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America Secedes from the Empire
The basic advantages and disadvantages of both sides in the Revolutionary War.
I. British strengthsA. British outnumbered
colonists 3 to 1B. British army was
professional vs. American militia
C. George III had money for Hessian mercenaries
D. British used Loyalists and Indians to fight
II. British Weaknesses.A. Not all British supported
colonial policyB. Fighting a war in the
colonies was difficult - poor Generals, lack of supplies, mistreated soldiers.
C. British had to defeat and subjugate the rebellious colonies - a draw would be a victory for the rebels.
D. Distance and geographical size of America.
III. Colonial strengths
A. Good leadersB. Foreign aidC. Fighting defensively
D. Agricultural self-sufficiencyE. Moral advantage
IV. Colonial Weaknesses.
A. DisorganizedB. Lacking in unityC. No central government
D. Jealousy between coloniesE. Lack of currencyF. Inflation
Battles and strategies.
The basic military strategies of the British in the Revolutionary War.
1. New York British wanted New York as
a base - central, good seaport and home to Loyalists.
2. Hudson Valley - British wanted control of
the Hudson to cut off and isolate New England.
3. The South- British wanted to take
advantage of Loyalist sympathies in the Carolinas and to control the seaport of Charleston.
4. The Frontier- British wanted to control
the Ohio valley and incite the Indians to strike against colonial outposts.
The War Without Intention of IndependenceMay 1775 - Ethan Allen and
Benedict Arnold capture British fort at Ticonderoga - get cannon and supplies.
May 1775 - British garrison at Crown Point falls at Lake Champlain.
The Second Continental Congress
May 1775 - Second Continental Congress meets in Philadelphia. John Hancock elected President.
There was not yet a real movement towards independence.
George WashingtonJune 1775 - 2nd
Continental Congress makes George Washington commander of the Continental Army.
While his selection was largely political -- this turns out to be one of the greatest decisions made by the Congress.
The Continentals Congress votes to
issue $2 million in paper currency called Continentals.
They will soon be nearly worthless as currency.
A Step Towards Independence.May 1775 - Mecklenburg
County Resolutions - drafted by North Carolina - seeks to suspend all royal authority - first “declaration of independence.”
The Battle of Bunker Hill
May 1775 - British Generals John Burgoyne, Henry Clinton and William Howe arrive in Boston.
June 1775 - General Gage declares rebels to be traitors and offers amnesty to all who swear allegiance - except Hancock and Adams.
Breed’s Hill
June 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill - British defeat Americans located on Breed’s Hill near Boston - 441 Americans lost - but it cost Britain 1150.
Bunker Hill
Congress seeks Reconciliation
July 1775 - Congress adopts the Olive Branch Petition to King George IIIKing George III - seeking reconciliation.
It is later rejected and the colonies declared in rebellion.
The Hessians
King George also hires thousands of German mercenaries, called Hessians by the Americans, to fight the rebels.
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson.July 1775 - Congress
adopts Thomas Jefferson’s Causes andCauses and Necessities Necessities of Taking Up Armsof Taking Up Arms - it still rejects independence - but declares we will fight rather than be enslaved.
Ben Franklin
July 1775 - Benjamin Franklin becomes first Postmaster General.
More Fighting in New England
June 1775 - Washington takes command of 17,000 militia at Cambridge, Mass.
October 1775 - British forces burn Falmouth (Portland, Maine).
Virginia Slaves
Loyalist Governor of Virginia declares martial law and promise to free slaves who join loyalist army.
The Canadian Disaster
November 1775 - American General Richard Montgomery occupies Montreal.
December 1775 - Battle of Quebec - American forces under Benedict Arnold and Richard Montgomery are driven back in defeat. Montgomery dies.
January 1776
January 1776 - New Hampshire adopts the first State Constitution.
Norfolk, Virginia is shelled and burned by British.
Common Sense
Thomas Paine publishes “Common Sense” - presenting a clear argument for independence - 120,000 copies are sold.
"These are the times that try men's souls"
"These are the times that try men's souls"
Paine’s masterful work of propaganda led thousands to open revolution against the crown.
More Fighting
Cannons from Ticonderoga are brought to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox.
February 1776 - North Carolina patriots defeat Scottish loyalists at Moore’s Creek Bridge.
March 1776 - American forces capture Dorchester Heights over Boston - cannons added to siege.
The British Flee from Boston
March 1776 - General William Howe and his British forces evacuate Boston - flee to Halifax, Nova Scotia
Calls for Independence
April 1776 - North Carolina becomes the first to direct its delegates to congress to vote for independence.
The war shifts to the Middle ColoniesApril 1776 - George
Washington leads his forces to New York City in anticipation of Howe’s next move.
May - July 1776 - Benedict Arnold gives up siege of Montreal and heads for Lake Champlain. British forces prepare to invade New England.
America woos France
May 1776 - King Louis XVI of France agrees to give $1 million worth of arms to America.
British invasion of the Carolinas FailsGenerals Cornwallis and
Clinton meet off North Carolina to prepare invasion.
June 1776 - American General Charles Lee arrives in Charleston, South Carolina.
General Charles Lee successfully defends Charleston from invasion.
The Declaration of IndependenceJune 1776 -
Virginian Richard Henry Lee presents a formal declaration of independence to congress.
Congress creates a committee to draft a declaration - Thomas Jefferson is designated to write it.
New York Loyalism
British forces begin to land in New York City.
July 2, 1776 - all delegates except New York vote to formally adopt the Declaration of Independence.
The same day Howe lands 10,000 British troops on Staten Island - 32,000 by August - including 9,000 Hessian mercenaries.
When in the Course …...July 4, 1776 -
Congress formally adopts the Declaration of Independence
NY will adopt it on July 9 and it will be signed on August 2, 1776.
In Congress 1776
Battle for New York August 1776 - Battle of Long
Island - Washington defeated by Howe and forced to retreat to Manhattan
Nathan HaleNathan HaleNathan Hale
captured by British and hanged. - “I regret I have but one life to lose for my country.”
Sept. 1776 - Harlem Heights - Washington again retreats - Manhattan burns.
October 1776 - Lake Champlain - Benedict Arnold loses a naval battle on the lake but forces British to retire for the winter
Retreat From New York
November 1776 - Washington crosses the Hudson and flees to the Delaware River.
December 1776 - Congress flees from Philadelphia to Baltimore.
Washington’s First Victory
Washington re-crosses the Delaware on Dec. 26, 1776 and attacks Trenton encampment of Hessians. Important morale booster.
Jan. 1777 - Washington defeats the British at Princeton
Washington Crossing the DelawareWashington Crossing the DelawareEmanuel LeutzeEmanuel Leutze, 1851, 1851
First Winter Lull.
Washington winters at Morristown NJ.
Spring and Summer 1777
March 1777 - Congress returns to Philadelphia
June 1777 - John Paul Jones sent to raid English coast.
Invasion from Canada
June 1777 - General Burgoyne begins British invasion from Canada.
July 1777 - British capture Ft. Ticonderoga
July 1777 - General Howe sets out from New York to take Philadelphia.
July 1777 - Marquis de Lafayette arrives in Philadelphia - given commission as major general.
British stall in the North
August 1777 - British Colonel St. Leger is halted by Arnold at Oriskany.
More problems for Washington.Sept. 1777 - Battle of the
Brandywine Creek - Washington forced to flee north to Philadelphia - Congress flees again.
Sept 1777 - British occupy Philadelphia
Oct. 1777 - Battle of Germantown - Washington loses 700 men to 500 British.
Battle of SaratogaOct 1777 -- Battle of Saratoga -
American General Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold force Gen. Burgoyne to surrender - “Convention of Saratoga” allows British troops to leave and not come back.
A new Government
November 1777 - Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation - not ratified until 1781.
Washington’s second winter
December 1777 - Washington sets up winter camp at Valley Forge - harsh conditions cause much hardship for the men.
Washington and Lafayette at Valley Forge
Feb 1778 - Baron von Steuben arrives at Valley Forge and begins to whip the troops into shape.
American - French Alliance.
France officially recognizes the independence of America. - two treaties are signed - friendship and trade - Britain reacts with a plan of reconciliation.
The Western Campaign
May 1778 - George Rogers Clark begins Ohio valley campaign to take western forts.
February 1779 --George Rogers Clark defeats British at Ft. Vincennes.
The Tide begins to turn
May 1778 - General Clinton replaces Howe as Commander
June 1778 - Clinton withdraws from Philadelphia - Washington in pursuit.
June 1778 - Battle of Monmouth - Washington fights to a draw
July 1778 - Washington makes his headquarters at West Point, NY.
World War
July 1778 - France declares war on England. Spain will also declare war on England.
The Winter of 1778
December 1778 - John Jay becomes president of the Continental Congress.
December 1778 - British take Savannah, GA.
The Offensive of 1779
July 1779 - American General “Mad Anthony” Wayne takes 700 prisoners at bayonet point - Stony Brook, NY.
The Bonhomme Richard
Sept 1779 - John Paul Jones’ Bonhomme Richard captures the British ship HMS Serapis
The Third Winter
October 1779 - Washington again sets up winter camp in Morristown NJ - worse than Valley Forge.
More Trouble in the South May 1780 - Charleston
surrenders - 5400 Americans captured - worse defeat of the war.
Washington sends reinforcements south to Carolinas.
August 1780 - Horatio Gates is defeated at Camden, So. Carolina by British General Cornwallis - 900 Americans dead -
Nathaniel Greene replaces Gates.
Benedict Arnold
August 1780 - Benedict Arnold is made commander of West Point
Sept 1780 - British Major John Andre is captured at Tarrytown, NY - has plans for Arnold’s surrender of West Point - Arnold flees to the British - Andre hanged as a spy.
The Tide Turns in the South.
Oct 1780 - Kings Mountain, No. Carolina - loyalist army is captured.
Jan 1781 - Americans win at Cow Pens, So. Carolina.
British General Cornwallis gives up trying to control the Carolinas - sets out to conquer Virginia.
June 1781 - Lafayette and Wayne head to Virginia
Yorktown
August 1781 - Cornwallis enters Yorktown, VA
Count de Grasse sails from West Indies to Chesapeake Bay with 3000 French troops.
Sept. 1781- naval battle off of Yorktown - Washington arrives - siege off Yorktown begins.
October 1781 - British General Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown - the war was effectively over.
The Paris Peace Treaty
John Adams, John Jay and Ben Franklin were sent to France to negotiate and settlement to the war.
They were ordered to make no separate peace without consulting with the French ministry.
John Jay, fearing French intrigue over the trans-Allegheny, made a separate peace with Britain.
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally recognized The United States of America and gave the US all British territory south of the Great Lakes and west to the Mississippi River.
Spain, having regained its Florida territory, was allowed to keep it.
American’s were given fishing rights in New Foundland waters.
The Americans agreed to no further persecution of British loyalists and Congress agreed to “recommend” that state legislatures restore confiscated loyalist properties.
America also conceded that we would do nothing to stand in the way of the collection of outstanding debts owed to British subjects.
The British Whigs, that made such liberal concessions, were soon defeated by the Tories who quickly ignored the agreements -- except independence, that we had won.
