The Revolutionary War

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The Revolutionary War

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The First Continental Congress

• September October 1774
• Meet in Philadelphia
• Purpose to make the Intolerable Acts null and
  void
• To place a embargo on trade with England
• Send a letter to the king listing their
  grievances
• Begin training soldiers

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Militia

• A volunteer citizen army
• Minutemen - Be ready for battle in a minutes
  notice
• John Hancock organizes the men

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Paul Revere Ride

• Revere, a silversmith, acts as a spy
• Observes the light in the North Church belfry
• Rides his horse to Lexington and Concord alerting
  the minutemen, The British are coming!

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Lexington Concord

• April 1775
• British soldiers search for Patriot leaders whom
  they want to arrest and weapons
• Militia/minutemen are ready
• Shot heard round the world - Emerson

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Ticonderoga

• Ethan Allen leads the Green Mountain Boys
• Capture 50 British cannons

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Bunker Hill

• June 1775
• Patriots told, Dont fire until you see the
  whites of their eyes.
• More British soldiers killed yet technically
  they win because the Patriots retreat
• Patriots show the British it will be a hard fight

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Road to the Declaration of Independence

• July 1775 Second Continental Congress
• Send King George the Olive Branch Petition
• Thomas Paine writes Common Sense
• Calling for a republic
• Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of
  Independence
• John Hancock boldly signs it on July 4, 1776

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War in the North

• British General William Howe captures New York
  City
• George Washington crosses the Delaware River and
  attacks the Hessians in New Jersey

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Battle of Saratoga

• British General Burgoyne makes a bet that he will
  beat the colonists
• American General Gates attacks the British and
  defeats them
• Ben Franklin is in Paris trying to persuade the
  French to help the colonists
• Because of the win at Saratoga the French send
  troops, supplies and ships

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Valley Forge

• Winter of 1777-1778
• Low-point of the war
• Over 2,500 men die of disease and starvation
• Washingtons charismatic personality holds the
  troops together

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War in the West and the South

• American Lt. Colonel Clark defeats the British at
  Fort Vincennes
• The British lose control of the frontier
• American General Gates loses the cities of
  Charleston and Savannah
• American General Greene replaces him
• Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, destroys British
  supplies

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The Battle of Yorktown

• Marquis de Lafayette alerts Washington that
  British troops have arrived at Yorktown
• Washington leads 7,000 troops from New York
• French ships drive off the British ships
• British General Cornwallis surrenders to
  Washington on October 19, 1781

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The Treaty Of Paris

• John Jay and Ben Franklin are sent to negotiate
  peace
• Demand independence from Britain and the removal
  of all British troops from America
• Treaty signed September 3, 1783