The American Revolution

1. The American Revolution America Secedes from the Empire (1775-1783)

2. Battle of Lexington & Concord

3. Second Continental Congress • Met in Philadelphia in May 1775 • Adopted measures to raise money & create an army & navy • Appointed George Washington as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army • Began negotiations with the Native Americans

4. Phase 1: The Northern Campaign • Fort Ticonderoga • Led by Ethan Allan & Benedict Arnold • Secured stores of gunpowder & artillery • Bunker Hill • Invasion of Canada • 2-Pronged assault • Hoped to find support • Forced to retreat

5. Battle of Bunker Hill

6. Olive Branch Petition (1775) • July 1775 – The Second Continental Congress attempted to avoid war with the Olive Branch Petition • Suggested that the colonies wanted to negotiate tax & trade regulations • Undermined John Adams’ letter claiming that war was inevitable • Rejected by King George III

7. Common Sense • Both the Congress & the public became more radical as the war raged • January 1776 – Publication of Thomas Paine’s widely read pamphlet Common Sense

8. Declaration of Independence • July 4, 1776 – Congress adopted a Declaration of Independence • Written mainly by Thomas Jefferson • Borrowed heavily from the ideas of John Locke • Served to justify the revolution & invite support from foreign nations

9. Declaration of Independence

10. Patriots & Loyalists • The Revolution was both a social and political war • About 15-20% of colonists remained loyal to Britain • Called “Tories” by the Patriots • Tended to be older, wealthy merchants & members of the Anglican church • Thousands fled & their estates were confiscated

11. Phase 2: The Mid-Atlantic • During the second phase of the war from 1776 to early 1778, the British were in the best position to win • General William Howe took control of New York City • The Patriots were successful in defeating Hessian troops at Trenton on Christmas Eve in 1776, but otherwise Washington's forces suffered a series of defeats

12. Washington Crossing the Deleware

13. The Saratoga Campaign • In 1777, the British attempted to divide the US along the Hudson River, separating New England from the rest of the colonies • General Howe’s army captured Philadelphia • General Burgoyne’s army was left without reinforcements & became trapped in New York • October 1777 – Burgoyne was forced to surrender his entire command at Saratoga • Proved to be a turning point because it led to an alliance between France and America

14. The Saratoga Campaign

15. Pivotal French Aid • When fighting first began, America sent diplomats abroad to enlist support, and France provided covert aid • Benjamin Franklin went to France and, aided by the news of the British defeat at Saratoga in 1778, France recognized the United States and provided loans, munitions, and army and naval forces • Spain and the Netherlands also provided aid and all three nations went to war with England

16. Phase 3: The South • After the defeat at Saratoga, British public opinion, which was never fully behind the war, worsened • In this final phase of the war, the strategy shifted to the South where the British erroneously believed that there was significant Loyalist support • Although the British enjoyed some military successes, they found themselves fighting a guerilla war

17. Phase 3: The South

18. Surrender at Yorktown • Accepting failure of this strategy, Lord Cornwallis, commander of the southern forces, retreated to Yorktown, Virginia, to rendezvous with a fleet to evacuate his troops • Trapped there by a combined Franco‐American army and the French navy, he surrendered in October 1781 • This marked the end of major fighting

19. Surrender at Yorktown

20. The Treaty of Paris • The Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognized an independent United States stretching from Canada to Florida and west to Mississippi River