The Revolutionary War- 3
Phases

Phase 1- 1775-1776

 Is this a war or are we just putting down a rebellion?
 Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and
Dorchester Heights
 Britain changes war strategy and leaves Boston
Phase 2- 1776-1778

 Shock and Awe- 32,000 British troops arrive in New
York in the summer of 1776 (General William Howedid he sympathize with America?)
 Washington has 19,000 troops and no navy
 Britain has a series of victories and is successful
until…..
Battle of Trenton

 Washington surprises the Hessians as he crosses the
icy Delaware River
 Raises morale and leads more enlistments and help
from French
Howe takes Philadelphia

 Abandons plan to divide colonies, hopes to rally
Loyalists
 Washington sets up camp at Valley Forge
 Howe doesn’t attack- Why?
Battle of Saratoga
(10/17/1777)

 British Army is surrounded and defeated
 Caps off a series of British blunders that causes them
not to win the war in Phase 2
 France officially becomes an ally (thank you militia
diplomats)
Phase 3- The South (17781781)

 British attempted to focus on South and rally
Loyalist support.
 Overestimated Loyalist support and hurt the support
by freeing slaves
 Guerilla warfare is extremely effective against the
British
Yorktown (October
17,1781)

 Nathaniel Greene divided American Army and
made them hard to catch
 Britain loses battle at King’s Mountain
 Cornwallis goes to Yorktown Peninsula and is
trapped between land and sea.