CATALYST WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN A REVOLUTIONARY IN 1776 WHY OR WHY NOT The Battle of Lexington And Concord April 19 1775 General Gage sent British troops to Lexington to destroy patriot supplies ID: 642950
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Slide1
The American Revolution
1775-1783Slide2
CATALYST
WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN A REVOLUTIONARY IN 1776? WHY OR WHY NOT?Slide3
The Battle of Lexington And Concord
April 19, 1775General Gage sent British troops to Lexington to destroy patriot supplies
They are met by 70 colonial minutemenSlide4
Second Continental Congress
Established May 10, 1775Continental Army created – June 1775
Chooses George Washington as commander of Army
Olive Branch Petition – final attempt to avoid war – King George III refuses to read it. Slide5
George III is not Impressed with your PetitionSlide6
The Declaration of Independence
Accepted by Continental Convention on July 4, 1776
Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson
The war had been going on for over a year before the Declaration of Independence is signedSlide7
The Road to Independence
Thomas Paine published Common Sense, January 1776
Richard Henry Lee introduced resolution for Independence in June 1776
July 2, 1776 – All colonies except New York (abstained) vote in favor of independence
Committee of five: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert LivingstonSlide8Slide9
American Loyalists
Up to 1/5 of American colonists remained loyal to England during the RevolutionRevolutionary was also a Civil War
Loyalist population was never able to
present organized opposition to the
Continental ArmySlide10
Map showing concentrations
of Loyalists during RevolutionSlide11
The Armies
ContinentalDifficulty with recruiting
Never more than 17,000 soldiers
Turnover was a major problem
Colonists who enlisted for duration were given 100 acres of land
British
Considered one of the most effective armies in the world
50,000 soldiers with an additional 30,000 Hessians (German mercenaries
)Slide12
George Washington
43 years old in 1775Known throughout colonies for service in French and Indian War
Virginia – Washington’s leadership helps bring Southern Colonies into the warSlide13
William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe
46 years old in 1775
General at Battle of Quebec, 1759
Commanded British Army in North America
Brother, Richard Howe, commanded British NavySlide14
Continental Military Strategies
Most significant aspect of war.
Continental Army was severely overmatch militarily
No direct meetings, open battles with British Army
Fight from fortified positions
Ambushes
Fortification of Dorchester Heights – March 1776
Led to the end of the British siege of BostonSlide15
Fortification of
Dorchester HeightsSlide16
British Strategies
Conventional WarDecisive victories in large battlesCapture large cities
New York City – First major target of British army
General and Admiral Howe were both timid, and British offensive were slow during the first years of the war. Slide17
New York Campaign
August 1776: British defeat Continentals
at Long Island
December 6, 1776: Continentals cross into
New Jersey, British capture New York
December 25, 1776: Washington crosses the Delaware and wins victory at Trenton
January 3, 1777: Continental Victory at PrincetonSlide18
New York Campaign dominates the
war for its first 3 years. Slide19
Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) – Emmanuel Gottlieb LeutzeSlide20
British Capture Philadelphia
Summer 1777 – Howe begins moving army out of New York
Battles largely inconclusive
Brandywine Creek, September 4, 1777
Germantown October 4, 1777
British Occupation of Philadelphia greatly heightens anti-British feeling in war torn colonies.
Howe’s focus on Philadelphia leaves the other British forces unsupported Slide21
Map showing the
progression of British
and Continental troops
during the fall of 1777.Slide22
British Disaster at Saratoga
September – October 1777 – Saratoga campaign
Sir John Burgoyne – British General who designed plan
Move south from Canada attempted to cut the colonies in half
Moves south in Summer 1777, but General Howe moves towards Philadelphia instead of moving to meet him.
Ambushed by Continental militias led by General Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold
Burgoyne surrenders his ENTIRE ARMY at Saratoga. Slide23
John Burgoyne
Benedict ArnoldSlide24
Turning Point
Saratoga changes the entire tone of the warFrance begins to actively support the colonies
The French
loved
Benjamin Franklin
February 1778: French signed treaty with Colonies, England declared war on FranceSlide25
Marquis de Lafayette – French aristocrat
who joined Washington’s staffs and
worked to get French reinforcements
.Slide26
Hard times at Valley ForgeSlide27
Winter at Valley Forge, 1777-1778
20 miles Northwest of PhiladelphiaContinental Army stays here over the winter
Continental victory at Saratoga
British held Philadelphia
Washington is stuck in Valley Forge all winter
Inadequate shelter, shortage of supplies, extremely harsh weather
By February 1778, 2,500 Continentals are dead from exposure. Slide28
Baron von Stuben
1730-1794, Prussian/American Soldier
Inspector-General of Continental Army
Trained Continental troops at Valley Forge
Credited with increasing morale and making army more professionalSlide29
The War in the West
Mostly skirmishes and ambushesIndian Tribes caught in crossfire
Iroquois confederacy splits during war
Small Pox Epidemic, 1775-1782
Begins in Quebec, spreads to New Orleans by 1779
Kills 130,000 by 1782Slide30
Disruption of the largest and most stable Native Alliance
Iroquois Confederacy had been one of the most organized and strongest group of tribes in the entire British ColoniesSlide31
Smallpox: The Silent Killer of the American RevolutionSlide32
Southern Theater
British Southern Strategy begins 1778
Southern colonies were more valuable to British
Provided the raw materials and agricultural crops (tobacco and cotton) that made England the most money
British hoped to utilize loyalist communities in the South
Establish British stronghold and drive northSlide33
Siege of Charleston
3,500 British soldiers capture George
and move towards South Carolina in 1778
Siege of Charleston begins early in 1780
Charleston falls to British on May 12, 1780
British General Charles Cornwallis left in charge of British army in the South
.Slide34Slide35
General Cornwallis’ Task
It was complicated.
Brutal civil war breaks out in the Southern back
Country following the fall of Charleston
End of 1780, most of South has side with Patriots
August 1780, British Victory at Camden, SCSlide36
Militias and Raiders in the South
Unconventional fighting techniques were crucial to the Patriot cause in the South
Continental Army was basically absent from the Southern colonies
Militia leaders and raiding parties continually harassed British forces
Not winning great victories, but preventing British soldiers from establishing strong foothold in South. Slide37
Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox
Thomas Sumter,
The Carolina GamecockSlide38
General Nathaniel Greene
Washington puts Greene in charge of Southern Army
a
fter battle of Camden, SC
Success!
Petitions Virginia for supplies
Sends Lt. Col. Henry “
Lighthorse
Harry” Lee
to help Marion’s
raiders
Divides army between South Carolina and
Virginia
Cornwallis is forced to divide his army as well. Slide39
American Victory in the South
Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781Decisive American victory
Forces Cornwallis and
British army out of
South Carolina and
into VirginiaSlide40
Southern CampaignSlide41
Why the Southern Campaign is Important
It represents the significance of militias, avoidance, and attrition as crucial to the Patriot military effort
The Southern Campaign leads directly to the final confrontations of the war centered in Virginia
The Southern Campaign shows the importance of military leaders at different levels other than George Washington who played important roles for during the Revolution, Slide42
African Americans in the Age of Revolution
Lord Dunmore, final royal governor of Virginia
November 7, 1775, releases proclamation promises slaves who fight for the British will be freed.
Response in the colonies was immediate, warning slaves not to runawaySlide43
Lord Dunmore’s Ethiopian Regiment
300 former slaves
f
ought under Dunmore
i
n British Army
By June 1775 however,
Dunmore’s forces were
Mostly decimated by
Smallpox
By August 1776, the
r
emaining black forces
s
ailed out of the ChesapeakeSlide44
African Americans
Following Dunmore’s attempts, there was little interest by British military leaders in recruiting African Americans to fight for England
Northern colonies and upper South would eventually encourage free blacks to join the patriot cause
Around 1/5 of the slave population eventually ran away during the revolution. Slide45
The World Turned UpsideSlide46
Cornwallis’ Final Campaign
Cornwallis wanted a decisive victory in the Chesapeake after being pushed out of South Carolina
Washington was about to attack New York (which had been held by the British for the entirety of the war), when news of a French fleet heading to the Chesapeake reaches him
The Continental Army then converges on Cornwallis at YorktownSlide47Slide48
Surrender at Yorktown
October 19, 1781 – Cornwallis surrenders
Stuck between the Continental Army and French Navy
Cornwallis’ surrender ends the American Revolution
Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783
American Delegation – Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay
Treaty is very generous to the United States
Receives all territory between Appalachian Mountains and Mississippi RiverSlide49
Treaty of Paris, 1783
American delegation
at Paris painted by
Benjamin West
British Delegation
refused to pose and
t
he painted was
n
ever finishedSlide50