History Soars at Pheonix  

The American Revolution
Please study your Powerpoint slides!

 

• Fighting Begins in the North

  • The Olive Branch Petition was sent to King George to repeal the Intolerable Acts.

  • Ethan Allen led the Green Mountain Boys in a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga.

  • Congress set up the Continental Army.

  • George Washington became the commander Continental Army.

  • People that favored the war were called Patriots.

  • People that supported the British King  were called Loyalists.

  • The Battle of Bunker Hill was the first battle of the Revolution.

  • King George ordered a blockade of the all colonial ports.

  • The King sent mercenaries, or troops for hire, from Germany to help fight the colonists.

 

• The Colonists Declare Independence

  • Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet, Common Sense, to bring attention to the British wrong doings in the colonies.

  • Thomas Jefferson drafts the Declaration of Independence.

  • The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence.

  • The Preamble is the introduction to the Declaration of Independence; it stressed the idea of natural rights, or rights that belong to all people.

  • The Declaration of Independence stated the British wrongs and declared the colonies as an independent; The United States of America.

 

• Struggles in the Middle Colonies

  • At the Battle of Long Island the British take New York.

  • General George Washington fights a series of battles against the British General William Howe.

  • Nathan Hale, a continental soldier, spied on the British troops for General George Washington. He was hung as a spy.

  • Months of war took a toll on the Continental Army. Many were sick and unfit for service.

  • The turning point of the war was at the Battle of Saratoga. It ended the threat to New England from the British.

  • Ben Franklin went to Paris and convinced the French King Louis XVI to send French soldiers to help fight the Revolution with the Continental Army.

  • General Washington and his troops suffered from the harsh winter conditions at Valley Forge in 177-1778. Many soldiers died from frostbite and diseases.

 

• Fighting for Liberty on Many Fronts

  • Women took part n the war. Many women joined their husbands at the front. They cared for the wounded, washed clothes and cooked.

  • Mary Ludwig carried water to soldiers. They called her Molly Pitcher. When her husband was injured she loaded the cannons.

  • Washington offered freedom to Africans that fought in the Revolution.  5,000 Africans served in the Continental Army. Black patriots hoped that the Revolution would bring an end to slavery.

  • Many Native Americans supported the British forces in the hopes to keep more white settlers from coming to their lands.

  • The British navy was superior to the colonial Navy. The British had more ships.

 

• Winning the War in the South

  • The Patriots won battle in the South.

  • Benedict Arnold, a traitor to the Continental Army, battled against Washington’s troops.

  • The Continental Army won the Battle of Yorktown.

  • The British surrender at Yorktown.

  • The Treaty of Paris was signed by the British; it recognized the establishment of the United States of America as an independent nation.