The American Revolution

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Tuesday, November 17th
Do-Now Going over the homework. Last night you read about the British and American Strategies. What did you learn? How did you respond to the questions? Recall what you know about the advantages the disadvantages on the American and British sides
Agenda Do Now HW check Notes Discussion advantages disadvantages, key battles key leaders, etc. Homework
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The American Revolution

• Advantages Disadvantages
• Key events and battles
• Notable leaders and participants

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Strengths

• BRITISH STRENGTHS
• Well-equipped funded
• Trained army
• Strong navy, etc.

• AMERICAN STRENGTHS
• Home field advantage
• Guerilla war tactics
• Motivation

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Weaknesses

• BRITISH WEAKNESSES
• War was unpopular in Britain
• Unknown, hostile territory
• Commanders resisted adopting guerilla tactics

• AMERICAN WEAKNESS
• Inexperienced,
• No central government control,
• Lacking funds, supplies, etc.
• Loyalists joined British or fled to Canada

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• Once these rebels have felt a
• smart blow, they
• will submit.
• King George III

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British Strategy

• Divide and conquer
• Attack the middle Colonies to
• separate north from south
• Enlist help from mercenaries,
• loyalists, and Native Americans
• With Hessian support, the Brits attack
  Washingtons poorly trained equipped forces in
  NY
• Throw money men at the problem

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Continental Strategy

• Build a military from the ground up
• Continental soldiers, minutemen, militia,
• privateers, etc.
• Break tradition
• Fight during the winter, use guerrilla support,
  etc.
• Spies and Misinformation
• Live to fight another day, present false
  information, use spies to secure intelligence, do
  the unexpected
• Secure some powerful allies
• Frances support proved key to victory

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Support from the Swamps

• Who was Francis Marion?
• Famous Patriot militia leader
• Bold, hardy, resourceful, skillful,
• Carried his secretive plans with him to the grave
• Nicknamed the Swamp Fox of South Carolina
• Attacks from Marions militia unit and others
  provided indispensable support for the Patriot
  cause

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Weapons of the Revolution

• Muskets
• Cannons
• Flintlock Pistols
• Swords Sabers
• !Submarines!
• Sort of Americas first (and failed) experiment
  with the concept of an underwater vessel during
  the Revolutionary War. A submarine, then
  called "the Turtle" was invented by David
  Bushnell in order to attach explosives to
  British ships without being detected. Though
  General Washington loathed this underwater manner
  of attack as "ungentlemanly", the Turtle was
  deployed on September 6th, 1776.

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George Washington Master of Misinformation
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• I only regret that I have but one life to lose
  for my country.
• Nathan Hale,
• Captured Patriot

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New Jersey

• Major actions in the state include
• 11/20/1776 - Forced Abandonment of Fort Lee,
  starting the retreat of the American army across
  NJ to the other side of the Delaware river.
• 12/26/1776 - The first battle of Trenton
• 1/3/1777 - The battle of Princeton
• 4/14/1777 - The Battle of Bound Brook
• June 1777 - The Battle of Short Hills
• Autumn 1777 - River Forts defense of the lower
  Delaware
• 6/28/1778 - The battle of Monmouth
• 6/6/1780 - The Battle of Connecticut Farms
• 6/23/1780 - The Battle of Springfield, last large
  action in the north.
• Additionally, there were hundreds, even
  thousands, of smaller battles, engagements,
  skirmishes, raids, ambushes, etc. involving
  regular troops, militia units and loyalist units,
  and many actions off the coast of sea vessels.

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Major Battles
Date Location Battle American British
04/19/1775 MA Lexington/Concord Parker Smith
06/17/1775 MA Bunker Hill Prescott Howe
11/13/1775 Quebec Montreal Montgomery Carleton
12/31/1775 Quebec Quebec Montgomery Carleton
08/27/1776 NY Long Island Washington Howe
12/26/1776 NJ Trenton Washington Rall
01/03/1777 NJ Princeton Washington Cornwallis
09/11/1777 PA Brandywine Washington Howe
10/04/1777 PA Germantown Washington Howe
06/28/1778 NJ Monmouth Washington Clinton
09/23/1779 North Sea Bonhomme Richard v. Serapis Jones Pearson
10/07/1780 SC Kings Mountain Campbell Ferguson
03/15/1781 SC Guilford Courthouse Greene Cornwallis
Oct. 16-19, 1781 NC Yorktown Washington Cornwallis
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Benedict Arnold

• Brilliant general
• Won several battles against the British
• then joined them.
• He helped Ethan Allen take Fort Ticonderoga, also
  played a major part in the Patriot victory at
  Saratoga.
• Feeling jaded and overlooked for appointment to
  higher posts, he joined the British and tried to
  help them win the war.
• He had planned to deliver his own keys to West
  Point, site of the U.S. army, to Britain's Major
  John Andre.
• Andre was captured and hanged. Arnold escaped and
  actually commanded British troops later in the
  war. He died in Britain, unrecognized and alone.

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Fort TiconderogaMay 10, 1775

• NY fort on the western shore of Lake Champlain
• Originally French
• Seized by British in the Fr. Ind. War
• Captured by Ethan Allen Green Mountain Boys
• along with Benedict Arnold
• First "official" victory of the Revolutionary War
• The fort held a stock of British weapons,
  cannons, etc.
• Delayed a planned British invasion from Canada
  and also enabled American troops to invade Canada
  themselves.

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Battles Bunker HillJune 17, 1775

• Fought on hills north of Boston Harbor
• Britain lost 42 of their troops
• Showed the American
• forces they could do some
• real damage to the great
• army
• No turning back now...
• Losses
• 1100 British
• 400 Patriot
• Victory Tactical v. Psychological

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• These are the times that try mens souls. The
  summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in
  this crisis, shrink from the service of their
  country but he that stands it NOW deserves 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
• Thomas Paine, The Crisis
• Winter of 1776

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• Christmas Eve, leave their post and secretly
  cross the Delaware River

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Battles Trenton Princeton December 26, 1776
January 3, 1777

• Washington and his troops cross the Delaware
• Achieve total surprise and a clear American
  victory
• Captured nearly the entire Hessian force
• Drunken German mercenaries celebrating the
  holidays
• Stealthy tactics
• Unusual winter fighting and movements at night
• Left the fires burning to appear at camp
• Days after Trenton, victory at Princeton drove
  the British out of NJ, almost for good
• Morale boost
• Chance to gain badly needed supplies

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Wednesday, November 18th
Do-Now Recall the strengths and weaknesses of the British and Colonial forces in the war. List as many as you can. Objective To conclude study of the key battles/events/figures of the Revolutionary War. To understand the significance of its resolution.
Agenda Do Now Notes Discussion advantages disadvantages, key battles key leaders, etc. Reading Washingtons victory at Yorktown ends the war. Homework Packet work Complete the Revolutionary War Battles and Leaders worksheet
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Battles Saratoga

• Series of battles near Saratoga, NY
• Resulted in a huge American victory and
  turning-point
• 1/4 of British forces in North America
  surrendered
• Won France as an ally
• Many battles were yet to be fought, but American
  Independence was assured

General Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga, NY
October 1777
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Valley ForgeDecember 1777 to June 1778

• Pennsylvania encampment
• A particularly harsh winter
• Army was short on food, clothing, supplies.
• Training the men
• Commander G. Washington worked to make better,
  tougher soldiers
• With Baron von Steuben, a Prussian drill sergeant
• Among the soldiers who were encamped with
  Washington at Valley Forge were Generals
  Nathanael Greene and Benedict Arnold Alexander
  Hamilton, Washington's personal aide the Marquis
  de Lafayette and a man named John Marshall, who
  would go on to become the first famous Chief
  Justice of the United States.

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Battles Bonne Homme Richard vs. Serapis
September 23, 1779

• The most remarkable single ship duel of the
  American Revolution
• Bonne Homme Richard
• Barely seaworthy
• HMS Serapis
• a strong, 50-gun ship
• Asked to surrender, John Paul Jones answered"
  Surrender be dammed, I have not begun to fight!"
• And the Bon Homme Richard went on the vanquish
  the Serapis.

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Yorktown October 6-19, 1781

• Washingtons troops aided by French forces
  attacked Cornwallis position
• The French fleet prevented him from being
  reinforced or rescued

General Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown
October 19, 1781
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Articles of ConfederationDrafted in 1777 by the
Continental Congress

• Came before the Constitution....
• in effect, the first constitution of the United
  States.
• Established a "firm league of friendship" between
  the 13 colonies
• Created during the throes of the Revolutionary
  War
• Reflected a wariness by the states of a strong
  central government
• Fear of giving a central government too much
  power
• Why?
• Purposely vested the largest share of power to
  individual states
• Weak flawed in design, it was proven
  ineffective
• Later replaced by what?...

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What hardships were faced by Americans during
the war?

• Lack of support from the Continental Congress
• Disruption in trade caused by the British
  blockade
• Shortages of goods

Why was the fighting that took place in the South
particularly vicious?

• Americans fighting Americans
• Loyalists did much of the fighting for the
  British here

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What were the major provisions of the Treaty of
Paris?

• Britain recognizes American independence
• Florida lands returned to Spain
• Established the Mississippi
• River as the boundary between
• the new US and Spanish
• territory to the west

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How did the outcome of the Revolution affect
Native Americans?

• The power of the Iroquois league was destroyed
• For decades Native Americans were blamed for
  supporting the British

What impact did the Revolutionary War have on
African Americans?

• In the north, it promoted the antislavery cause
• In the south slavery only became more restrictive