Transcript Class_Notes_files/American Revolutionx

The American
Revolution
1774 - 1783
I. First Continental Congress
A. September 5, 1774 - Philadelphia
B. 56 delegates
C. 12 out of 13 Colonies
D. Georgia did not attend
E. John Adams, Samuel Adams, John
Dickinson, Patrick Henry and George
Washington
F. Continue boycott and stop trade with
Great Britain
G. Warned colonial militias to prepare
H. Declaration of Rights (10)
I. Agreed to meet in May 1775
II. The “Shot Heard round the World”
A. Minutemen – local militia
B. April 1775 – British general Thomas
Gage took away MM weapons and
stored at Concord
C. April 18, 1775 – Paul Revere and
William Dawes – British are coming!
D. April 19, 1775 – Lexington village
green, near Concord
E. Unknown shot fired
F. British marched onto Concord
Paul Revere’s Ride
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,-One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war:
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
III. Second Continental Congress
A. May 10, 1775 – Philadelphia
B. Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and
John Hancock
C. Hancock – President of the Congress
D. Created Continental Army
E. George Washington commander
F. Olive Branch Petition
IV. Early Battles
A. Fort Ticonderoga, New York
1. May 10, 1775
2. Col. Benedict Arnold & Ethan Allen
3. Colonists surprised the British
4. American victory
B. Battle of Bunker Hill
1. Mid-June 1775
2. Breed’s Hill
3. British Victory
V. Common Sense, Thomas Paine
A. January 9, 1776 – Philadelphia
B. Plain language
C. The people should make laws not the
monarchy
VI. Declaring Independence
A. June 1776
B. 2nd Continental Congress
C. Committee: Jefferson (main author),
John Adams, Ben Franklin
D. Jefferson’s 3 main ideas:
1. All men possess unalienable rights Inspired by John Locke
2. KG3 violated colonists rights
3. Colonies had the right to break away.
VII. Colonists
A. Patriots – fight for independence
B. Loyalists or Tories – loyal to Great
Britain
C. Many colonists remained neutral
VIII. Forgotten Colonists???
A. Women – Abigail Adams worried that
women were not included
B. Slaves – the Declaration did not
recognize their rights.
Major Battles
I. Lexington and Concord
A. General Thomas Gage
1. Lexington to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock
2. Concord to capture stored arms and ammunititon
B. Revere, Dawes and Cheswell – midnight ride
C. British suffer heavy casualties
II. Bunker Hill
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
American’s occupied Breed’s Hill
First two attacks British failed
Third attack Americans ran out of ammunition
British victory
Patriots could not be easily defeated
III. Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point
A. Captured by Ethan Allen and Green Mt. Boys
with help from Benedict Arnold
B. Leads the invasion of Canada
1. Richard Montgomery (America) captured Montreal
2. Montgomery advances to Quebec joined Benedict Arnold
3. December 31, 1775 Americans attack Quebec
a. Americans driven back
b. Montgomery was killed
c. Arnold was seriously wounded
IV. British Withdraw from Boston
A. 2 weeks after Bunker Hill
B. Washington takes cannons from Ft. Ticondergoga
C. Gen. Howe withdrew to Nova Scotia then attacked
Long Island
V. British Capture New York City
A. General Howe overwhelmed the poorly equipped
Continental Army
B. Washington escapes to New Jersey
C. Nathan Hale captured and hung as a spy orders from
General Howe
VI. Battles of Trenton and Princeton
A. Continental Army – very ragged, verge of defeat
B. Thomas Paine, The Crisis – “These are the times that
try men’s souls.”
C. Washington crosses the Delaware Christmas night
and surprises the Hessian force at Trenton
D. A week later, Washington takes Princeton
E. Victories boost spirits and attracts more men to the
Continental Army.
VII. Battles of Oriskany and Saratoga
A. British plan to divide New England, 1777
1. General Burgoyne march from Canada to Albany, NY
2. Colonel Barry St. Leger lead from Canada to Oswego and
then to Albany
3. General William Howe move north from New York City to
Albany
4. Plan failed
B. St. Leger defeated at the Battle of Oriskany
C. Gen. Howe moved to Philadelphia winning
Brandywine and Germantown against Washington
D. Gen. Burgoyne defeated at the Battle of Saratoga by
American Commander General Horatio Gates
E. American victory – France signed the Treaty of
Alliance with United States
VIII.British Leave Philadelphia
A. Philadelphia capitol of the U.S. – Brandywine and
Germantown – British victories
B. Valley Forge – Washington (worst winter)
C. Baron von Steuben reorganized and trained
Continentals
D. General Henry Clinton (GB) abandoned
Philadelphia and moved British forces back to
New York City.
IX. George Rogers Clark
A. British encouraged their Indian allies to attack American
settlers on the western frontier.
B. Clark and a band of frontiersmen
C. present day Illinois and Indiana
D. Clark captures British forts Kaskaskia and Vincennes
X. The War at Sea
A. American naval forces tried to avoid direct
confrontation with British Navy
B. They focused on disrupting Great Britain’s trade
C. Small Continental Navy and 2,000 privateers
D. Captured 800 British Ships
E. John Paul Jones captures Serapis (British)
XI. End of the War
A. Fighting in the last years took place in the south.
B. British captured the coastal cities of Savannah,
Charleston, and Wilmington
C. General Charles Cornwallis defeated American forces
at Camden, SC.
D. General Nathanael Greene goes to southern states
E. America wins King’s Mountain, Cowpens and
Guilford Courthouse – Cornwallis retreats to the coast.
F. Marquis de Lafayette occupied Cornwallis
G. Washington heads south with 20,000 men
H. Admiral de Grasse prevents British Navy from helping
Cornwallis
I. Cornwallis surrenders
J. Yorktown last major battle – American victory
XII. Treaty of Paris 1783
A. Great Britain recognized the independence of the
United States
B. The Mississippi becomes the United States western
border.