Transcript Chapter 7 The American Revolution

The American
Revolution
What would you
sacrifice to win freedom?
• What sacrifices do soldiers at
war make?
• What sacrifices do regular
civilians make?
• Is it worth independence?
Revolutionary War
• Colonists (Patriots)
− VS.
• British (Loyalists)
• Fighting for independence from
British rule in the colonies
Americans Divided
• 20-30% of colonists were
Loyalists
• 40-45% of colonists were
Patriots
• The rest remained neutral
– not siding with one country or
the other
Continental Army
• Continental Army –
colonists fighting for independence
• untrained & undisciplined volunteers
- G. Washington – commanding General
• African Americans
• fought for both sides
• offered freedom if they fought
• Divided families
• fathers and sons fought for different sides
• Benjamin Franklin’s son fought for the British
The Crossing
• The British troops tried to capture
coastal cities so their navy could land
troops and supplies.
• Washington’s troops crossed the
Delaware river on Christmas Day, 1776
• mercenary – a professional soldier hired
to fight for another country.
• Hessians (German soldiers) were hired to
fight for the British.
British strategy
• The British strategy
• seize the Hudson River Valley
• NEW YORK
• strategy – an overall plan of action
• If successful, they would
have cut off access to
New England colonies.
Battle of Saratoga
• Saratoga
• turning point in the Revolutionary War
• U.S got help from the French after this battle
• The British were being defeated in many battles
• British troops became tired and many died in battles
• At Saratoga, the Continental Army fired
day and night on the British troops and
the British surrendered
First American Flag
• On June 14, 1777, the Continental
Congress adopted the stars and
stripes design for the U.S. flag
• Betsy Ross sewed
the first flag
for George
Washington
U.S. gets help!
• As a result of the Battle of
Saratoga the U.S. got help
• To defeat the mighty British,
the U.S needed an ally
• ally – a country that agrees to help another
country to achieve a common goal.
• They needed an ally that had money, troops & ships.
• Also needed to be a British enemy.
•FRANCE –
began to give secret
aid to the Americans
France & others help out
• France began to send supplies
and troops to America in 1778.
• Spain, Germany & Poland began to send officers
to help Washington and the Americans.
• Marquis de Lafayette
•
•
•
•
19-yr-old French nobleman
volunteered to serve in Washington’s army
given command of a whole division
Washington considered him like a son
Marquis de Lafayette
Prussian soldier trains
American military
• Prussian soldier Baron Friedrich
Von Steuben helped to train the
U.S. troops
• Taught U.S. soldiers how to move in
lines and handle weapons properly
• Taught U.S. soldiers to use bayonets
– long steel knives attached to the
ends of guns
Winter at Valley Forge
• Washington and his army
camped at Valley Forge in
Penn. in the winter of 1777
• VERY COLD!
• Men lacked shoes, clothes, food, &
blankets
• Some men's legs froze and had to be
amputated (cut off)
• 25% of the soldiers died at Valley Forge
• Became a symbol of hardships of war
• Some soldiers would desert – leave
military duty without returning
War at Sea
• By 1777, Britain had about
100 warships
• American privateers attacked British
ships
• A privateer is a privately owned ship that is
given permission during wartime to attack
an enemy’s ship
• During the war over 1,000 privateers
captured hundreds of British ships
John Paul Jones
• John Paul Jones
• won most famous sea battle
• against the ship Serapis
• Jones’ success against the best navy
in the world angered the British and
inspired the Americans
• “I have not yet begun to fight!”
British try the South
• The British could not
capture the North, so
they tried to capture
the South
• General Lord Cornwallis
led the British army
Militia help in the South
• Francis Marion (called the Swamp
Fox) led the militia out of South
Carolina to help fight
• The militia fought more like guerrillas
• small bands of fighters who weaken the
enemy with surprise raids and hit-andrun attacks
The End of the War
• General Cornwallis set
up his base in Yorktown
• A large French fleet of boats
arrived in Yorktown and trapped
the British
The End of the War
• The Battle of Yorktown was
the last battle of the
Revolutionary War
• Cornwallis surrendered and
America won
the war!
America WINS!
• Americans won independence
even though they faced many
obstacles
American Advantages in Rev. War
1. Better leadership – never gave up
2. Foreign help – French (Spanish
aide)
3. Knowledge of Land – familiar with
roads, landforms (geographical)
4. Motivation – wanted independence
The Treaty of Paris
• The Treaty of Paris 1783
• ended the Revolutionary War
• The United States was independent
• Boundary of the United States was
Mississippi River, Canada, Spanish
Florida
• Loyalists property returned
US in 1783