1775- Second Continental Congress
10th-Leaders meet again to discuss :
 Independence
 Raise a new army
 Choose a leader….. Washington
 May
1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill, Breeds Hill
(Boston)
 British
capture both hills, but suffer
1,054 casualties.
 Colonists only lose 450.
Significance?
 Britain
realized this would not be
easy
 Colonists gained confidence
1775 - Olive Branch Petition
- Colonists sent King George a final plea for
reconciliation and stated their loyalty to him.
King rejected it completely…the war is on
Common Sense
Pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in
1776
 Urges colonists to fight for
Independence
 120,000 copies sold in three months

Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas Jefferson-1776
 Officially breaks all ties with Britain
 Lists grievances against King George III and
spells out natural human rights……..
 For wealthy, white, landowning men that is

John Locke

English political philosopher who
developed the “contract theory” of gov’t
 People have the right to overthrow a bad gov’t
*His ideas influenced Madison and Jefferson
Continental Army
Established by the 2nd Continental
Congress in May 1775
 Washington was chosen to lead
 Hung together by a thread throughout
the war.
 Men would enlist for a year or less, then
quit.
 Its amazing G.W. held the army together
as long as he did.

Soldiers faced harsh conditions
- starvation
 - disease
 - lack of supplies
 - lack of clothing/shoes
 - harsh weather

Those who served
Colonists -AKA Patriots or Continentals
 Britain
-AKA Redcoats
 Hessians - German mercenaries hired by
British

Tories (loyalists)
Several hundred thousand in the colonies
 20-40% of the population
 80,000 fled to the British
 Many stayed and were harassed

African Americans
- 5,000 fought for
the Patriots
 Native Americans - Iroquois league broke
up and different tribes helped each side.
 Women - spies, messengers, cooks, nurses

Patriots
Patriots
-poor, young men from rural backgrounds
 -very little military training
 -lacked military discipline and experience
 GW had 19,000 men total from age 15 to 60
from local militias and Continental Army
 Low point was 5,000 troops in the harsh
winter of 1777-78

Redcoats
40,000 men
 -also poor, young men from rural
background, but….
 -highly trained
 -well supplied
 -more experienced, professional military

Redcoats
War strategies
Guerrilla warfare- Hit and run tactics
 War of Attrition- defensive war that
simply outlasts the enemy
 GW continued these strategies knowing he
could not beat the British in conventional
warfare

War numbers
Patriot troops- 20,000 in 1776
 British troops- 40,000 in 1776

 Hessians – 30,000
 Loyalists – 50,000
Patriot Navy- formed in 1775 …..weak
 British Navy- 78 well armed ships

Battle of Trenton
GW crossed the Delaware River on
 Xmas night 1776. They surprised 1,400
Hessians at daybreak taking 918
prisoner without a single patriot killed
 -this victory gave the Patriots a huge
boost in confidence

Battle of Saratoga
Patriots beat the British in 1777
 Turning point in the war because……
 Europeans decide to help Patriots

Valley Forge
Winter of 1777-78
 Washington and his men hunker down in
Pennsylvania and nearly starve to death
 Luckily Baron Von Steuben from Prussia
and French reinforcements come to
revive the Patriots
 They emerge stronger than ever

Foreign Aid
Marquis de Lafayette
- France
 Baron von Steuben
- Prussia
 Kazimierz Pulaski
- Poland
 These men provided much needed training
and leadership to the struggling colonists

Abigail Adams
Wife of John Adams
 Strong supporter of:
 Independence
 Women’s rights
 Abolition of slavery

Benedict Arnold
Talented general
 By 1780 he feels under-appreciated so he
plans to betray America and hand over
West Point to the British
 plot is foiled.... he escapes to British
 America is energized by this

Battle of Yorktown
outnumbered and outflanked British
General Cornwallis surrenders to GW
in Virginia 1781......
 this marks the end of the War !!

British strategy
Isolate New England from the rest of the
colonies
 Naval strength
 shock and awe colonists into submission

Betsy Ross

1st American flag..... maybe
Treaty of Paris
-September 3rd, 1783
 -U.S. is granted independence
 -land from Atlantic coast to Miss river
 -Americans must pay debts owed to
Britain

The
Treaty
of
Paris