10th Grade United States History

Unit 5: The American Revolution

Note Packet 5-3

MAJOR EVENTS AFTER DECLARING INDEPENDENCE• The first year of the war went much better for the

Continental patriots than anyone would have expected, but it was just the beginning of a long, roller-coaster ride of triumphs and failures, and successes and losses.

• In the spring of 1776, while the delegates to the Continental Congress were still debating the question of independence…

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• In the spring of 1776, General Washington moved the bulk of the Continental Army from ______ to ________ to protect it from the British.

• General Washington was certain that the British would try to seize New York City and use it as a base of operations for their land and naval forces.

• By July, Washington had nearly _______ troops in the city.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

BostonNew York

30,000

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3• August 1776: British forces (including

over 8,000 __________), totaling more than 30,000 troops, defeated Continental forces under Washington’s command at the ______ of ___________.

• Washington was in a very difficult position in New York City.

• After the loss at Long Island, the British defeated Washington again at the Battle of Manhattan and again at the Battle of Westchester.

• These battles revealed many weaknesses in Washington’s grasp of strategy and tactics, but each of these desperate battles, even in losses, also showed Washington as a personally inspiring leader of great character and courage.

Hessians

Battle Long Island

• Shortly before the Battle of Harlem Heights, General Washington asked for a volunteer to spy behind enemy lines.

• A 21-year-old school teacher turned captain from Connecticut, eager to be useful, volunteered for the job.

• Betrayed and revealed to the British by his Tory cousin, this spy was captured and sentenced to hang the very next day.

• When the hangman’s noose was pulled over his head, he was given the opportunity to speak his final words—what he said has echoed throughout history: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

• Who was this man?

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• General Howe and the British used superior numbers and equipment, as well as the guns of the Royal navy, to defeat Washington in New York, but never really exploited these costly victories. Washington decided to move the battle to New Jersey.

• Weary and discouraged, Washington and his men combed the river for small boats and they rowed across to Pennsylvania and set up for a cold winter encampment.

• Washington was forced to retreat to ___________, and by the time he crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, only ________ of his 30,000 troops remained.

New Jersey

15,000

• Confident that the war was almost won, Britain’s General Howe prepared to celebrate Christmas in New York.

• The Continentals were in no mood to celebrate—exemplified by the words of Thomas Paine (Common Sense) in his next pamphlet, The American Crisis:

• “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered—yet we have this consolation with us—that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• These were extremely trying times, but they were also times that transformed Washington’s men into a determined and disciplined army—even in the depths of the war’s first vicious winter.

• Washington, as General Howe saw it, was defeated and would spend this winter licking his wounds and trying to recover from the losses in New York.

• Certainly there was no reason to expect a counter-attack from Washington.

• In Europe, armies did not fight in the winter. • But Washington understood one very important fact—this was

not Europe. • Collecting his scattered regulars and militia, Washington

reorganized his army and led it back across the Delaware River back into New Jersey.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• December 25, 1776-January 3, 1777: Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River and launched a surprise attack and defeated the British at the Battles of ________ and __________.

• These victories ruined British plans for ending the war in the winter of 1776-1777 and brought a huge revival of American spirits.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

TrentonPrinceton

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3• Inspired by these victories, as well as Thomas Paine’s

second pamphlet, “The ______________,” volunteers swelled the ranks of the Continental Army.

• However, the news was not all good for the Americans…• October 4, 1777: British forces under General _______

capture ___________--the American capital.• In another rise of the roller coaster…• October 1777: Patriot forces defeated the British at

_________, New York—stopping the British in their attempt to cut ____________ off from the rest of the colonies.

• The Battle of Saratoga was the largest American victory yet and was the major ____________ of the Revolutionary War.

American Crisis

HowePhiladelphia

SaratogaNew England

turning point

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3• It was not the British capture of

Philadelphia, but the American victory at Saratoga that had one of the most important impacts of the war with its influence on King Louis XVI of France.

• February 1778: Due to the American victory at Saratoga and the diplomatic skills of _________ ________, _______ formally recognized the United States of America and joined the fight against the British.

• ______ (ally of France) also declared war on Great Britain.

BenjaminFranklin France

Spain

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3• The winter of 1778 brought great suffering to the

Continental Army, which was encamped at ___________, Pennsylvania.

• The Army was in a race against the elements to build adequate shelter and the state of supply was poorer than ever—many men were half-naked and shoeless and though most of the soldiers made it through, many of the Army’s horses starved to death.

Valley Forge

• Yet a stronger army was forged during that terrible winter, due largely to the aide of foreign officers:

• __________________: French officer who assisted American forces during the Revolutionary War.• ________________: Prussian officer who helped train

Continental soldiers to European standards.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

Marquis de Lafayette

Baron von Steuben

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• French intervention forced the British to revise their plans for conquering their former colonies.

• General ____________ replaced General Howe as the leader of British forces in America and decided to move the war to the ______.– December 1778: British forces captured __________,

Georgia in an effort to implement their _________ _________(def): British attempt to capture southern colonies with the support of southern loyalists.

– May 1780: British forces under Clinton capture ___________, South Carolina.

– Clinton returned to New York and placed General _________________ in command of British forces in the South.

Henry Clinton

SouthSavannah

SouthernStrategy

Charleston

Charles Cornwallis

• October 1780: Continental forces defeated the British at ____________ and _________, South Carolina.

• March 1781: The British under Cornwallis are defeated at ________ ___________, North Carolina and abandoned their Southern Campaign.– Cornwallis withdrew to Virginia

(where he joined forces with the most notorious traitor in American history, ______________) and established his headquarters at ___________.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

King MountainCowpens

GuilfordCourt House

Benedict Arnold

Yorktown

• Benedict Arnold served in the French and Indian War as a teen-ager and was considered to be a brilliant officer for much of the Revolutionary War.

• Passed over for promotion several times, Arnold became very bitter and things got substantially worse when he married the daughter of a devout Loyalist.

• He then became deeply in debt and saw the British army as a way of gaining promotion and cash.

• He offered the British a plan to betray the American fortifications at West Point, New York, but his plans were revealed when British Major John Andre’ was captured in 1780 and Arnold’s message was found in Andre’s boot.

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3• Andre was executed as a spy, but

Benedict Arnold escaped and fought with the British against the Continental Army.

• However, he never received the advancement and fortune the British had promised. He went to England in 1781 and was plagued by what was referred to as a “nervous disease,” and died in London in 1801.

• October 6, 1781: General Washington combined his Continental Army force with French troops under ________ ____________ and trapped Cornwallis at Yorktown.– October 19, 1781: Blocked from retreating via the sea by the

_______, Cornwallis _____________ to Washington at Yorktown ending all serious fighting in North America (though a formal peace treaty was not signed for another 2 years).

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

Comte deRochambeau

French surrendered

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3

• ____________ (1783): Officially ended the American Revolution.– Terms of the treaty:

–Great Britain recognized the _____________ of the United States of America.–United States received all land from the _______

______ south to _______ and from the ___________ River east to the ______________.–Rights and property of all _________ was to be

restored.–British agree to _________ U.S. territory. – ______ is given _______.

Treaty of Paris

independence

Great Lakes FloridaMississippi Atlantic Ocean

Loyalists

evacuateSpain Florida

Unit 5: The American Revolution—Note Packet 5-3