-
The Battle of Lexington and Concord
o British General Thomas Gage planned to attack Lexington and Concord to capture Samuel Adams and John Hancock and to acquire more gunpowder, but friends and spies of the Americans leaked Gage’s plan
o Paul Revere, William Dawes, and William Prescott went on horseback to warn the Patriots in American towns
o Over twice as many British casualties as American casualties (273 British to 88 American)
o Americans considered it a promising start to the war -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord (Extended)
a) Minutemen- Members of the Colonial Militia, famous for their ability to be ready to fight at a moment’s notice
b) Guerilla Warfare-
i. Introduced by the Americans, effective against Britain’s formal conduct, “gentleman’s war”, in which both groups fired in an orderly manner, almost like a game
ii. Includes ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit and run tactics, and mobility
iii. Gave Americans the advantage of unpredictability -
Period: to
The American Revolutionary War Kristina Kamar
-
The Second Continental Congress
o Patriot leaders assembled in Philadelphia
o John Adams proposed the creation of a continental army lead by George Washington
o The creation of the Continental Army was approved by Congress, though by “bare majorities” -
The Battle of Bunker Hill
o Britain won, but with heavy losses
o Although Americans suffered a number of casualties, they got a confidence boost from the fact that the damage they inflicted on Britain was so great -
The Olive Branch Petition
o John Dickinson persuaded Congress to send a petition to Congress that
1) Stated the rights of American colonists
2) Said that the colonists still wanted to be British citizens/maintain their loyalty to the British crown
o This was the colonists’ last attempt to reconcile with Great Britain (Americans didn’t want to go to war, they simply wanted proper representation in Parliament) -
Thomas Paine's "Common Sense"
o A pamphlet that rallied for independence from Britain as well as the institution of a republican government
o Criticized the monarchy for becoming corrupt -
The Battle of Long Island
o Lord North ordered General William Howe to capture New York City
o The British outflank the Continental Army and go on to inflict tremendous casualties upon the Americans (2,000 American losses, while the British had only 400 losses)
o British successfully push Washington’s troops back to the Delaware River -
The Pennsylvania Constitution
o Democratic state constitution
1) Ousted officeholders of the proprietary government
2) Property ownership no longer a requirement for being allowed to vote
3) All men who paid taxes had right to vote and hold office
4) Created a uni-cameral legislature with complete power -
The Battle of Trenton
o Before the battle, Washington and his army were at their lowest point in the entire war (Had suffered heavy losses, low on food and supplies, many men without shoes, marching in the cold of winter on Christmas night)
o General Washington crosses the Delaware River and launches a surprise attack on Trenton, New Jersey
o Forced the surrender of 1,000 German (Hessian) soldiers
o Encouraging to American soldiers -
The Battle of Princeton
o Patriots won The Battle of Princeton shortly after The Battle of Trenton, further boosting Americans’ confidence
o British lost control of New Jersey -
The Battle of Saratoga
o British used the “divide and conquer” strategy (Burgoyne invades America from Canada, goes down Hudson River to Albany to join up with Howe’s troops)
o American General Horatio Gates defeats Burgoyne at Saratoga
o Patriot success made France want to ally with America -
Valley Forge
o George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s lowest point in the Revolutionary War
In the dead of winter, many soldiers marching in the harsh weather without shoes
Little food, low on supplies and gunpowder
o 200 American military officers resigned, 1,000 hungry Patriot soldiers abandoned the Continental Army, 3,000 Patriots died from malnutrition -
Valley Forge (Extended)
a) Nathaniel Greene became head of the Commissary Department in March, and food and supplies began coming in
b) Baron von Steuben, former Prussian military officer, was appointed as the inspector general of the Continental Army in April
Institutes a strict drill system, brings a sense of discipline to Continental Army, who emerges from Valley Forge as a tougher, more uniform force -
The Franco-American Treaty of Alliance
o Neither France nor America could sign a peace treaty with Britain until American independence was obtained
o Continental Congress recognized all French conquests in the West Indies -
King George III reacts to American Victory at Saratoga
o King George III attempts to negotiate with America, knowing that the Franco-American alliance is strong
o Desperately has British General North persuade Parliament to repeal Tea and Prohibitory Acts, and give up British power to tax the colonies
o Rejected by Patriots -
British General Howe is replaced by Sir Henry Clinton
o Howe resigns/is sent back to Britain because of his failures -
Inflation/"Currency Tax"
o Hidden “tax”, a result of inflation due to war debts
o Every paper dollar held for a week lost value -
The Siege of Savannah
o British seaborne attack initiated by Clinton
o Troops led by Colonel Archibald Campbell successfully captured Savannah, Georgia
a) Southern Strategy- adopted by British, first implemented during Siege of Savannah (plan to capture southern rice and tobacco colonies and cut off New England colonies from southern ports) -
Spain declares war on Great Britain
o Spanish ally with the French and Americans with hopes to regain Florida and Fortress of Gibraltar -
Phillipsburg Proclamation
o Britain’s attempt to recruit southern slaves for their army (knowing how vital they were to the American colonies)
o Any slave who abandons their American master and gets behind British lines would receive protection, freedom, land
o Although slaves were not initially allowed to enlist in the Continental army, they could enlist in every state but Georgia and South Carolina by the war’s end -
New British Military Leader
Lord Charles Cornwallis is appointed as the new military head of all southern British forces -
Lafayette and French troops in Rhode Island
o European aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette persuades King Louis XVI to send General Comte de Rochambeau and a force of 5,500 men to Rhode Island to aid the Americans against British troops -
Washington names Greene commander of southern army
o General Nathaniel Greene had moved up from quartermaster to general -
Articles of Confederation ratified
o Created one unified central government
o Each state retains its independence
o Each state has one vote no matter its size, population, wealth, etc.
o Laws needed approval from at least 9 of the 13 states, and no changes to the Articles could be made without unanimous consent -
The Battle of Yorktown
o Americans and French surrounded Cornwallis’s troops and forced British surrender at Yorktown, ending the American Revolutionary War -
Preliminary Articles of Peace
o British accepted American independence
o Resolved prewar debts that were owed to British
o Property lost during war restored to Loyalists
o Removed British soldiers from America -
Treaty of Paris (1783)
o Britain formally acknowledged American independence
o Gave up British claims to lands south of Great Lakes and east of Mississippi River
o Americans got fishing rights off Newfoundland and Nova Scotia -
Northwest Ordinance
o Three ordinances that organized the “Old Northwest”
a) Ordinance of 1784- Territories could become states as their populations grew
b) Land Ordinance of 1785- rectangular grid system of surveying, minimum price of 1 dollar an acre, favored large-scale speculators over well-to-do farmers -
Northwest Ordinance (Continued)
c) Northwest Ordinance of 1787- created territories that would become Ohio, Indiana Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, and prohibited slavery, took funds from land sales to support schools, territorial legislature created if population reaches 5,000 free adult men -
Shay's Rebellion
o Led by former Continental Army captain Daniel Shays
o Rebellion of Massachusetts farmers against high taxes and property seizures, ultimately failed
o Governor James Bowdoin organized a military force to confront the rebels
o Illustrated need for the creation of a strong central government -
Constitutional Convention
o Held in Philadelphia
o 55 delegates present, from every state except Rhode Island
o Addressed problems of weak central government
a) United States Constitution (signed September 17th, 1787) came out of the Convention, plan for a stronger federal government
• Three distinct branches of government (Judicial, executive, legislative), system of checks and balances
• Bill of Rights guaranteed U.S. citizens basic rights -
U.S. Constitution ratified
The United States Constitution is Ratified when it is adopted by New Hampshire
