1775 - 1783

“Could I have foreseen what I have, and am likely to experience, no consideration upon earth should have induced me to accept this command.”-GEORGE WASHINGTON 1777

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the British and Americans going into the war???

Continental Disadvantages

Untrained Untrained SoldiersSoldiers

The rifle took a long time to load, compared to the musket. By the time a soldier forced his rifle ball down the barrel, the enemy could get him with a bayonet. Their rifles had no bayonet, a necessity for fighting at close range, or in damp weather when wet flints and gunpowder made firearms useless. Because of these disadvantages, the musket remained the primary weapon used during the Revolutionary War.

Continental Army

Advantages

- fighting for their homes and freedom

- leadership of George Washington

- plentiful weapons and supplies

British Army Advantages

- highly trained, experienced soldiers

- most powerful navy in the world

Burgoyne Cornwallis Clinton Gage Howe

- less reasons to fight hard

British Army

Disadvantages

- the war was fought far from home

- risked constant attack

The Patriot – Battle Scene

Battle of Bunker Hill – video 3:53

• Occurred on Breeds Hill on June 17, 1775.

• The Patriots were short on gunpowder and were warned by Colonel William Prescott,

“Don’t fire till you see the whites of their eyes!”

• The British won the battle, but lost over 1,000 troops.

• This battle showed Britain that the Patriots would not be an easy enemy.

What was the turning point of the Revolution???

British Gen. John Burgoyne

Battle of Saratoga

• Turning Point – This battle convinced France to join the war on the side of the U.S.

The Battle of SaratogaOctober 1777

• British General John Burgoyne sent 700 Hessians to look for supplies.

• The Americans then launched a surprise attack, defeating Gen. Burgoyne’s force.

In the fall of 1776, Congress sent him to

French capital Paris. His job was to persuade

France to become an ALLY of the United

States.

Benjamin Franklin

at the Court of France.

I LOVE Paris,

France!!!!!

European help would be crucial to the success of the Americans.

Several military officers came to Washington’s aid, including the French nobleman Marquis de Lafayette. Lafayette became on one Washington’s most trusted commanders. He helped win many battles and convinced the French to send 6,000 troops to America.

Beginning in the winter of 1777-1778,

Washington and his army camped at Valley

Forge in Southeast Pennsylvania. They had

been forced out of Philadelphia by General

Howe.

Coats

Hats

Shirts

Shoes

Adequate blankets

Valley Forge--Washington & Lafayette. Winter 1777-78.

Here’s how Lafayette described the conditions at Valley Forge.

“The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, nor hats, nor shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze till they grew black and it was often necessary to amputate them……. The Army frequently passed whole days without food”.

• With the help of Friedrich von Steuben, the army survived and became well trained.

Though outnumbered, the newly formed Continental navy scored several victories against the British under the leadership of John Paul Jones. Jones is considered the father of the American navy and is known for his famous quote:

I have not yet

begun to fight!!!!

War in the South

- The British moved the fighting to the South after France entered the war in an attempt to gain Loyalist support.

Benedict Arnold

- Arnold was an American general who secretly offered to turn over the fort at West Point to the British in exchange for money.

- Before he could be convicted as a spy, Arnold escaped and fought for the British.

Battle of Yorktown

(1781)

• General Cornwallis set up camp in Yorktown, Virginia.

Battle of Yorktown

(1781)

• A French fleet, under the leadership of Admiral de Grasse, blocked the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, preventing Cornwallis from receiving supplies from the British navy.

Help!!

Battle of Yorktown

(1781)

• George Washington, along with 6,000 French troops led by Gen. Rochambeau, marched to Yorktown from New York.

• The U.S. and French troops cornered Cornwallis in Yorktown.

Help!!I surrender!

• Cornwallis surrendered on October 17, 1781, ending the Revolutionary War!

Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 1781, by which over 7,000 British and Hessians became prisoners.

The Treaty of ParisApril 1783

- The British recognized the U.S. as an independent nation.

- U.S. territory stretched from Canada to Florida and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River.

- Britain returned Florida to Spain.

- The U.S. promised to ask state legislatures to pay Loyalists for the property they lost in the war. (However, most states paid the Loyalists nothing.)

- In December of 1783, Gen. Washington bid farewell to his officers at Fraunces' Tavern in New York City.

Washington's Farewell

“Such a scene of sorrow and weeping I had never before witnessed. ..The simple thought that we were then about to part from the man who had conducted us through a long and bloody war, and under whose conduct the glory and independence of our country had been achieved, and that we should see his face no more in this world, seemed to me utterly unbearable.”

- Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge