The American Revolution was fought from 1775 to 1783 between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the 13 British colonies in North America that declared independence in 1776 and formed the United States of America. Some of the key early battles included the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775 where the Americans ran out of gunpowder but inflicted heavy losses on the British, and the evacuation of Boston by the British in 1776. The British then moved their headquarters to New York but were defeated by Washington at the battles of Trenton and Princeton in 1776, boosting American morale. A major turning point was the American victory over British General Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777, which led France to form an alliance

1. American Revolution
1775-1783
By John Trumbull - 1. United States Architect of the Capitol2. aoc.gov, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1379709

2. Early Battles
✹ Bunker Hill (Boston)
✹ June 1775
✹ Americans ran out of gunpowder
✹ 1,000 red coats killed vs. 400 colonial soldiers
✹ Viewed as American victory
✹ Colonies officially in rebellion
By John Trumbull
- From the Boston
Museum of Fine
Arts, accession
#1977.853:
http://www.mfa.or
g/collections/objec
t/the-death-of-
general-warren-at-
the-battle-of-
bunker-s-hill-17-
june-1775-34260,
Public Domain,
https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/in
dex.php?curid=51
935

3. Early Battles
✹ British Loyalists set
fire to Norfolk,
Virginia in January,
1776
✹ Boston evacuated,
March, 1776
✹ British moved their
headquarters to New
York
✹ British General
William Howe led
30,000 men against
Washington's 18,000
at the Battle of Long
Island
✹ Washington retreated
on the Hudson river
towards Delaware
River
By Domenick D'Andrea - [1][2], Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5828381

4. War in 1776-1777
✹ Battle of Trenton
✹ December 1776
✹ Washington crossed the
Delaware
✹ Captured 1,000 Hessian
soldiers
✹ Battle of Princeton
✹ Quick victory for
Washington
✹ Boosted morale of
soldiers
✹ British General Howe
eventually occupied
Philadelphia while
Washington retreated
to Valley Forge for
the winter, 1777
By Emanuel Leutze - KAHKUjVORM5STw at Google Cultural Institute
maximum zoom level, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22007599

5. Battle of Saratoga (1777)
✹ Most important battle of the
Revolution
✹ British aimed to capture NY and sever
New England from the rest of the
colonies.
✹ British General Burgoyne surrendered
to General Gates, October 1777
✹ French aid and treaties of trade and
alliance
✹ Revived faltering colonial cause

6. The War Widens
✹ Parliament repealed the Coercive Acts
and Tea Act in March, 1778
✹ In addition to France, Spain and Holland
both entered the war against Britain in
1779

7. Winter at Valley Forge
✹ Winter 1777-78, Washington
✹ Supply system collapsed and soldiers
suffered through cold, hunger and disease
✹ Prussian drillmaster Baron von Steuben
trained the men to be professional soldiers
and morale slowly improved
By John Ward Dunsmore -
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91792202/,
Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php

8. British Southern Campaign
✹ British forces invaded Georgia, 1779
✹ Charleston, SC surrendered to British
forces in June, 1780
✹ Redcoats surrendered at Battle of
King’s Mountain
✹ American General Nathanael Greene
through several battles cleared
Georgia and South Carolina of
redcoats

9. Surrender at Yorktown
✹ Betrayal of Benedict Arnold
✹ General Cornwallis established a base at
Yorktown
✹ French fleet and American forces met to
lay siege to Yorktown in the summer of
1781
✹ On October 19, 1781 Cornwallis
surrendered
By John Trumbull -
http://www.aoc.gov/cc/photo-
gallery/ptgs_rotunda.cfm, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?c