Transcript The Revolutionary War

The American Revolution
(cont.)
1776-1783
CHAPTER FOUR
Thomas Paine
 Born in England but came
to America after meeting
Benjamin Franklin in
London.
 Wrote Common Sense, a
pamphlet that supported
American independence
from Britain.
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/tho
mas-paine/
Patriot and British Advantages
 Patriots knew the
territory since it was
their home.
 They were mostly
volunteers, so they
actually believed in they
were fighting for.
 Led by George
Washington.
 The British had a larger




army.
Offered African slaves
freedom in exchange for
fighting against the
Patriots.
Best army in the world.
Led by General William
Howe
Recruited thousands of
German mercenaries
called Hessians.
Women in the War
 Women fought as well.
 Margaret Corbin
followed her husband
into battle and fought for
him after he died.
 Mary Ludwig Hays
McCauly (Molly Pitcher)
carried water for soldiers
and manned a cannon.
 Deborah Sampson
dressed as a man to fight.
Molly Pitcher
http://www.njwomenshistory.org/disc
over/biographies/mary-ludwig-haysmccauley-molly-pitcher/
Abigail Adams
 Married to John Adams.
 Asked her husband to
“Remember the ladies” while
he worked within the
Independence movement and
later served as second
President of the U. S.
 Melted silverware in her
kitchen to make bullets during
the Revolution.
http://www.firstladies.org/biographie
s/firstladies.aspx?biography=2
Battle of Long Island
 Summer 1776, 32,000
British soldiers with
General William Howe.
 Patriots only had around
20,000 troops.
 Patriot spy, Nathan Hale,
captured by the British
and killed.
 Patriots lacked supplies
and lost the battle.
 Nathan Hale is quoted
before he died as saying,
“I only regret that I have
but one life to lose for my
country.”
Battle of Trenton
 British army occupied
New York.
 Christmas of 1776,
Washington and his
troops crossed the
Delaware River to
capture Hessian
mercenaries celebrating
at Trenton, New Jersey.
 Caught by surprise, 900
Hessians were captured.
Washington Crossing the
Delaware by Emmanuel Leuzte
http://www.mountvernon.org/research
-collections/digitalencyclopedia/article/crossing-of-thedelaware/
Battle of Saratoga
 Occupied by British Gen.
Burgoyne.
 Patriots kept
reinforcements from
helping Burgoyne.
 Patriot Gen. Horatio
Gates captured Saratoga.
 Burgoyne surrendered,
and Patriots maintained
link between New
England and Middle
Colonies.
 Gen. Howe was so
disgraced that he
resigned and was
replaced by Gen. Henry
Clinton.
The Colonies Get Noticed
 After victories at Trenton and Saratoga, the colonists
get the attention of European countries like France
and Spain.
 They did not want to help the colonists immediately
since they were at peace with Britain at the time.
 Benjamin Franklin was sent to France to obtain a
treaty.
New Allies
 France announced
 Spain went to war with
formal support of the
colonists after the victory
at Saratoga.
 February 1778: France
has alliance with colonies
and sends supplies,
money, and troops.
 But colonists did not
know of the alliance until
later that spring.
Britain in 1778
 Spanish governor of
Louisiana, Bernardo de
Galvez, sent troops to
Baton Rouge, Natchez,
and Mobile.
 Did not officially
recognize the colonies’
independence until after
the war.
Valley Forge
 Winter of 1777-78
 Valley Forge=20 miles
west of Philadelphia.
 British had captured
Philadelphia.
 The winter was brutal,
and many soldiers lacked
proper clothing, shelter,
and food.
 Many soldiers deserted,
or left without
permission.
http://www.mountvernon.org/resear
ch-collections/digitalencyclopedia/article/valley-forge/
Valley Forge continued…
 Washington used his strong character to keep most
soldiers united.
 They eventually made it through the winter since
they were able to build small shelters and gain
supplies.
 By April, Washington learned of the French alliance,
and with much celebration, he announced it to his
troops.
Assistance from Abroad
 Marquis de Lafayette:
French nobleman who
came to America to help
the Patriots. Spent time
at Valley Forge, and
became a close friend of
Washington’s.
 Thaddeus Kosciusko and
Casimir Pulaski: a Polish
engineer and cavalry
officer who helped the
Patriots.
 Friedrich von Steuben:
former army officer from
Germany. Taught
soldiers at Valley Forge
and made them more
professional.
 Juan de Miralles: a
Spanish diplomat who
encouraged different
parts of the Spanish
empire to donate money
to the Patriots.
Daily Life
 Some women, such as
Judith Sargeant Murray,
wanted to apply the ideas
of the Declaration of
Independence to women as
well as men.
 Likewise, people began
trying to fight slavery
because they saw at as
violating “the principles of
Christianity and humanity”
as the Governor
Livingstone of New Jersey
said.
 Loyalists were still found in
many parts of the colonies.
 Many fled to Britain,
Canada, or Florida.
 Those that stayed often
worked as spies for the
British.
The Warfront Out West and
Down South
CHAPTER 6: SECTION 3
The West
 Many colonists had moved west of the Proclamation
Line of 1763 despite the British law against it.
 Large numbers of Native Americans were involved in
western battles.
 Because they saw the British as more likely to respect
them, Native Americans often sided with them.
 Mohawk chief Joseph Brant led attacks in western
New York and eventually moved to Canada after the
war.
Battle of Vincennes
 Lt. Col. George Rogers Clark captured the British
town of Vincennes in what is now Indiana.
 After leaving, the city was taken back by Henry
Hamilton who was called the “hair buyer” because he
was said to pay for the scalps of people who settled
too far west.
 After several days of marching through ice-filled,
flooded land, Clark recaptured the town by surprise.
The Seas
 The British had a naval
 They enlisted the help of
blockade surrounding
the colonies.
 Blockades are lines of
ships meant to stop
supplies and ships
coming into a place.
 The Americans did not
have a real navy of their
own.
privateers, privately
owned merchant ships,
that would fight for
them.
 They were like legal
pirates.
John Paul Jones
 The most famous privateer
was John Paul Jones.
 Came to America from
Britain in a ship paid for by
Franklin.
 When fighting British ship
Serapis off the coast of
Britain and having his ship
at the brink of sinking, he
said, “I have not yet begun
to fight.”
 The British eventually
surrendered, and Jones
became a hero.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/
03/john-paul-jonesletters_n_3541447.html
The South and Guerrilla Warfare
 The British won a good
number of battles in the
South with Loyalist support.
 Gen. Henry Clinton captured
the city of Charles Town
which is now Charleston,
South Carolina.
 It was the worst defeat of the
war because so many people
were captured.
 Small groups of Patriots
would attack them in the
countryside using hit-and-run
strategies, or guerrilla
warfare, to attack the British
without getting in a full fight.
 One of the Patriot leaders was
Francis Marion, or the Swamp
Fox.
 Because of his skill at hiding
and attacking in the swamps
of SC, the British said that not
even “the devil himself” could
catch him.
Bernardo de Galvez
 Governor of Louisiana.
 Privately loaned money
to the colonists even
before Spain declared
war on Britain.
 Allowed the colonists to
use the port of New
Orleans to send supplies
up the MS River to
people like George
Rogers Clark.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/bernar
do-galvez.htm
Patriot Victories in the South
 After the British were forced
to retreat at Kings Mountain,
many colonists in the South
decided to support the
Revolution because they
thought that it would make
the war stop more quickly.
 Oct. 1780, Nathanael Greene
became commander of the
Continental Army in the
South.
 Greene defeated the British at
Cowpens, SC in January 1781.
 After barely winning a battle
at Guilford Courthouse in
Greensboro, NC, British Gen.
Cornwallis gave up on the
Carolinas and moved on to
Virginia.
 Washington sent Lafayette
and Gen. Anthony Wayne to
meet Cornwallis’s advance.
Yorktown and Independence
CHAPTER 6: SECTION 3
Here come the French!
 July 1780, French general,
the Compte de
Rochambeau, came to
Newport, RI with 5,000
soldiers.
 The British blocked the
French from getting out of
Newport with their ships.
 Washington had to wait
another year before the
next French fleet arrived to
help.
Map of Rhode Island
http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/ti
me-zone/usa/rhode-island/map/
Yorktown
 Washington heard about
Lafayette trapping
Cornwallis near
Yorktown, VA.
 When Washington also
heard that French Adm.
Francois de Grasse was
coming to Chesapeake
Bay, he took his army
toward Yorktown instead
of NY.
http://mrkash.com/activities/constitutiond
ocs.html
Yorktown continued…
 Washington did not want Gen. Clinton to know that
he was going to Yorktown, VA instead of NYC.
 Washington told his soldiers to march but did not
tell them where they were going.
 15 days later, they arrived in VA.
 Rochambeau’s army marched over land to Yorktown
as well and met with Washington, Lafayette, and de
Grasse there.
The Siege
 Sept. 5, the combined
American and French force
of 14,000 soldiers attacked
the 7,500 British and
Hessian soldiers.
 De Grasse’s ships kept the
British trapped at
Yorktown.
 On Oct. 19, ten days after a
huge attack from the
Americans/French,
Cornwallis surrendered.
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by
John Trumbell
http://www.aoc.gov/capitol-hill/historicrotunda-paintings/surrender-lordcornwallis
Independence
 Although fighting continued
after Yorktown, the battle
proved that the war would be
too expensive to fight for the
British.
 Representatives of the
colonies and Britain signed
the Treaty of Paris on Sept. 3,
1783.
 The treaty said that Britain
recognized the colonies as
independent and gave them
the land south of Canada but
east of the MS River.
 The Treaty of Paris was the
official beginning of American
independence.
Map of U. S. territory after
Treaty of Paris
http://blog.worldbook.com/2013/09/02/this-weekin-history-the-treaty-of-paris-is-signed-in-1783/