We have stated that the Americans vs. the British is one of the biggest
mismatches of all time. This worksheet gives details on how an
overmatched American force pulled one of the greatest upsets of all time.
1. What happened to the statue of King George III after George
Washington had the Declaration of Independence read to his troops
in New York City?
___________________________________________________
2. _____True / /False. Both sides (British and Americans) thought the
war would be over quickly.
3. Which side had the most Indian allies? ___________
Why? ____________________________________________
4. Let’s compare the two armies. Put a “A” for American, put a “B” for the British.
____ had more experience
____had a larger Navy
____ had more to fight for
____ had more money
____ had little weapons and ammo ____ 20-33% hoped the enemy would win
____ had more African Americans ____ had George Washington as leader
____ hired mercenaries to fight
____ had trouble recruiting soldiers
5. Most women were nurses or spies. Molly Pitcher did more by __________________.
Deborah Sampson did more by doing what?___________________________.
6. The British returned to America with one of the largest armies ever
assembled. What city did they land at? ________________. Why is
this a logical place for the British to come first? _________________
____________________________________________________
Who commanded the British here? __________________ What happened
when he and Washington met in battle?__________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
7. One British officer thought we would not make it through the winter. After all many
of our soldiers had no __________, _________, or _____________.
8. This was the first defeat for our army. Many soldiers lost confidence,
courage, and began to leave the army. ________________ wrote
another pamphlet called ____________________ to address this
problem.
Read the passage below, and tell me what the message was. ___________
_______________________________________________________
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink
from the service of their country, but he that stands by it know
deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.
9. Why did may Americans not want African Americans to fight for
America?__________________________________________________
Why did we finally let them?___________________________________
How many eventually joined our side? ___________________________
10. Our soldiers’ enlistments expired on January 1st 1777 which means the
whole army would be allowed to go home very soon. They could
re-enlist for another year, but Washington did not think they would.
He needed to win a battle to make his men feel good about the army
again and re-enlist. We crossed the __________ River to attack the
hated Hessians. We surprised them by attacking them on what
day? ___________________.
Compare our casualties with the Hessians casualties. ________________
_______________________________________________________
Did many of our soldiers re-enlist? ________. The code words for that
battle was “Victory or Death.” Why do you think Washington used this
as the code words? (not in the book) __________________________
_______________________________________________________
11. The British were embarrassed and came up with a plan to end the war.
This plan (involving three armies) would have defeated us easily.
The following sentences describe the plan.
General ______________(aka “The Gentleman”)
was to move south from Canada. Another British army was to move
east from the Great Lakes. The third and largest British army
(led by General ___________) was to move north from New York.
They were supposed to meet in __________.
This would give the British control of the _____________River and
cut us in half.
12.Explain this (It’s tough). General Howe (British) won the Battle of
Brandywine Creek by nearly defeating all of Washington’s army, and
took our capital city of Philadelphia. This helped us win the war. ___
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
13. The Battle of Saratoga is considered the turning point of the
Revolutionary War. We
started to win after this battle. What did we get because of this victory?
_______________________________________________________
When France enters the War on our side, everything
changes. England will now focus on _________.
Before the French arrive, we must endure another cruel
winter at ________________.
“No pay, no clothes, no provisions (supplies)” ___ die.
We get help from ____________________ (
and Marquis de Lafayette (
)
)
The battle of ___________ showed our new attitude.
It was the largest battle of the war.
Washington (13,000) vs. Clinton (13,000)
Very hot. Washington’s finest hour.
Mary Ludwig Hays (
) showed her bravery
_______ won. Proved our strength.