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BATTLE: Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. This battle took place at Lexington and Concord and it initiated a war between the Brits and the Patriots for nearly 8 years. The first shots of this battle are known famously as "the shot heard around the world" -
TACTIC CHANGE
At the start of the war the British used linear warfare, an army would face his adversary across the field in tight formation. When in range the soldiers would fire in unison on command. Then the soldiers would reload while the opposing force fired upon them. This changed when the Americans imposed their own tactics of early "gurilla" warefare. The British had to change their tactics fast in order to combat the quick and rampant tactics used by the American rebels. -
BATTLE: Bunker Hill
On June 17, 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. It is one of the most important colonial victories in the U.S. War for Independence. This battle made both sides realize that this was not going to be a matter decided by one quick and decisive battle. This battle proved to the Americans, and the rest of the world that they could stand up to the British army in traditional warfare. -
TACTIC CHANGE
The colonists used the terrain and built fortifications to help them win some battles, Bunker Hill in particular. Bunker Hill was a major colonial victory won by using the frontier tactics the colonists learned from the Indians. The colonials also used a tactics that was forbidden in formal European warfare, the targeting of officers -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Horatio Gates
in late May 1775, he rushed to Mount Vernon and offered his services to Washington.Washington urged the appointment of Gates to the army. On June 17, 1775, Congress commissioned Gates as a Brigadier General and Adjutant General of the Continental Army. He lead troops into the victory of Saratoga. -
GOVERNMENT ACTIONS: Currency tax
The Patriorts control of the local government gave Washington a greater margin for error than the British generals had. They installed a currency tax, few pennies on each dollar. As millions of dollars changed hands multiple times, currency taxes paid by ordinary citizens finaced the American military victory. -
BATTLE: Long Island
Prime minister Lord North orders Howe to capture New York City and Hudson River to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. The British had has lost 63 killed and 337 wounded and missing while Washington had lost about 970 men killed, wounded or missing, and 1,079 taken captive. George Washington had lost almost a quarter of his entire command. Washington and his army narrowly escapted being catured and being forced to surrender to the British. The fact that he got away is remarkable. -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Cornwallis
Promoted to lieutenant general in North America, he began his service in 1776 under General Sir Henry Clinton. Cornwallis was often given a leading role during this campaign -
BATTLE: Trenton
George Washington devised a surprise attack on the Hessians at Trenton, NJ. This is where the famous painting of George Washington crossing the frozen Delaware river comes from. Washington and his forces easily won this battle, and was a much needed victory for the patriots. -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Clinton
Clinton, along with Major Generals William Howe and John Burgoyne, were sent with reinforcements to strengthen the position of General Thomas Gage in Boston. Military leader in America for the British. Comes up witha new strategy to open up the southern front. Takes Charleston. -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Benedict Arnold (US)
He was a general during the American Revolutionary War who originally fought for the American Continental Army. General Wasington trusted him and due to his ego and conflicts with other generals he became a tratior to the Americans when he joined the British. -
BATTLE: Saratoga
British imposed a 3 pronged attack converging on Albany, NY. Howe sailed up the Chesapeake bay and attacked Philadelphia, the contental congress were able to escape to the country side. The Americans blocked the British attempt to move away from Saratoga to get resources and they were eventually surrounded and later surrendered. This victory is known as the turning point of the war because after this war the French publicly sided with the Americans in the war effort. -
CONSTITUTION: Articles of Confederation
A document signed amongst the 13 original colonies that established the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and served as its first constitution. -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Baron Von Steuben
Appointed as inspector general of the continental army, he instilled a strict drill system and encouraged officers to become more professional. When the troops came out of Valley Forge they were tougher and better disciplined than when they entered. -
COMMANDER CHANGE- Rochambeau
he served as commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force which embarked from France in order to help the American Continental Army fight against British forces. Joined the American revolution following the alliance made between the Americans and the French. -
ALLIANCES: Treaty of Alliance
France formally and publicly allied with the American forces after the battle of Saratoga. This alliance helped the American rebels defeat the Britians and gain their independence. -
GOVERNMENT ACTIONS: Lord North
North repealed the Tea and Prohibitory Acts and its own power to tax the colonies, the patriots rejected this offer. -
STRATEGY CHANGE- British
British revised strategy to defend the West indies and capture the rich tobacco and rice growing colonies: Virginia, Carolinas, and Georgia. Philipsburg proclamation declared that any slave who deserted a rebel master would recieve protection, freedom, and land. -
BATTLE: Yorktown
decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops over the British army. the siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender by Cornwallis, and the capture of both him and his army, prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783, formally ending the war. -
TREATY: Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America. Great Britian formally recognized American independence and relinquished its claims to the lands south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi. -
CONSTITUTION: Constitutional Convention
Took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. -
CONSTITUTION: James Madison
He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights.[2] He served as a politician much of his adult life. -
CONSTITUTION: Ben Franklin
One of the most celebrated of America's Founding Fathers, a man who enjoyed success as an inventor, scientist, printer, politician, and diplomat. He helped to draft both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. -
CONSTITUTION: George Washington
He was eminently respected by the founders and was an obvious choice for chair of the Constitutional Convention. -
CONSTITUTION: Alexander Hamilton
The first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. A nationalist and leading voice for governmental reform during the Critical Period, Hamilton wrote 51 of the Federalist Papers during the debate over ratification. -
CONSTITUTION: George Mason
one of the most important delegates to the Constitutional Convention, and one of the most prominent Founding Fathers. was also a Constitutional Convention delegate from Virginia. Persuaded the convention to expand its definition of impeachable offenses in Article II, Section 4, to include "high crimes and misdemeanors". Mason was also one of the few Convention delegates who attempted to condemn the slavery as a glaring anomaly within a republic. -
CONSTITUTION: Federalist Papers
A collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay promoting the ratification of the United States Constitution. -
CONSTITUTION: Anti-federalist papers
the scattered writings of those Americans who during the late 1780s to early 1790s opposed to or who raised doubts about the merits of a firmer and more energetic union as embodied in the 1787 United States Constitution. -
CONSTITUTION: Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Proposed to assuage the fears of Anti-Federalists who had opposed Constitutional ratification, these amendments guarantee a number of personal freedoms, limit the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and reserve some powers to the states and the public. -
CONSTITUTION: Ratification of the Constitution
September 28, Congress directed the state legislatures to call ratification conventions in each state. Article VII stipulated that nine states had to ratify the Constitution for it to go into effect.
