Revolutionary War

Most Important Provisions of The Treaty of Paris (3)

1. The United States was independent. 2. Its boundaries would be the Mississippi River on the west, Canada on the north, and Spanish Florida on the south. 3. The United States would receive the right to fish off Canada's Atlantic Coast, near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Treaty of Paris

1. The United States was independent. 2. Its boundaries would be the Mississippi River on the west, Canada on the north, and Spanish Florida on the south. 3. The United States would receive the right to fish off Canada's Atlantic Coast, near Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. 4. Each side would repay debts it owed the other. 5. The British would return any enslaved persons they had captured. 6. Congress would recommend that the states return any property they had seized from Loyalists.

Marquis de Lafayette (4)

1.) A 19-year-old French nobleman who volunteered to serve in Washington's army 2.) He quickly gained Washington's confidence and was given the command of an army division. 3.) He used his own money to buy warm clothing for his ragged troops. 4.) Lafayette fought in many battles and also persuaded the French king to send a 6,000- man army to America.

General Charles Cornwallis (3)

1.) A British General 2.) He set up base in Yorktown located on a peninsula in Chesapeake Bay, so it was easier for his army to receive supplies by ship from New York. 3.) He surrendered his army of about 8,000 after being surrounded by the Continental Army and the French. After his surrender there were no more major battles.

Thomas Paine (4)

1.) A political writer 2.) Immigrant from England 3.) Published Common Sense, that made a strong case for American independence. It convinced Americans that independence from Europe was important. 4.) Published The American Crisis, to urge soldiers to keep fighting during the Winter at Valley Forge

Hessians (3)

1.) A professional soldier from Germany hired to fight for a foreign country 2.) The king sent 9,000 of them to New York with General Howe. 3.) General Washington surprised them in Trenton and captured or killed more than 900 of them.

John Paul Jones (3)

1.) Became the commander of a ship named Bonhomme Richard in 1779 and he patrolled the English coast. 2.) Won the most famous sea battle against the Serapis. 3.) After seriously damaging each other's ships, he finally had gotten the Serapis' captain to surrender. The Bonhomme Richard was so full of holes that it eventually sank, so Jones and his crew had to sail away in the Serapis.

General William Howe (3)

1.) Britain sent him to New York in July 1776 with a large army. 2.) During the Battle of Breed's Hill, his army one the battle, but suffered a tremendous loss of over 1,000 men. He realized that the American's could have potential against his army. 3.) Part of the British strategy to cut off New England from the other colonies by taking over the Hudson River Valley. Instead of meeting in Albany, he decided to try and capture George Washington in Pennsylvania.

Declaration of Independence (2)

1.) Congress appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence.The committee included Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson. The group chose Jefferson to compose the Declaration. Two reasons for selecting Jefferson were that he was an excellent writer and that he came from Virginia. The members knew that no independence movement could succeed without Virginia's support. Jefferson immediately went to work. In two weeks, he had prepared most of the Declaration. 2.) On July 4, 1776, Congress adopted the document that proclaimed independence—the Declaration of Independence. John Hancock, the president of the Congress, was the first to sign the Declaration. It explains why the colonies wanted freedom from Britain. It then declared the colonies to be free and independent states.

Other Facts About George Washington (3)

1.) Fought in the French and Indian War 2.) When he arrived at the militia camp near Boston. He immediately began to gather supplies and train the army. 3.) His main goal was to survive. To do this, he needed to keep an army in the field, win some battles and avoid a crushing defeat. He knew he could not hope to win a major battle until he had a large, well-equipped army, but he did the best he could.

French support (2)

1.) France was still bitter over its defeat by Britain in the French and Indian War, in which France lost its North American colonies. The French hoped to take revenge on the British by helping Britain's American colonies break free. In 1776, France began to give secret aid to the Americans. However, the French didn't want to lose to Britain a second time. That is why they didn't publicly ally themselves with the United States until after the Americans had proved they could win battles. After hearing of the American victory at Saratoga, the King of France recognized U.S. independence. In 1778, France signed two treaties of alliance with the United States. By doing so, France went to war with Britain. As part of its new alliance, France sent badly needed funds, supplies, and troops to America. 2.) The French allowed the Americans to win the war, without this much needed help, the Continental Army would not been able to make it.

Baron Friedrich Von Steuben (5)

1.) From Germany 2.) Helped turn the inexperienced Americans into a skilled fighting force after Washington asked him to train the army. 3.) He formed a model company of 100 men in 1778, and he taught them how to move in lines and columns and how to handle weapons properly. 4.) He made them practice charging with bayonets and within a month, the troops were executing drills with speed and precision. 5.) He had the models teach the rest of the army of his methods.

Richard Henry Lee (4)

1.) From Virginia 2.) Introduced a key resolution on June 7. It called the colonies "free and independent states" and declared that "all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is . . . totally dissolved." 3.) Because of this, Congress appointed a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence, as not all delegates were ready to vote on it. 4.) On July 2, 1776, Congress considered Lee's resolution again. Although some didn't agree, the measure passed and the colonies considered themselves independent.

Haym Salomon (5)

1.) From eastern Europe. 2.) He moved here in search of liberty between 1764 and 1775. 3.) A Jew from Poland 4.) He was a successful merchant and banker. After the war broke out, Salomon supported the Patriot cause. When the British captured New York in 1776, many Patriots fled but Salomon stayed. The British arrested him as a spy. Salomon spoke many languages. The British thought he could help their supply officers deal with foreign merchants, so they let him out of prison. Salomon used this opportunity to help other prisoners escape. 5.) In 1778, the British wanted to arrest Salomon again, so he fled to Philadelphia. His earlier time in the cold, damp prison had permanently damaged his health. Even so, he continued to aid the Patriots. He loaned the new government more than $600,000, which was never repaid.

Battles of Saratoga (3)

1.) General Burgoyne, General Howe, and St. Leger were all supposed to meet in Albany in order to complete their plan of action—to seize the Hudson River Valley. If successful, they would cut off New England from the other states. 2.) In the end only Burgoyne could get to close to Albany. On the way, they met a powerful Continental Army force led by General Horatio Gates. Gates's soldiers were waiting on a ridge called Bemis Heights, near Saratoga, New York. There the Americans had created fortifications, or built-up earthen walls, behind which to fight. Burgoyne would have to break through the fortifications to proceed to Albany. On September 19, he attacked. While Gates commanded the Americans on the ridge, Benedict Arnold led an attack on nearby. 3.) Benedict Arnold's men repeatedly charged the British and inflicted heavy casualties. Still, the British held their position. On October 7, another battle broke out. The army finally surrendered there, and then Continental Army then surrounded the rest of Burgoyne's army forced him to surrender.

Breed's Hill (2)

1.) In June 1775, Militiamen seized the hills behind Charlestown. They built fortifications on the Hill. General William Howe ordered his troops to cross the bay with 2,200 British soldiers. They marched up the Hill to meet the militia at the top. When the British got close, the militia unleashed murderous fire. The British fell back and then charged again. Finally, they forced the militia off the hill. 2.) The British won this battle, but didn't really win. They ended up with the hill, but they lost more than 1,000 soldiers, whereas the militia only lost 400.

Horatio Gates (3)

1.) Led the powerful Continental Army force that stopped General Burgoyne's army from getting to Albany. 2.) Despite this setback, Burgoyne's army headed slowly toward Albany. On the way, it met a powerful Continental Army force led by General Horatio Gates. Gates's soldiers were waiting on a ridge called Bemis Heights, near Saratoga, New York. There the Americans had created fortifications, or built-up earthen walls, behind which to fight. The Polish engineer Tadeusz Kosciuszko had helped the Americans do this. Burgoyne would have to break through the fortifications to proceed to Albany. On September 19, he attacked. 3.) In August 1780, Gates's army ran into British troops outside Camden. The Americans were in no condition to fight. They were out of supplies and half-starved. Even worse, Gates put the inexperienced militia along part of the frontline instead of behind the veterans. When the British attacked, the militia panicked and ran. Gates also fled, but Kalb remained with his soldiers and received fatal wounds. This second defeat in the South ended Gates's term as head of an army

General Thomas Gage (3)

1.) Parliament Appointed him the governor of Massachusetts 2.) Led his troops to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington and destroy the arms and ammunition in Concord. 3.) After Lexington and Concord, he decided to move his soldiers from the peninsula opposite Boston to the city itself. Because Boston was nearly surrounded by water, he thought a colonial attack by land almost impossible

Thomas Jefferson (2)

1.) Part of the committee appointed by Congress to draft a Declaration of Independence along with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. 2.) He was chosen out of this group to actually write the Declaration because he was an excellent writer and that he came from Virginia. In two weeks time he had most of the Declaration prepared.

Joseph and Molly Brant (2)

1.) St. Leger's forces included Iroquois led by Mohawk chief Joseph Brant. Brant and his sister, Molly, had strong ties to the British. Molly was a British official's wife, and Joseph was a convert to the Church of England. Both Joseph and Molly tried to convince the Iroquois to fight for the British, who upheld Iroquois rights to their land. 2.). Between 60,000 and 100,000 Loyalists left the United States during and after the war. Among them were several thousand African Americans and Native Americans, including Joseph Brant. Most of the Loyalists went to Canada. There they settled new towns and provinces.

Lexington and Concord (5)

1.) The First Battles of the Revolutionary War 2.) A British Force Led by General Thomas Gage traveled to Lexington and Concord in order to capture John Hancock and Sam Adams. Also, to destroy arms and ammunition the Continental Army was storing. 3.) At dawn on April 19, 700 British troops reached Lexington, where they found Captain John Parker and about 70 militiamen waiting. No one knows who fired first, but within a few minutes eight militiamen lay dead. 4.) The British then marched to Concord, where they destroyed military supplies. 5.) Nearly 4,000 Minutemen and militia arrived in the area and they lined the road from Concord to Lexington and peppered the retreating redcoats with musket fire. Only the arrival of 1,000 more troops saved the British from destruction as they scrambled back to Boston.

Bernardo de Gálvez (2)

1.) The Spanish governor of Louisiana 2.) He captured the British strongholds of Natchez and Baton Rouge in the lower Mississippi Valley. From there, his small army went on to take Mobile, and in 1781 Pensacola in West Florida. These victories prevented the British from attacking the United States from the southwest. In addition, Britain had to keep thousands of troops fighting Gálvez—instead of fighting the Americans.

Yorktown (2)

1.) The last major battle of the war 2.) The British General Cornwallis set up his base at Yorktown, located on a peninsula in Chesapeake Bay. From there, his army could receive supplies by ship from New York. Washington saw Cornwallis's decision as a golden opportunity. In August 1781, a large French fleet arrived from the West Indies and blocked Chesapeake Bay. Which allowed Washington to come from the North and trap Cornwallis on the peninsula. Washington had enough men to do this because a large French force led by General Jean Rochambeau had joined his army. When British ships tried to reach Cornwallis, French ships drove them back. The American and French troops bombarded Yorktown with cannon fire, turning its buildings to rubble. Cornwallis had no way out. On October 19, 1781, he surrendered his force of about 8,000.

Nancy Hart (2)

1.) The state of Georgia named a county after Nancy Hart, who is shown here holding Loyalists prisoner. 2.) Patriot Nancy Hart glared at the five armed Loyalists who burst into her Georgia cabin. Tradition says that the men had shot her last turkey and ordered her to cook it for them. Raids like this were common in the South, where feuding neighbors used the war as an excuse to fight each other. Both Patriots and Loyalists took part in the raids. Many women and children had moved out of Georgia, but the six-foot-tall, freckled Hart chose to stay and fight. She could shoot a gun as accurately as any man. As she prepared the food, Hart planned her attack. When dinner was ready, the men sat down to eat. Seizing one of their muskets, Hart quickly shot and killed one man and wounded another. She kept the gun aimed on the others as her daughter ran for help. A group of nearby Patriots arrived and hanged the Loyalists. As Nancy Hart's story demonstrates, the fighting between Patriots and Loyalists in the South was vicious. In this section, you will learn why the British war effort shifted to the South and why it failed.

General John Burgoyne (3)

1.) Took his troop from Canada south to Albany to meet with General Howe and St. Leger to seize the Hudson River Valley. 2.) Left Canada in June 1777 with an army that included British, Hessians, and Iroquois. He captured Fort Ticonderoga, and he threw many parties along the way afterwards. This gave the Americans time to do everything possible to slow down his army. 3.) He Learned on August 4th that General Howe was not coming to Albany, meaning he was on his own. His army was defeated by a powerful Continental Army force led by General Horatio Gates along with Benedict Arnold. He was forced to surrender after the Continental Army surrounded his forces.

Trenton (2)

1.) Washington hoped a victory would encourage his weary men. He also knew that he must attack the British quickly because most of his soldiers would leave once their enlistments ended on December 31. Late on December 25, 1776, Washington's troops rowed across the icy Delaware River to New Jersey. 2.) He and his army went to surprise the Hessians in the early morning. The Americans captured or killed more than 900 Hessians and gained needed supplies.

George Rogers Clark (4)

1.) a 24-year-old frontiersman who lived in Kentucky, which was claimed by Virginia. 2.) After convincing, Patrick Henry, the governo r, told Clark to raise an army to capture British posts on the Western frontier. 3.) In May of 1778, Clark and a group of frontiersmen began to travel down the Ohio River. He recruited others on the way, until he had a force of 175 to 200. They went by boat and later on foot to Kaskaskia, a British post on the Mississippi River. They captured Kaskaskia without a fight. Then they moved east to take Fort Sackville at Vincennes, in present day Indiana. Earlier, a small force sent by Clark had taken Vincennes, but British forces under Henry Hamilton had recaptured it. 4.) Determined to retake Fort Sackville, Clark and his men set out for Vincennes from Kaskaskia in February 1779. Hamilton wasn't expecting an attack because the rivers were overflowing their banks and the woods were flooded. Clark's men slogged through miles of icy swamps and waded through chest-deep water. They caught the British at Vincennes by surprise. When Hamilton and his troops tried to remain in the fort, Clark pretended to have a larger force than he really had. He also found a way to frighten the British into leaving. Clark and his men had captured several Native Americans, who were allies of the British and had American scalps on their belts. Clark executed some of them in plain view of the fort. He promised to do the same to Hamilton and his men if they didn't surrender immediately. The British gave up. Clark's victory gave the Americans a hold on the vast region between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. This area was more than half the total size of the original 13 states. However, Fort Detroit on Lake Erie remained in the hands of the British.

Baron de Kalb (2)

1.) a German officer who had served in the French army. 2.) He became one of Washington's generals and earned a reputation for bravery. In 1780, he received 11 wounds in the Battle of Camden and died.

Benedict Arnold (3)

1.) a leader of an expedition to defeat British. He was an officer who had played a role in the victory at Fort Ticonderoga. After a grueling march across Maine, Arnold arrived at Quebec in November 1775. By that time, however, winter had set in. Under harsh conditions, the Americans launched their attack but failed. After several months, they limped home in defeat. 2.) While Gates commanded the Americans on the ridge, Benedict Arnold led an attack on nearby Freeman's Farm. His men repeatedly charged the British and inflicted heavy casualties. Still, the British held their position. On October 7, another battle broke out. Again Arnold led daring charges against the British. Although hundreds of muskets were firing at him, he galloped through the battlefield "like a madman," a sergeant later said. Frightened, Burgoyne's Hessian mercenaries began to fall back. Eventually, a bullet tore into Arnold's leg and stopped him. Even so, the Americans forced Burgoyne to retreat 3.) As Benedict Arnold was recovering from his wound, he married a woman who was a Loyalist. Over time, Arnold came to feel that Congress had not rewarded him enough for his heroic actions at Saratoga and other battles. Influenced by his bitterness and his wife, he betrayed his army. In 1780, he agreed to turn over an American fort to the British. Although his plot was discovered before he could carry it out, he escaped.

Emily Freedman (2)

1.) sued for her freedom in a Massachusetts court and won in 1781 2.) Helped to end slavery in Massachusetts

Joseph Paul de Grasse (2)

1.) was the captain of the ship that helped corner Lord Cornwallis and his troops on the Chesapeake Bay. His ships fought off any British ships that came to reach him. 2.) Defeated the British fleet led by the Graves and Hoods in the Battle of the Capes, September 5, 1781.

Nathanael Greene

After Gates' defeat at Camden, Washington put a new general, Nathanael Greene, in charge of the Southern army. Greene was one of Washington's most able officers. He had been a Quaker, but his church had cast him out because of his belief in the armed struggle against the British. Most Quakers are pacifist, or opposed to war. Under Greene's command, the American army avoided full-scale battles, in which the British had the edge because of superior firepower. So the American forces let the British chase them around the countryside and wear themselves out. When the Americans did fight, they did their best to make sure the British suffered heavy losses.

Valley Forge

During the winter of 1777-1778, Washington and his army camped at Valley Forge in southeast Pennsylvania. On the march to Valley Forge, Washington's army was so short on supplies that many soldiers had only blankets to cover themselves. They also lacked shoes. The barefoot men left tracks of blood on the frozen ground as they marched. The soldiers' condition did not improve at camp. Many limbs were amputated because of frostbite and over the winter, the soldiers at Valley Forge grew weak from not having enough food or warm clothing. Roughly a quarter of them died from malnutrition, exposure to the cold, or diseases such as smallpox and typhoid fever.

John Jay

He was appointed to the New York Committee of Correspondence, the Continental Congress, & the New York Provincial Congress. He helped draft a constitution for New York & served as the state's chief justice until 1779. He was President of the Continental Congress in 1778-79.

Jean Rochambeau

He was the French General that joined Washington's army in order to surround Lord Cornwallis on the peninsula in Chesapeake Bay. He helped Washington defeat him in the Battle of Yorktown.

Thomas Sully

His passage of the Delaware shows Washington at the Delaware River, leading to the American attack on the British at Trenton, New Jersey.

Joseph Plumb Martin

In 1776, 15-year-old Joseph Plumb Martin of Connecticut signed up to fight for the Americans. He stayed with the army until the war ended and rose in rank from private to sergeant. Among his experiences were the terrible winter at Valley Forge and the winning battle at Yorktown. One of the hardest things Martin faced was leaving the army after the war was over.

Henry Knox

Joined the Continental Army at age 21 and later served under General George Washington in the American Revolutionary War. After rising in rank to Major General, he resigned and became Secretary of War in President Washington's first cabinet in 1789.

"Common Sense"

Many Americans weren't totally on board with a final break with Britain. Thomas Paine wrote a series of pamphlet that portrayed the American cause for independence. Paine ridiculed the idea that kings ruled by the will of God and he also argued that all monarchies were corrupt. He also disagreed with the economic arguments for remaining with Britain. Now, many more Americans were on board with independence.

Iroquois League

Most of the Iroquois were aligned with the British because they helped them during the French and Indian War. St. Leger, a British general, had forces that included a Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant. He tried to convince the Iroquois to fight for the British.

Fort Ticonderoga (1775 + 1777)

On May 10, 1775, Ethan Allen led a band of backwoodsmen called the Green Mountain Boys to capture the Fort. They captured the fort and its large supply of artillery—cannon and large guns. These guns would be used later to drive the British from Boston. In July 1777, General Burgoyne and his army captured the Fort. He celebrated his victory by throwing parties.Capturing the Fort gave the Americans time to cut down trees to block his route. They also burned crops and drove off cattle, leaving the countryside bare of supplies for the British troops.

Second Continental Congress

On May 10, they began meeting in Philadelphia. Delegates included John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Patrick Henry. During this meeting, they agreed to form the Continental Army. George Washington was chosen as its commanding general. He had served as a colonial officer with the British during the French and Indian War. Congress also authorized the printing of paper money to pay the troops.

Deborah Sampson

She dressed as a man, enlisted, and fought in several engagements

Mary Hays

She earned the nickname "Molly Pitcher" by carrying water to tired soldiers during a battle.

British Southern strategy

The British believed that most Southerners were Loyalists. Because of this, in 1778 the British decided to move the war to the South. The British believed that if they gained territory in the South, Southern Loyalists would hold it for them. The British also expected large numbers of Southern slaves to join them because they had promised to grant the slaves freedom. Although thousands of African Americans did run away to join the British, not all of them were set free. Britain's West Indian colonies were a third reason the British invaded the South. Southern seaports were closer to the West Indies, where British troops were stationed. If the British captured Southern ports, they could move troops back and forth between the two regions.

"The American Crisis"

Thomas Paine witnessed the hard conditions and the soldiers' low spirits on the retreat. To urge them to keep fighting, Paine published the first in a series of pamphlets to show them that these are the times that will test them and the cause they are fighting for is very important.

Dorchester Heights

Washington moved his troops to the place, overlooking Boston. The Americans threatened to bombard the city. General Howe was now in charge of the British forces decided to withdraw his troops. On March 17, about 9,000 British soldiers departed Boston in more than 100 ships. Boston Patriots joyfully reclaimed their city, but the British had damaged homes and destroyed possessions. More than 1,000 Loyalist supporters left along with the British troops. Anti-British feeling in Boston was so strong that the Loyalists feared for their safety.

Republic (republicanism)

a government where the people rule

Privateer

a privately owned ship that, in wartime, a government gives permission to attack an enemy's merchant ships

Mercenary

a professional soldier hired to fight for a foreign country.

guerrilla

a small group of who weaken the enemy with surprise raids and hit-and-run attacks in the South.

deserter

a soldier who leaves military duty before enlistment time ends, not intending to return

diplomat

an official representing a country abroad

abstain

formally decline to vote either for or against a proposal or motion

Ethan Allen

led this band of backwoodsmen known as the Green Mountain Boys. They captured the fort and its large supply of artillery—cannon and large guns. The guns would be used later to drive the British from Boston.

George Washington

the commander of the Continental Army

Patriot

those believing in the independence of America, Roughly 40 to 45 percent were Patriots In general, New England and Virginia had high numbers of Patriots.

Loyalist

those siding with the British's cause. Roughly 20 to 30 percent of Americans were Loyalists, Loyalists were numerous in cities, in New York State, and in the South. Many Loyalists worked for the British government or were clergy in the Church of England. Some Quakers were Loyalists, although many wanted peace.