AMERICAN REVOLUTION

SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS • MAY 10, 1775

• HOPING TO AVOID WAR WITH BRITAIN,

DELEGATES SENT THE “OLIVE BRANCH

PETITION” DECLARING THEIR LOYALTY TO

THE KING OF ENGLAND AND ASKING HIM TO

REPEAL THE INTOLERABLE ACTS.

• IN RESPONSE, THE KING SENT 20,000 MORE

BRITISH TROOPS TO CRUSH THE REVOLT.

• GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS NAMED THE

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE

CONTINENTAL ARMY.

THE OPPOSING SIDES• PATRIOTS: COLONISTS WHO FAVORED

WAR AGAINST BRITAIN.

• ADVANTAGES: OWNED THEIR OWN

RIFFLES AND WERE GOOD SHOTS.

• DISADVANTAGES: FORCES WERE

POORLY TRAINED, UNORGANIZED,

HAD FEW CANNONS, LITTLE

GUNPOWDER, AND NO NAVY.

• LOYALISTS- COLONISTS WHO REMAINED

LOYAL TO BRITAIN.

• BRITISH: VERY POWERFUL

• ADVANTAGES: HAD HIGHLY

TRAINED, EXPERIENCED

TROOPS AND THE BEST NAVY

IN THE WORLD.

• DISADVANTAGES: ARMIES

WERE 3,000 MILES FROM

HOME (NEWS AND SUPPLIES

TOOK MONTHS TO TRAVEL)

BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL• FIRST MAJOR BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION.

• FOUGHT OUTSIDE BOSTON, MA.

• THE BRITISH WON, BUT THE BATTLE PROVED

THE PATRIOTS COULD FIGHT BRAVELY.

• SEVERAL WEEKS LATER, WASHINGTON

PLACED CANNONS ON BUNKER HILL AND

POINTED THEM TOWARDS BOSTON.

• THE BRITISH RETREATED TO CANADA

AND THE PATRIOTS TOOK CONTROL OF

BOSTON.

• KING GEORGE ORDERED A BLOCKADE

OF ALL COLONIAL PORTS.

“COMMON SENSE”

• THOMAS PAINE WROTE A FAMOUS

PAMPHLET CALLED COMMON SENSE

THAT ARGUED THAT THE COLONIES

SHOULD SEPARATE FROM ENGLAND.

• THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS MET

AGAIN IN 1776 AND DECIDED TO

SEPARATE FROM ENGLAND.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE• WRITTEN BY THOMAS JEFFERSON

• CONSISTS OF THE PREAMBLE

(INTRODUCTION) AND THREE MAIN

SECTIONS

• SECTION 1: STRESSES THE IDEA OF

UNALIENABLE OR “NATURAL RIGHTS”

THAT BELONG TO PEOPLE FROM BIRTH;

INCLUDES THE RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY

AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.

• SECTION 2: LIST OF GRIEVANCES

AGAINST THE ENGLISH KING AND

PARLIAMENT

• SECTION 3: DECLARES INDEPENDENCE

– THE 13 COLONIES ARE NOW THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

KEY BATTLES•1775 - LEXINGTON & CONCORD: 1ST CLASH OF THE WAR

•1775 - BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL: 1ST MAJOR BATTLE OF THE WAR

•1776 - THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND, NY: BRITISH TOOK CONTROL OF NY CITY AND FORCED WASHINGTON TO RETREAT TO NEW JERSEY.

1776 - The Battle of Trenton and Princeton, NJ: •WASHINGTON ESCAPED ACROSS THE DELAWARE RIVER SURPRISING THE BRITISH WITH TWO SUCCESSFUL ATTACKS.

•THESE UNEXPECTED VICTORIES ARE SOMETIMES CALLED THE “TWIN MIRACLES.”

Victory at the Battle of Saratoga (1777)•THE TURNING POINT IN THE WAR.

•THE FRENCH WERE IMPRESSED BY THE AMERICAN VICTORY AND DECIDED TO JOIN THE PATRIOTS IN BATTLING THE BRITISH.

•LATER, OTHER NATIONS SUCH AS THE NETHERLANDS AND SPAIN WOULD JOIN IN THE WAR AGAINST BRITAIN.

THE WINTER AT VALLEY FORGE (1777-1778)

•LOW POINT IN THE WAR FOR WASHINGTON AND HIS TROOPS.

•3,000 MEN DIED OF STARVATION AND DISEASE

1781- BATTLE OF YORKTOWN, VA•LORD CORNWALLIS WAS SURROUNDED IN VA BY WASHINGTON AND THE FRENCH NAVY.

•ENGLAND WAS FORCED TO SURRENDER TO GEORGE WASHINGTON ENDING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

RESULTS OF THE REVOLUTION•THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

•THE TREATY OF PARIS, 1783, WAS SIGNED

•GRANTING ALL ENGLISH LANDS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE USA.

•ENGLAND LOST ALL COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA.

•CANADA WAS RETURNED TO FRANCE.

•NOW, THE YOUNG NATION WOULD HAVE TO PROVE IT COULD SURVIVE.