1. The American revolution
Chapter 6
The American revolution

2. Fighting begins in the north
Section 1
Fighting begins in the north

3. Peace or war?
May 10, 1775 Second Continental Congress met to plan a way to avoid war.
Delegates sent a petition to King George III
In the Olive Branch Petition the colonists declared their loyalty to the king and asked that the Intolerable Acts to be repealed.
King George was furious
Ordered 20,000 more troops to the colonies to crush revolt.

4. Rebels take Ticonderoga
Ethan Allen, Vermont blacksmith, lead the Green Mountain Boys in a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga.
Fort held cannons that colonists could use.
Green Mountain Boys quickly over took the guard and entered the fort.
Allen stormed the room where the British commander slept.
The British commander surrendered Ticonderoga

5. Setting up an army
The Second Continental Congress wanted to organize the makeshift army.
In June 1775 the delegates set up the Continental Army with George Washington as commander.
Washington knew he would be fighting the world’s strongest armies but was willing to do his best

6. Advantages of opposing sides
Patriots disadvantages
Patriots Advantages
Patriots- colonists who were against British rule
1/3 of colonists were patriots.
Patriots were unorganized and untrained
Had little weapons and gunpowder and no Navy.
Colonists were not willing to enlist in Continental Army and did not like fighting away from home.
Patriots owned their own guns and were good shots.
Washington was a brilliant commander.
Patriots were very determined to defend their homes, property, and liberty
Advantages of opposing sides

7. Advantages of the opposing sides
The British advantages
British disadvantages
Powerful foes
Highly trained and experienced troops.
Experienced navy
Its armies were 3,000 miles from home.
Took months for news and supplies to travel from Britain to America.
British soldiers risked attack by colonists once they left the cities.
Advantages of the opposing sides

8. Loyalists Loyalists- American colonists who remained loyal to Britain.
1/3 of the population
Wealthy merchants
Formal officials of the royal government.
Most loyalists were from the Middle and Southern colonies

9. Fight for Boston
During the first year of fighting 6,000 British troops were surrounded in Boston by the Colonial militia.
June 16,1775 Colonel William Prescott led 1,200 minutemen up Bunker Hill
Perched on the hill Prescott and his men could fire on British ships.
At sunrise British general, William Howe, saw the Americans and ferried 2,400 redcoats to attack the rebels’ position

10. Battle of bunker hill
As British approached the Patriots held their fire.
When the Americans fired the British retreated.
The British tried the second time with same result.
The last time the British took the hill but lost 1,000 redcoats Americans only lost 400.

11. British leave Boston
Washington turned raw recruits into a trained army
Difficult because soldiers from different colonies did not trust each other.
Washington won loyalty for his troops.
January 1776 the cannons that Green Mountain Boys captured arrived in Boston.
General Howe saw cannons and knew he could not hold Boston.

12. March 1776 he and his troops left Boston for Halifax, Canada
1,000 loyalists went with them.
King George III ordered a blockade of all colonial ports
Blockade- the shutting of a port to keep people or supplies from moving in or out.
The king also used mercenaries from Germany to help in fight.
Mercenaries- troops for hire.

13. Flags of the Revolution

15. Sons of Liberty flag

16. Declaration of Independence
Section 2
Declaration of Independence

17. Thomas Paine
Urged to write an essay urging the colonists to declare independence.
Winter of 1775 patriots had been fighting Britain for months.
Colonists still were reluctant to cut ties with Great Britain.
Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet Common Sense.

18. Common Sense Appeared in print January 1776.
Paine stated that colonists did not owe loyalty to George III or any other monarch.
the idea of king and queens were wrong.
Colonists did not owe anything to Britain
Argued that if England helped the Colonies it was to their own profit.
Common Sense sold the colonists on the idea of independence.

19. Resolution for Independence
June 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia announced to Congress a resolution in favor of independence:
“ Resolved, That these United Colonies are and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between the and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
- Richard Henry Lee, Resolution at the Second Continental Congress June 7, 1776

20. Making the Break
Delegates faced a difficult decision if they declared independence.
If they fell into British hands they would be hanged as traitors.
After a long debate, Congress took the step and appointed a committee to draw up the declaration.

21. Declaration committee
John Adams Ben Franklin Thomas Jefferson
Boston, MA Philidelphia, PA Charlottesville, VA
Robert Livingston Roger Sherman
Clermont, NY New Haven, CT

22. Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was asked to write the Declaration of Independence.
Youngest of the Continental Congress delegates.( 33 years old)
Quiet man
Wrote clearly and gracefully won him respect

23. Signing the Document
Late June of 1776 Jefferson completed the declaration.
July 2, 1776 the Continental Congress voted that all 13 colonies were “free and independent States.”
Document was adopted the night of July 4, 1776.
John Hancock the first to sign

24. Celebration
Copies of the Declaration of Independence were printed and distributed throughout the colonies.
Patriots were joyous over the Document.
New York colonists torn down the Statue of King George III
Boston cannons were fired for hours

25. Declaration of Independence
The DOI consists of 4 parts
Preamble(Introduction)
Natural Rights- Rights that belong to ALL people from birth
British Wrongs
Independence

26. Natural Rights
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain Unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
According to the DOI people form governments in order to protect their natural rights and liberties.
Governments can only exist if they have the Consent of the governed.
If the government does not uphold this then the people can remove said government.

27. British Wrongs
This section of the DOI lists the wrongs that Britain has done that led the colonies to break away.
Disbanding colonial legislatures
Sending troops to colonies during peacetimes
Limits on trade
And imposed taxes without consent
“In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

28. Independence
Last part announces that the colonies are the United States of America.
All ties with Great Britain are cut.
As a free independent nation the USA could levy war, conclude peace,….
“And, for the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Devine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our freedoms, and our sacred honor.”

29. Struggles in the middle States
Section 3
Struggles in the middle States

30. British Take New york
June 1776 General Howe arrived in New York Harbor with 34,000 troops and 10,000 saliors
Washington expecting Howe’s attack led his 20,000 poorly trained troops to New York
August 1776 the Battle of Long Island more than 1,400 Americans were killed, wounded or captured.

31. War in Autumn
November 1776 Washington crossed the Hudson River into NJ, Being chased they then crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania
Needing information for the New York battle, Washington sent Nathan Hale behind British Line. Hale was captured.
In Hale’s boot they found information about British movement. Hale was hanged.

32. Retreat to Victory
Months of constant fighting had worn down the Continental Army.
Washington’s troops were sick and dirty
Soldiers deserted from his ranks
Christmas night of 1776 Washington planned a surprise attack on Trenton
December 26 in the Battle of Trenton Washington and his men captured the Hessians who were guarding Trenton

33. The Turning Point
British officials were disappointed how the war was going.
Planned to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies.
By doing this General John Burgoyne thought it would end the war
Howe captured Philadelphia in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown

34. Turning Point British captured Fort Ticonderoga
Burgoyne sent his men to Vermont to find food and horses.
In the Battle of Bennington Patriots captured or wounded nearly 1,000 British troops
To help in New York the Green Mountain Boys arrived.
October 17,1777 Burgoyne surrendered his army at the Battle of Saratoga
Battle of Saratoga convinced the French to help the Americans

35. French Aid
Ben Franklin persuaded Louis XVI to give guns and needed supplies to America
February 1778 France was the first country to sign a treaty with America which stated they would provide military aid.
Spain and Netherlands also joined in the war.
France, Spain, and Netherlands gave loans to the US
Marquis de Lafayette, French noble brought trained soldiers to help the cause.

36. Ben Franklin and Women Ladies man. Flirted. French women loved him.
“ A French woman once tapped on his ample pot belly and joked, Dr. Franklin if this was on a woman, wed know what to think. To which Franklin replied, half an hour ago, mademoiselle, it was on a woman and now what do you think?”

37. Valley Forge
The Continental Army spent the winter in a makeshift camp called Valley Forge
Soldiers suffered due to little warm clothes, blankets, or food.
Patriots from all over sent food, clothing, blankets.
Some came to help the sick and wounded.
Washington’s wife Martha was one of these.
2,500 troops died before winter was over

38. Head Quarters, Valley Forge, February 16, 1778
Dear Sir: It is with great reluctance, I trouble you on a subject, which does not fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress, than I have felt, since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs. I mean the present dreadful situation of the army for want of provisions, and the miserable prospects before us, with respect to futurity. It is more alarming than you will probably conceive, for, to form a just idea, it were necessary to be on the spot. For some days past, there has been little less, than a famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week, without any kind of flesh, and the rest for three or four days.

39. Winning the War in the South
Section 4
Winning the War in the South

40. Fighting in the south
Battle of Cowpens was an important victory for Patriot General Morgan on January 1780.
Organized his men into two lines.
First line would fire twice then retreat
British thinking that the Patriots were running away would run right into the second line of fire
Morgan and General Green Combined their armies to fight General Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse.
Americans retreated but British lost more men.

41. Controlling Virginia
Cornwallis abandoned his plan to take the Carolinas.
Spring 1781 he moved his troops into Virginia.
Plan was to conquer Virginia so that supply routes to the South would be cut off.
British had some success in Virginia before Cornwallis arrived

42. American Traitor
Benedict Arnold, formerly one of Americas best generals, now led the British troops in Virginia.
Captured and Burned the capital city of Richmond
Also raided and burned other Virginian cities
Arnold has turned traitor in September 1780 while commanding West Point.
Key fort in New York

43. American traitor
Arnold was angry because he felt Washington had not given him the credit he was owed for his victories.
Arnold also was in need of money.
Secretly agreed to turn over West Point to the British.
Would give British the control in New York
Plot was uncovered by a Patriot patrol
Arnold escaped and joined the British

44. Yorktown Cornwallis wanted the success in Virginia that Arnold had.
Loyalist troops attacked Charlottesville
Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature had to flee from the city
American troops under the command of Lafayette fought back by staging raids
Did not have enough troops fro a full battle
Raids kept Cornwallis at bay

45. Cornwallis makes a deadly mistake
Cornwallis did not agree with orders to send part of his troops to New York.
Retreated to Yorktown peninsula
Confident that he could be supplied from the sea.
Washington planned to trap Cornwallis in Yorktown
American and French troops marched from New York to join Lafayette in Virginia
French Navy cut off Cornwallis from supplies

46. Victory in Yorktown
By the end of September ,00 American and French troops laid siege on Cornwallis’ 8,000 men.
Siege- an army surrounds and blockades an enemy position in an attempt to capture it.
Cornwallis held out for a few weeks.
Ran low on food and supplies
Casualties grew
Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781

47. Peace treaty Talks for peace started in 1782
Treaty of Paris made British recognize the United States as an independent nation.
Borders were from the “13 colonies to the Mississippi River and north to Great Lakes and south to Florida.
Florida was given back to Spain
State legislatures paid Loyalists for lost property
April 15, 1783 the treaty was approved.

48. Why America Won Geography played an important role Foreign Help
British had to ship all supplies over sea
Patriots were spread out in a wide area
Americans were familiar with area
Foreign Help
Growing American Patriotism

49. Fighting for Liberty on many fronts
Section 5
Fighting for Liberty on many fronts

50. Women's role in War Women to over all work in and around the house.
Planted and harvested crops
Mended fences
Made shoes
Wove cloth for blankets and uniforms
Made cannon balls and guns
Many women joined their husbands at the front
Cared for wounded
Washed clothes
cooked
Betsy Ross and others sewed flags for battles
A few women even fought when husband was wounded or dead.
Mary Ludwig Hays

51. Women of Revolution Sybil Ludington “female Paul Revere”
16 YO who mounted her horse on an April Night in 1777 to ride through countryside and got the local militia to grab arms and go fight
Deborah Sampson
“Robert Shurtleff”
When wounded she hid the wounded leg.
She caught yellow fever and was taken to hospital where she was discovered.
She was given an honorable discharge

52. Women of Revolution Ann Bates Schoolteacher Loyalist
Assumed a false name and acted as a peddler and counted Patriot troops as they came through Philadelphia

53. Women’s rights
After all that women went through they felt that they should have more rights under the law.
Colonial leaders did not agree.
Thankful for their work
Still thought women had no place in a “public role”
Women should “be seen not heard”

54. Slaves 2,000 served in navy 1776 50,000 slaves lived in colonies.
Allowed black men to serve from start
9 black men saw action at Lexington and Concord
Prince Estabrook was wounded
Peter Salem and Salem Poor served at Bunker Hill
Saul Matthews and James Armistead were spies.
,000 slaves lived in colonies.
British offered enslaved black men freedom if they fought for them.
Washington wanted only free black men.
5,000 black men from all colonies served.
Exception was SC

55. Hoping for Freedom
Several thousand black men joined the British side by the end of the war so that they could be free men.
Black Patriots hoped the end of war would bring an end to slavery.
Cited the Declaration of Independence for saying “ all men are created equal”
Some white leaders wanted the same.
James Otis said “colonists are by the law of nature free born, as indeed all men are, white or black.”
By 1770s slavery was declining. During the war many colonies wanted to make slavery illegal.
Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania

56. Indians aid Britain
In the South the British gained support of several Indian groups.
Cherokees
Creeks
Choctaws
Chickasaws
Iroquois
Miami