https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=J6qFEAmsyL4&list=PL
nQoPOAJSXTPrPUKXgiq6g
_kmbUQVZ7X5&index=3
Episode 3 (0-17:30)
What are British attitudes after
Americans declare
independence?
What challenges face the
Patriots in their quest for
independence?
The Revolutionary War
1776-1783
(First Half of Chapter 6)
Essential Question: How did the
American colonists successfully gain
independence from Britain?
“Continental Army”
established by
Continental Congress
Under leadership of
George Washington
in 1776
faced steep odds
William Howe &
Richard Howe lead
British army & navy
against colonial
“insurgency” they
believed would
end quickly
What were the strengths and weaknesses of each side
as the Revolutionary War progressed?
Consider how issues below are either strengths or weaknesses:
British
&
• Finances & Equipment
• Loyalists
• Navy
• Mercenaries aka “Hessians”
• Location of Battles
• Traditional Tactics
Americans
• Funding & Organization
• Civilian Support
•
•
•
•
“Guerilla” Tactics
Foreign Aid
Desire
Need only a draw
Early Battles at:
• Boston
• New York
• Philadelphia
All losses for
Continental Army
early in war, but …
Washington &
Continentals “Live
to Fight Another
Day”
“The Times that
Try Men’s Souls”
Valley Forge, PA
Winter - 1776/77
Tough times for Washington & his men
Morale Turning Point
“Victories” at
Trenton & Princeton
Winter – 1776/77
Military & Diplomatic Turning Point
Battle of Saratoga – October 1777
France Saves the Day
How and Why??
Treaty of Alliance -- 1778
Lafayette
However…American Problems Were Growing:
Reality of battle terrorize & divide Patriots, Loyalists
& “Non-Associators”…American unity lacking early
Even worse…financial problem mount for new nation:
Most states do not fully pay taxes to fund Continental Army
Continental Congress lacks “specie” to back up paper money
Colonial Currency “Not worth paper its printed on”
– leads to inflation, bankrupt army, lower morale
Fighting Moves
South
1779 – 1781
Battles are increasingly
indecisive, bloody
&
personal
“war of attrition”
begins
“Oh God!
It is all over!”
Lord North
Battle of Yorktown, VA
1781
Cornwallis Surrenders
Whig opposition
grows in Parliament
UK seeks negotiated end to war
Mixed Role of
African-Americans
and Native Americans
in Revolutionary War
Treaty of Paris -- 1783
Major Issues
•British forts
•Fishing Rights
•Debts
•Mississippi Access
•Western Lands
•Loyalists property
Consider the
Context
Audience
Purpose
Point of View
of this cartoon
The meaning of liberty and republicanism in the newly independent
American nation was a question just starting to be debated
Who Won the American Revolution?: Crash Course US History #7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EiSymRrKI4&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtMwmepBjTSG593eG7ObzO7s&index=7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6fOi_1fu80&index=17&list=PLCH8uxPXHDPD5YQPvxX3qlGSFlHNZUhd6
For fun, watch this and other Mr. Betts history music videos