries who were fighting for the British. The attack caught the Germans so completely by surprise That they were captured with hardly a shot fired. The battle was a CRITICAL VICTORY at time when the movement for independence had started to lose hope.

After their loss at Trenton, the British unleashed a series of stinging attacks on the Continental Army Culminating with brutal victories at the Battle of Brandywine And the Battle of Germantown And once again, it seemed just a matter of time before George Washington s surrender. Another Series of Defeats

Valley Forge Autumn of 1777 was another low point in the war for Independence And that winter, George Washington chose Valley Forge, Pennsylvania as the headquarters for the Continental Army. He had hired another German Mercenary Baron von Steuben to provide basic training to the Patriot forces And while the British forces spent the winter occupying the finest housing in NYC and Philadelphia The Americans froze and starved and trained furiously And by following spring had changed from amateur soldiers into ferocious warriors.

Ben Franklin in Paris At the outbreak of the war, Benjamin Franklin sailed for France In order to convince the French to join the Americans fight The French RESISTED Because they didn t think we could win However, after the Americans won an unlikely victory at the Battle of Saratoga France agreed to form an alliance Which brought MONEY, TROOPS, and a NAVY to the Americans And forced the British to fight on TWO CONTINENTS.

The most important result of the American Continental Army's winter in Valley Forge was that... A.) as a result of rigorous training, the army was transformed into a disciplined and wellorganized force. B.) the Continental Army gained valuable insight into the British war strategy. C.) the Americans were able to obtain muchneeded supplies such as boots and uniforms. D.) the Canadian army marched south and joined the Americans during this period.

American vs. American After Saratoga, the British launched an invasion of the South where half of the population was still loyal to King George III. Their plan was to march up the east coast, crushing rebel strongholds and gathering LOYALIST support Before finally smothering the revolution in the Northeast, where support for independence was strongest.

Fighting in the South The British first invaded Georgia at Savannah and DESTROYED the patriot militia there Then took South Carolina And North Carolina Finally, British General Charles Cornwallis led his army northward into Virginia Where he established a camp on a peninsula at Yorktown in order to await resupply.

As Cornwallis rolled northward, a combined French/American force moved south to stop him And Cornwallis found himself TRAPPED The French Navy surrounded the peninsula, preventing reinforcement by SEA And the Americans had cut off Cornwallis movement to the WEST, trapping him on the peninsula. Faced with the possibility of his army being cut to pieces, Cornwallis surrendered And his surrender effectively ended the war. The Battle of Yorktown

The Treaty of Paris--1783 Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. The northern border between the US and Canada was established. The Mississippi River became the border between the US and Spanish territory. Florida was returned to Spain. British troops agreed to withdraw all forces from the United States.

A New Nation? In 1783, the United States became independent from Great Britain We were BROKE Surrounded by our British enemies to the North And hundreds of thousands of Indians in the South and the West We had a barely functioning government And large numbers of people who wished to remain British subjects who thought the revolution had been a mistake. At the end of the, George Washington QUIT, and retired. How could we be expected to survive?

Lord Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at the Battle of... A.) Saratoga. B.) Yorktown. C.) Trenton. D.) Bunker Hill.

What was the impact of GEOGRAPHY upon the outcome of the Battle of Yorktown? A.) the battle was deep in the South, so the British could not obtain reinforcements. B.) the battle took place in mountainous terrain where it was difficult for the opposing sides to locate one another. C.) the British were trapped on a peninsula and could neither retreat nor obtain reinforcements. D.) the cold weather caused the British Army to lose their motivation to continue fighting.