Chapter 5 Fighting for Independence

What is this war called? Revolutionary War The American Revolution

British Advantages highly trained experienced troops best navy in world support of 1/3 of colonists larger population strong manufacturing base German troops officers with battlefield experience Disadvantages 3000 miles from home unreliable communication news, supplies, and travel took months unfamiliar with terrain in hostile territory American holdings were huge colonists were committed to their ideals

Patriots Advantages owned rifles good shots leader – George Washington were defending their homes know the land 1/3 of the colonies Disadvantages poorly organized untrained few cannons and little gunpowder had no navy many colonists were unwilling to enlist in Continental Army

George Washington focused on drill, careful planning, and tough discipline – characteristics not common of minutemen insisted on organizing a regular well-trained field army avoided any “general actions” that might destroy the Continental Army knew that the Army served as a symbol of the republican cause

Loyalists (Tories) 1/3 of colonists who remained loyal to England included wealthy merchants, some farmers, and craftsmen most lived in the Middle and Southern Colonies faced hard times from Patriots who tarred, feathered, and harassed them many fled to England or Canada

- at the beginning of war, most fighting centers around Boston

Role of African Americans ½ million African Americans lived in the colonies in 1776 – wanted personal as well as political freedom – would join whatever side made the best offer in terms of ‘unalienable rights’ Washington asked Congress to allow free African Americans to enlist – 5,000 served in army – 2,000 served in navy some formed special regiments others served in white regiments as drummers, fifers, spies, and guides

Britain offered freedom to male slaves who would serve the king – more than 10,000 would serve and eventually flee the United States to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, etc. many ran away, especially along the coast Black Patriots hoped the Revolution would end slavery – in the Declaration of Independence it stated that “all men are created equal” Quakers – spoke out strongly against slavery slavery began declining in the North slavery was eventually made illegal – Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania

Role of Indians Patriot victory would mean more white settlers on their land the British got support of tribes in the South Indians attacked many settlements in North – Iroquois – Mohawk – Joseph Brant – joined Loyalists in raiding settlements Patriots struck back destroying Iroquois villages

Battle of Long Island British General Howe replaced Gage and lands in New York Parliament authorized more than 50,000 more troops be sent to the colonies – left Boston and moved to Staten Island Howe wanted to cut off New England from the rest of America Washington sent many of his inexperienced soldiers to defend Long Island where they suffered a major defeat 1,400 Americans killed – the rest retreat to Manhattan the British pursued and drove the Continental Army across the Hudson River

Howe thought that few Americans supported independence and he issued a general pardon to those who swore allegiance to George III this plan failed, because the British soldiers and officers regarded the Americans as inferior – rebel militias also punished those who deserted the patriots

Nathan Hale Connecticut officer and former school teacher who volunteered to go behind British lines was captured with information on the layout of the fortifications in New York found in the soles of his shoes General Howe ordered Hale hanged “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

Battle of Trenton in December 1776, Washington retreated across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania night of December 25, 1776 – Washington hoped to capture an exposed outpost and his soldiers slipped over the ice-filled Delaware River took nine hundred sleeping Hessians by surprise and took them prisoner

attempted a second attack on Trenton, but a British force under Lord Cornwallis trapped the Americans

Battle of Princeton Washington and his small army fled by night Americans were able to surprise a British Garrison at Princeton British General Charles Cornwallis - set out to recapture Trenton Washington fooled Cornwallis – left fires burning and slipped behind British Lines Continental Army defeated British Washington and troops spend cold winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Victory in a Year of Defeat British General John Burgoyne intended to clear the Hudson Valley of rebel resistance and cut New England off from the other states – needed to stop the flow of soldiers and supplies from New England to Washington’s Army

Burgoyne’s campaign was a disaster marched toward Albany, New York, but was slowed by the Patriots who cut down trees and dammed up streams limiting their progress troops from New England destroyed his military units in the woods north of Albany -Burgoyne was able to recapture Fort Ticonderoga

Battle of Bennington the Patriots of the New Hampshire militia under Brigadier General John Stark overwhelmed a thousand German mercenaries the Patriots wounded or captured nearly 1,000 British soldiers Burgoyne could only hope that Howe would rescue him and his forces

Battle of Saratoga at Saratoga New York the Americans surrounded the British Burgoyne was trapped and forced to surrender – around 5,800 men to American General Horatio Gates major turning point in the war – ended British threat to New England – boosted American spirits – convinced France to become an ally of the U.S.

George III wanted Howe to capture Philadelphia first – the nation’s new capital the Americans obstructed Howe’s progress at the Battles of Brandywine Creek and at Paoli – the Patriots could not stop the British from entering the capital Howe captures Philadelphia

Washington attempted one last battle at Germantown – major counterattack on a fog-covered battlefield, but the Americans broke off the fight (bad luck, confusion, and incompetence) the Continental Army dug in at Valley Forge where they would spend a miserable winter – camp diseases killed many of the soldiers

The French Alliance Louis XVI agents had been looking for ways to help the Americans – hoped to embarrass the English – began covertly sending military supplies to the Americans through secret agents and fictitious trading companies Benjamin Franklin – wanted official recognition of American independence or an outright military alliance – the French were wary and advised patience in the matter

Lord North tried to bargain with the Continental Congress, if the colonists agreed to drop their demand for independence – Parliament conceded the right of the colonists to tax themselves – to elect their own governors – promised to remove all British troops in peacetime American resolve was steadfast and Congress refused to deal with the British emissary the Earl of Carlisle

France knew that to really embarrass their old rival, they would have to recognize the independence of the United States became the first nation to sign a treaty with the US – Treaty of Amity and Commerce – established commercial relations between the two nations – Treaty of Alliance – agreement between the two nations to not sign a treaty with the British unless it was to terminate war – France surrendered all claims to areas formerly owned by Great Britain – made no claim to Canada, asking only for the right to possession of certain British islands in the Caribbean agreed to provide military aid

Spain Helps the United States agreed to assist after the French and the US became allies Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana secretly supplied medicine, cloth, muskets, and gunpowder to Americans seized British forts along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico drove British out of West Florida first cattle drive – 10,000 cattle driven from Texas to colonies

Marquis de Lafayette young French noble – about 19 when he joined the Revolution brought trained soldiers and had supreme tactical skills became one of George Washington’s most trusted friends – was treated like a son by the General

Friedrich von Steuben from German state of Prussia helped train Patriot troops to march and drill – set the army’s standard drill manual focusing on discipline

Thaddeus Kosciusko from Poland worked in the American Revolution, fortifying battle sites – many of which became turning points helped build forts

Casimir Pulaski from Poland trained cavalry, troops on horseback – Father of the American Cavalry

Betsy Ross – asked to sew the first American flag

Captain John Paul Jones after British ships blockaded American ports – captured British warships – seized weapons and supplies in the Bahamas – Father of the US Navy

Francis Marion known as the Swamp Fox used guerrilla tactics – hit and run – small surprise attacks to capture British soldiers – sabotaged communication and supply lines – lead enemy into swamps to get lost

The Final Campaign New British Commander British General Henry Clinton replaced Howe after the Battle of Saratoga goal – take over the Southern colonies and cut them off from the other colonies – planned to use the sizable body of Loyalists in the South

this plan started a lot of guerrilla conflict in the South the search for an easy victory had opened a Pandora’s box of fury – Patriots versus Loyalists – raiding each other burned farms, killed civilians, and tortured prisoners

the British wanted to take Charles Town – knew that if they could, they would be able to control the entire South Clinton and his second in command General Cornwallis gradually encircled the city until Lincoln surrendered an American army of almost 6,000 men Congress sent Horatio Gates to the South, and he too failed – was outmaneuvered at Camden where Cornwallis captured or killed 750 raw American recruits in the battle

Tory raiders showed little interest in serving as regular soldiers in Cornwallis army preferred night riding, indiscriminate plundering or murdering or neighbors who they had grudges against King’s Mountain – most vicious fighting of the Revolution – backwoodsman decimated a force of British regulars and Tory raiders who had strayed too far from their base

General Cornwallis wore out his soldiers trying to catch American forces in the Carolinas Nathaniel Greene, Commander of Continental Army in South

Battle of Cowpens Daniel Morgan of the famed Virginia Riflemen joined Greene and sapped the strength of Cornwallis army divided soldiers into front and rear lines to defeat British

bloodiest battle of the war – Greensboro or Guildford Courthouse, North Carolina Americans retreated, but British suffered greatest losses

General Cornwallis pushed North into Virginia to establish a base of operations on the coast – he chose Yorktown Washington sensed that Cornwallis had made a serious blunder

Battle of Yorktown Last Major Battle Yorktown was a strip of land jutting into the Chesapeake Bay – the French fleet could gain temporary dominance in the Bay Governor Thomas Jefferson and other officials had to escape Washington trapped Cornwallis on peninsula by guarding it on the north and west sides, encircling the British on land

thousands of French soldiers under the Comte de Rochambeau marched with Washington the French fleet – Admiral Comte de Grasse cut Cornwallis off from the sea

Cornwallis cut off; could not get supplies; could not escape by land or sea 16,000 American and French troops vs. Cornwallis’ entire army of 6,000 men Cornwallis under siege – army surrounds and blockades an enemy position in an attempt to capture it

Cornwallis held out for several weeks October 19, 1781 – British surrendered their weapons

the British still controlled New York City and Charles Town, but the fighting had pretty much ended now the task to secure independence fell in the hands of the diplomats

Treaty of Paris (1783) peace talks in Paris, France Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and Henry Laurens – were to insist only on the recognition of the independence of the United States Britain was eager to end the war

1.Britain recognized the United States as an independent nation 2.U.S. borders from Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, northern border stopped at the Great Lakes 3.southern border stopped at Florida which returned to Spain 4.gained important fishing rights in the North Atlantic 5.Congress promised to help British merchants collect their debts contracted before the Revolution 6.Congress also agreed to compensate Loyalists whose lands had been taken from them April 1783 – treaty is ratified

Reasons the United States Won geography Britain too far from home Spain – helped with attacks France – helped with money, supplies, military aid Americans – greater cause; reason to fight, and better fighting skills George Washington – provided leadership and military skills

Benedict Arnold one of America’s best generals traitor – switches sides to help Britain he felt he was not appreciated for his Am. victories he needed money

secretly agreed to turn over West Point (NY) to British plot uncovered by Patriot patrol GW ordered Arnold hanged – but he was never captured