Chapter 7 The American Revolution

1
Chapter 7The American Revolution
2
What would you sacrifice to win freedom?

• What sacrifices do soldiers at war make?
• What sacrifices do regular civilians make?
• Is it worth independence?

3
Revolutionary War

• Colonists (Patriots)
• VS.
• British (Loyalists)
• Fighting for independence from British rule in
  the colonies

4
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

5
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 Franklins son fought for the British

6
The Crossing

• The British troops tried to capture coastal
  cities so their navy could land troops and
  supplies.
• Washingtons 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.

7
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.

8
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

9
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

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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

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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 Washingtons army
• given command of a whole division
• Washington considered him like a son

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Marquis de Lafayette
13
Germans train military

• German soldiers 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

14
Winter at Valley Forge

• Washington and his army camped at
  Valley Forge in Penn. in the
  winter of 1777
• VERY COLD!
• Men lacked shoes 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

15
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
  enemys ship
• During the war over 1,000 privateers captured
  hundreds of British ships

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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!

17
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

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Militia help in the South

• Francis Marion (called the Swamp Fox) led the
  militia out of South Carolina to help fight
• Like Benjamin Martin in The Patriot
• The militia fought more like guerrillas
• small bands of fighters who weaken the enemy with
  surprise raids and hit-and-run attacks
• Remember The Patriot??

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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

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The End of the War

• The Battle of Yorktown was the last battle of the
  Revolutionary War
• Cornwallis surrendered and America won
  the war!

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America WINS!

• Americans won independence even though they faced
  many obstacles

22
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

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US in 1783