Surveys Major events from the Revolutionary War 1776-1783; Discusses relative strengths and weaknesses of the colonies and Great Britain; the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation; Shays Rebellion

1. The
Revolutionary
War &
Creating the
Republic
 Chapters 5-6

2. Overview of
the
Revolutionary
War
 Few observers thought the Americans would win the war
 Americans lost most of the battles
 Colonists were of 3 opinions
 Patriots: favored independence
 Tories: did not want complete break with Britain
 No opinion/Undecided/Wait and See
 Threatened to become a world war when France, Spain and Dutch
allied againstGreat Britain
 Effects of the Revolution: minimal effect on British military; far-
reaching social and political effects among the former and current
British colonies

3. Comparing
strengths and
weaknesses of
British and
American
forces
 Colonial Militias (Weaknesses)
 Primarily farmers and tradesmen with little to no military training
 Militias formed territorially locally
 Questionable quality of munitions—militias supplied their own
weapons
 Volunteer militias resented military discipline
 Camp sickness “Sword of the Enemy”
 Former farmers and frontiersmen often deserted to return to
protect families, farms and crops
 Colonial Navy composed of Privateers or former Privateers
(Weaknesses)
 Commodores had no experience commanding a fleet of ships

4. Comparing
strengths and
weaknesses of
British and
American
forces
 British Army (Weaknesses)
 Fought on foreign land and terrain which they did not know well
 Inexperienced with guerrilla tactics
 Costly to maintain an army on foreign territory across the Atlantic
Ocean from the homeland and took funds away from other imperial
endeavors
 British forces were composed of 50% mercenary soldiers
 French, Spanish and Dutch opposed British forces
 British Navy (Weaknesses)
 Did not know North American coastal waters as well
 Ships were larger and slower and heavier making an easy target for
smaller, faster, lighterAmerican ships

5. Comparing
strengths and
weaknesses of
British and
American
forces
 Colonial Army (Strengths)
 Militias began to coalesce into one force under Generals they knew
and trusted
 Smallpox inoculations
 Soldiers viewed themselves as defending their homes
 Knew the terrain better than the British
 Frontiersmen more experienced and adapted to guerilla tactics
 British cruelty and alliances with Native Americans led formerly
undecided men to join Continental Army
 French reinforcements
 Americans did not need to win the war—they merely needed to
avoid losing it.
 Colonial Navy (Strengths)
 Privateers and Former privateers knew coastal waters better and
had experience evading British ships on patrol
 American ships could outmaneuver heavier, larger and slower
British ships
 French, Spanish and Dutch harassed British ships

6. Comparing
strengths and
weaknesses of
British and
American
forces
 British Navy (Strengths)
 Most powerful and well-equipped navy in the world
 BritishCommodores were experienced in naval warfare
 BritishCommodores were experienced leading fleets of ships
 British navy could impress seamen from captured vessels
 British Navy had more powerful weapons and more ships

7. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 July 2, 1776
 Continental Congress votes to declare independence from Great Britain
 British forces land on Staten Island
 Mid-August 1776
 British GeneralWilliam Howe assembles 32,000 soldiers to oppose
American independence
 GeorgeWashington transfers most of his troops to NY: 18,000 soldiers
composed of volunteer militias and ContinentalArmy soldiers
 Washington has no experience commanding large force
 August 27, 1776 Battle of Brooklyn Heights is a humiliating defeat for
GeneralWashington
 Washington is surrounded but British fail to press advantage. Local
watermen and fishermen transfer colonial soldiers across Hudson River
to New Jersey whereWashington escapes to Delaware and
Pennsylvania.
 Independence supporters flee NewYork or are forced to hide their
sentiments or are jailed by the British

8. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 December, 1776 large numbers of volunteer militias return
home or desert, leaving Washington with only 3,000
soldiers
 December 23, 1776Thomas Paine publishes The American
Crisis to rally support for the Patriot cause
 December, 1776: Congress offers land, wages, clothing and
blankets to soldiers
 December 26, 1776: Battle ofTrenton—Washington leads
2,400 troops across the Delaware River toTrenton where
they attack a Hessian Mercenary barracks, of 1,500 soldiers.
500 Hessians are killed or captured

9. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 January 1777 Battle of Princeton:AmericanVictory
 British Northern Strategy
 Occupy NewYork to cut off New England from the Middle Colonies
 British forces in Quebec to march South
 British forces from Oswego to march East
 June 1777
 BritishGeneral Burgoyne moves South toward Lake Champlain and
is joined by Iroquois allies. Burgoyne’s forces head toward Albany
and besiegeAmerican forces at Fort Stanwix.
 American General Horatio Gates, who served with Burgoyne in the
same regiment of the British army in 1743, commands American
forces in the region.
 August 1777:
 Loyalists and Native Americans ambush American militia who hold
them off until reinforcements arrive at Fort Stanwix
 Gates rejects Burgoyne’s demand to surrender
 Iroquois tire of the siege and desert the British
 British withdrew siege

10. Generals
HoratioGates
andJohn
Burgoyne

11. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 September 11, 1777 Battle of Brandywine Creek: Washington
suffers another humiliating defeat allowing the British to take
Philadelphia
 September 19—October 7, 1777 Battle of Saratoga
 Colonel John Stark defeated a detachment of Hessians and Loyalist
militia and forced General Burgoyne back to Saratoga
 American forces besieged British, Hessian and Loyalists who failed
to break through the lines.
 October 17,1777 Burgoyne signed agreement with Gates to leave
North America.
 British defeat at Saratoga lead the French to enter the war on
American side
 Winter of 1777-1778Washington’s forcesWinter atValley Forge

12. Nation Makers by Howard Pyle
Brandywine Creek Museum
(c. before 1911). Public Domain

13. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783

14. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 March 1, 1778: Articles of Confederation ratified by all 13 Colonies
 June 1778: British fire on French ships
 Spring 1778: Guerilla war on the Frontier
 British strategy: incite Iroquois and Loyalists to attack Patriot
settlements and offered a bounty for American scalps
 George RogersClark: Led 150 French and American frontiersmen
down Ohio River to lay siege to British garrison atVincennes (in
Indiana).
 Americans capture 5 Iroquois with scalps they believe were Patriot
settlers
 Americans tomahawk all 5 Iroquois in sight of the British garrison
 British surrender

15. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 Summer 1778: Pennsylvania Frontier War
 Washington dispatches 400 soldiers under command of General
John Sullivan with orders to destroy Iroquois villages accused of
raiding Patriot settlements.
 August 29, 1778: Battle of Newton N.Y.
 Sullivan burns 40 villages along the PA—NY border along with
orchards, fields and crops leaving Iroquois women and children without
homes or food.
 Sullivan’s actions break Iroquois federation once and for all
 1778-1779War in the South
 BritishCommander is General Sir Henry Clinton who dispatches
3,000 loyalists, Hessians and British troops to take Savannah and roll
northeast toward Charleston. Clinton believed he would recruit
additional soldiers and allies among southern loyalists and
Cherokees
 By Spring 1779, Clinton defeated 3 American Armies and had taken
the ports of Savannah and Charleston, killing, wounding or capturing
almost 7,000 American soldiers

16. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 Summer 1779 British offensive stalls
 Only so many Loyalists from which to recruit
 Cherokees not as willing to fight as had been Iroquois
 British and Native American actions (atrocities--some real and some
fanciful) led previously undecided settlers to join the Patriot cause

17. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 October 7, 1780 Battle of King’s Mountain
 American militia fromTennessee, North Carolina
andVirginia joined forces and marched to South
Carolina to battle British troops.
 Among the troops was Davey Crockett’s father,
John Crockett
 This battle fought primarily between Patriots and
Loyalists
 Patriots won after 3 hour battle in which they
charged uphill
 290 Loyalists killed, 163 wounded, 668 taken
prisoner

18. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783 Gathering of the Mountain Men at Sycamore
Shoals By Lloyd Branson
Depicts the muster of over 1,000 militia from
North Carolina,Virginia, andTennessee to
march to South Carolina against the British in
1790.

19. Timeline and
Major Events
of the
Revolutionary
War 1776-1783
 1779: Spain declaresWar on Britain
 1780: Britain declares war on the Dutch for continuing
to trade with the Americans
 September 28—October 19, 1781: Battle ofYorktown
 FrenchAdmiral Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse
joined his naval forces with GeneralWashington’s
army to surround British General Cornwallis at
Yorktown,Virginia. Cornwallis surrendered on
October 19, 1781.
 Cornwallis to London: “I have the mortification to
inform your Excellency that I have been forced to
…surrender the troops under my command.”

20. Surrender at
Yorktown

21. Unfinished painting by Benjamin West. British delegation refused to pose.
Treaty of Paris
(Ratifiedby both
sidesApril 9, 1784)

22. Important
Points of
Treaty of Paris
 British acknowledged United States to be sovereign nation, free and
independent
 British Crown relinquishes all claims to government, property and
territorial rights
 Established boundaries between the United States and British North
America
 Granted fishing rights to the Grand Banks
 Lawful debts paid to creditors on both sides
 Congress of the Confederation “earnestly request” restitution for
seized property
 United States will not seize property of Loyalists
 Release of prisoners of war
 U.S. and Great Britain given perpetual access to the Mississippi River
 Territories captured by U.S. returned to Great Britain without
compensation

23. Is the
American
Revolution
ongoing?