THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

1775 - 1783

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

Loyalists

• “They call me a brainless Tory; but tell me,

which is better: to be ruled by one tyrant

three thousand miles away, or by three

thousand tyrants not one mile away?”

• “Whenever a people prevent the

execution of laws or destroy the property

of individuals there is an end of all order

and government.”

Patriots

• “Shall a body of men in great Britain who

know nothing of us invest themselves with

a power to command our lives and

properties?”

• “If our trade be taxed, why not our lands,

or produce. In short, everything we

possess? They tax us without having legal

representation.”

THE CONTINENTAL ARMY

• Commander: George Washington

• Initially formed from state militias

• Untrained, part-time emergency fighters

• Called for volunteers (1-year service)

• As a result, his army never exceeded 17,000 men

• Unprepared

• Lacked blankets, shoes, food, and even guns and ammo

• Wives accompanied soldiers

• Cooked, did laundry, and acted as nurses

THE BRITISH ARMY

• Well-trained and experienced

• Soldiers enlisted for life

• Many were unenthusiastic about fighting colonists

• Britain hired German mercenaries (professional soldiers who fight for a foreign

country)

THE BRITISH STRATEGY

• Control coastal cities

• Their navy could land troops and supplies

• Seize the Hudson river valley and capture New York

• Cut New England off from the other states

• Would serve as a sort of “home base” for operations

• They successfully forced the Patriots to retreat from New York in 1776

• Washington: “I think the game is pretty nearly up.”

THE BRITISH STRATEGY

PATRIOT VICTORY AT TRENTON

• Trenton (1776): Patriots surprise

attacked the Hessians (German

mercenaries who were still resting from

Christmas)

• Patriot victory

• Captured supplies and took over 900

prisoners

• Improved the army’s morale and

encouraged people to enlist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF-Y7s_YIAU

THE HUDSON RIVER VALLEY

• The British would send three armies

• General John Burgoyne

• Lt. Colonel Barry St. Leger

• General Howe

• Patriot sympathizers (regular citizens!) slowed the British at every turn

• Cut down trees

• Burned crops

• Drove off cattle

Arrived late due to Patriot sympathizers

Heard rumor that Benedict Arnold’s army was HUGE, so he retreated

Decided to capture Philadelphia instead… at least he was successful…

LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION

John Burgoyne (British) Benedict Arnold (American)

In the last year of the war, Arnold defected (switched sides)Nicknamed “Gentleman Johnny” for his

love of throwing huge parties

SARATOGA (1777): THE TURNING POINT

• Burgoyne, left to attack by himself, was running out of supplies

• He reached Saratoga to find heavy fortifications (military structure designed for

defense)

• Benedict Arnold’s army repeatedly charged he British

• Burgoyne was eventually surrounded

• He surrendered

• Saratoga was the first sign that the Patriots might win the war

http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battle-of-saratoga

SURRENDER AT SARATOGA

OTHERS JOIN THE PATRIOT EFFORT

• After Saratoga, others decided to ally with the Patriots

• France

• Spain

• African Americans

• Other foreigners (i.e. the Dutch)

• As a result, the British had to spread out their army throughout the world to protect

themselves

They were still bitter over losing their colonies to the British

They were persuaded by their close ally France

DEFENDING THE EMPIRE

MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE

• 19-year-old aristocrat (a nobleman)

• Made a commander by Washington

• Convinced the French king to send a

6,000-man army to America

• Popular amongst his soldiers

• Used his own money to buy clothing for

his troops

• Nicknamed “the soldier’s friend”

VALLEY FORGE (1777)

• Washington’s army ran low on supplies

• 3,700 lacked shoes or warm clothing

• 5,000 were too sick to fight

• About 25% of the army died from smallpox and typhoid

• Shipments meant for soldiers were often stolen by government employees

• Local farmers aligned with loyalists and wouldn’t sell food to the army

• More than 2,000 deserted

• Frostbite and gangrene led to many amputations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iu_-0DjIJc

VALLEY FORGE

“Unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place… this Army must

inevitably… starve, dissolve, or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best

manner they can.”

“To see men without clothes… without blankets to lie on, without shoes… without a

house or hut to cover them, till they could be built, and submitting to it without a

murmur is a proof patience and obedience which, in my opinion, can scarce be

paralleled.” – General George Washington

FIGHTING ON THE FRONTIER

• The frontier (a region that forms the

border of settled territory)

• The British held forts

• A group of frontiersmen began

capturing these forts

• As a result, the British (again) had to

divide their forces to protect yet another

area

FIGHTING ON WATER

• The British (world’s largest navy)

controlled the Atlantic Ocean

• American privateers (a privately owned

ship given permission to attack an

enemy’s merchant ships) began raiding

and robbing British ships

• Disrupted trade

• Rallied Americans

• Gave Americans much needed supplies

THE FINAL YEARS

“The dead lay in heaps on all sides, while the groans of the wounded were heard in

every direction. I could not help turning away from the scene before me with horror

and, though exulting in victory, could not refrain from shedding tears.”

THE BRITISH CHANGE THEIR STRATEGY

• General Cornwallis

• Focus on the South

• More loyalists

• Slaves were offered freedom

• Success… at first

• Captured Savannah, Georgia

• Trapped Americans in Charles Town (Charleston)

• Forced the newly created southern army to retreat

Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia

GUERRILLA WARFARE

• Guerrilla warfare: a form of warfare in

which a small group of men (usually

civilians) uses strategies such as

ambushes, sabotage, raids, and hit-and-

run tactics against a much larger, less

mobile army

• The Patriots wanted to do as little

fighting as possible and force the British

to wear themselves out

THE END OF THE WAR

• Cornwallis set up his base at Yorktown, located on a peninsula in Chesapeake Bay

• The French navy blocked the Chesapeake Bay

• The British couldn’t receive supplies or escape

• The Patriots and French armies arrived

• Cornwallis was trapped

• He surrendered on October 19, 1781

• “It is all over!” – the British Prime Minister

Why is this a bad idea?

THE END OF THE WAR

“There was as much sorrow as joy… We had lived together as a family of brothers for

several years… had shared with each other the hardships, dangers, and sufferings

incident to a soldier’s life; had sympathized with each other in trouble and sickness;

and now we were to be parted forever.”

“Through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight

long years was little short of a miracle.” – George Washington

ACTIVITY: HOW THE AMERICANS WON…

• Students will use the chart on page 218 to complete a handout.

ACTIVITY: BATTLES OF THE REVOLUTION

• Lexington & Concord

• Bunker Hill

• Trenton

• Saratoga

• Valley Forge

• Charles Town

• Yorktown