War for Independence

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War for Independence
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The shot heard round the world..

• By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
• Their flag to April's breeze unfurled
• Here once the embattled farmers stood
• And fired the shot heard round the world.
• Ralph Waldo Emerson, Concord Hymn

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Lexington and Concord

• http//www.earlyamerica.com/shot_heard.htm
• Two brief skirmishes in April of 1775
• British were trying to capture ammo and Patriot
  leaders outside of Boston.
• Minutemen fought for the patriots.
• Marks the beginning of the Revolutionary War.

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Battle of Bunker Hill

• British General Gage in Boston orders three waves
  of attack.
• Colonial Army held high ground on two hills.
• Colonists lose the battle, but show they can
  fight!
• Colonials kill almost 50 of British soldiers
• British only kill wound 400!
• Eventually, colonials bombard Brits out of Boston.

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Retreat form New York

• General Howe reappears in NYC
• Washingtons troops are inexperienced , poorly
  trained, and poorly equipped.
• Howe captures the city, and holds it for the
  remainder for the war.
• Things look bad for the colonial rebels
• Members of Congress flee Philadelphia.

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Thomas Paines The Crisis

• These are the time that try mens souls. The
  summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in
  this crisis, shrink form the service of their
  country but he that stands it NOW, serves the
  love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like
  hell, is not easily conquered yet we have this
  consolation with us, that the harder the
  conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

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Trenton and Princeton

• GW launches a surprise attacks against Trenton
  and Princeton in Dec 1776/Jan 1777.
• Both attacks successful.
• While of little strategic importance, these
  battles boosted Patriot morale and gained the
  patriots more supporters and soldiers.

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Washingtons Strategy

• Keep an army in the field, and survive to fight
  another day!
• He avoids situations that might destroy his army.
• His leadership kept army together event when
  defeat seemed inevitable.

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All about the Benjamin (Franklin)

• Continental Congress sends Franklin to Paris to
  work for an alliance.
• France sends money and supplies in secret, but no
  public support.
• After Saratoga, Franklin signs a Treaty of
  Alliance with France.

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Battle of Saratoga

• British seek to cut off New England from
  colonies.
• Colonial General Horatio Gates defeats large
  British force at Saratoga.
• Convinces the French that colonials have a chance
  to win.
• French become open allies!

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Other Allies

• Spain, Netherlands join after France.
• Why would these countries become allies?
• Other nations citizens fight
• France Marquis de Lafayette
• Spain Bernardo de Galvez
• Germany Johann de Kalb Baron Friedrich
  von Steuben
• Poland Thaddeus Kosciusko

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Battle of Yorktown
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Battle of Yorktown (1781)

• Huge force under British General Cornwallis is
  trapped on a peninsula, backed up against water.
• French Navy blockades York River
• British cannot re-supply or escape.
• French and Colonial troops surround town.
• After several small battles, Cornwallis
  surrenders.
• The last major battle of the war.

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Treaty of Paris (1783)

• Ends the Revolutionary War.
• Britain recognizes the United States as an
  independent nation.
• Sets the borders of the United States.
• Congress agrees American loyalists will have
  property restored
• Americans ignore this order.

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Impact of the War

• Idea of liberty spreads throughout the world,
  leading to revolutions ever since.
• This was a radical concept in a world that long
  accepted the idea of human inequality.
• In the US, only white males gain true freedom.
• However, seeds of change are planted for women,
  and slaves.
• Indians make out terrible, pushed farther west.