The American Revolution Review

Minutemen

Militia with special training they had to be ready for battle at a minute's notice

Declaration of Independence

the document written and signed at the second Continental Congress (4 July 1776) asserting the independence of the colonies from Great Britain

What type of person was a loyalist

wealthy landowners, merchants, they considered the king their protector

Ethan Allen

- At the outbreak of the American Revolution, he raised his force of Green Mountain Boys (organized in 1770) and Connecticut troops and helped capture the British fort at Ticonderoga - He petitioned for Vermont to join the United States

Thomas Paine

- Author of "Common Sense" - He argued that America was related to Europe as a whole, not just England, and that it needed to freely trade with nations like France and Spain

Thomas Jefferson

- Author of the Declaration of Independence - Third president of the United States - Served in the continental congress - Governor of Virginia

George Washington

- Commander in Chief of the continental army - He led the colonial forces to victory over the British and became a national hero. In 1787, he was elected president of the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution. Two years later, Washington became America's first president.

Samuel Adams

- Founding Father of the USA - Protested British taxation without representation - Helped unite the colonies in the fight for independence - "The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on Earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but only to have the law of nature for his rule."

Molly Pitcher

- Molly Pitcher was the nickname of a woman said to have carried water to American soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, before taking over for her husband on the battlefield after he was no longer able to fight.

Benedict Arnold

- Played a crucial (important) role in many key battles of the war - 1779 he entered into secret negotiations with the British agreeing to turn over the U.S. post at West Point in return for money and a command in the British army. - Became known as a traitor!

Betsy Ross

- She claims to have been the tailor for George Washington - Became a patriotic icon in the late 19th century when stories surfaced that she had sewn the first "stars and stripes" U.S. flag in 1776

colonist advantages in revolutionary war

- fighting on home territory - Fighting for freedom and rights - Strong Generals

Marquis de Lafayette

-Commissioned a Major General Lafayette was wounded during the September 11, 1777 --- Battle of the Brandywine. In December, 1777, he camped with Washington and the army at Valley Forge - Washington replied, conveying his sincere appreciation for the Frenchman's support

Patriot

American colonist who favored American independence

Battle of Trenton and Princeton

George Washington's troops crossed the Delaware River and captured a Hessian (German mercenaries fighting for the British) encampment; Then Washington moves to the next city and takes British by surprise on Christmas

The Battle of Yorktown

Last major battle of the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis and his troops were trapped. Washington cut off the British supplies. Cornwallis was forced to surrendered October 19, 1781.

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

powerful pamphlet telling the colonists to break free. Denounced Kings, wanted to abolish slavery, wanted the American military to become powerful, equality for everyone

The Unalienable Rights

rights that cannot be taken away: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

Loyalist

American colonists who remained loyal to Britain and opposed the war for independence

Battle of Saratoga

American victory over British troops in 1777 that was a turning point in the American Revolution.

Militia

A group of ordinary people who train for battle

Commander

A person who exercises authority, chief officer, leader.

Lexington and Concord

April 8, 1775: Gage leads 700 soldiers to confiscate colonial weapons ; Lexington - 8 colonists are dead and 10 more wounded. Concord - Colonists resist and force the British to retreat back to Boston (shot heard round the world)

Battle of Long Island (1776)

Battle for the control of New York. British troops overwhelmed the colonial militias and retained control of the city for most of the war.

British Advantages and Disadvantages

British advantages -Experienced officers and soldiers -Royal navy is largest and most experienced at time -Well supplied, trained, fed, equipped, funded, and disciplined -Payed others to fight like Hessians British disadvantages -Unfamiliar with territory and far from home -No passion to fight - far away from supplies

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

Called for peace

Lord Cornwallis

Charles Cornwallis led several successful early campaigns during the American Revolution, securing British victories at New York, Brandywine and Camden. In 1781, as second in command to Gen. Henry Clinton, he moved his forces to Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Yorktown. This American victory and Cornwallis' surrender of his troops to George Washington was the final major conflict of the American Revolution.

Where does the government get its power?

From the people

Paul Revere

Paul Revere was a colonial Boston silversmith, industrialist, propagandist and patriot immortalized in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem describing Revere's midnight ride to warn the colonists about a British attack. He gave the local militia a key advantage during the Battles of Lexington and Concord, sparking the Revolutionary War and eventual American independence.

What two countries waged war on GB and helped America gain it's independence

Spain and France

The Battle of Bunker Hill showed....

That Americans would not be easily defeated

Treaty of Paris 1783

This treaty ended the Revolutionary War, recognized the independence of the American colonies, and granted the colonies the territory from the southern border of Canada to the northern border of Florida, and from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. All Prisoners were freed by both sides, US retained fishing rights off Newfoundland

Which battle did the colonists use guerrilla warfare

cowpens