2. Role of French in American Revolution
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When fighting began between the American revolutionaries and the British government, few people around the world believed that the upstart Americans had a chance of defeating the greatest military power in the world and thereby gaining their independence. How in the world did it happen?
Well, it happened, of course, in part because of the tenacity and the resolve of the revolutionaries. George Washington was a remarkable leader, but in the early years of the Revolutionary War, he experienced only defeats. The American army was put on the defensive from the start by the British armies and the British navy. The first two years of the American Revolution were a consistent series of setbacks for the United States. It was only in 1778 that the tide of the war began to turn because of the introduction of the French into the American Revolution.
The French, of course, had been defeated by the British in the Seven Years’ War of the 1750’s and 60’s, and were still thirsting for revenge against the British. Likewise, the Spanish were allied with the French against the British in the 18th century. So, the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolution was a turning point not only because it was the first major victory for the American forces against the British but also because it was so unexpected that it convinced the French government to formally ally itself with the United States in its war against Great Britain.
What did that mean in practice? Remember that the American revolutionaries didn’t have an army when the revolution began. They didn’t have equipment, they didn’t have uniforms, they didn’t have weapons, and they didn’t have cannons. All of that needed to be provided. And they didn’t have the capacity for creating muskets and cannons and uniforms. The French were essential in providing those kinds of military supplies.
Even more importantly, the French after 1778 when they signed a formal alliance with the United States, began to provide French soldiers and naval vessels to the war effort. That proved to be the tipping point in the balance of the fighting between the United States and Great Britain. The French alliance was absolutely essential to the American victory over General Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown.
What did this all mean after the war? Of course, the Americans were incredibly appreciative of the French assistance provided during the revolution. Many Americans thereafter sympathized with the French Revolution when it erupted in In fact, the dispute between supporters of the French Revolution, such as Thomas Jefferson, and supporters of the British government and way of life after American independence, became a primary source of political struggle and dispute in the United States.
Thus, the importance of the French to the Revolution actually lasted well beyond the Revolution and became a very important political issue in-and-of-itself. Was the new United States going to allow itself more with Revolutionary France, or with its own mother country, Great Britain?

3. 1776: Washington’s Narrow Escape
Washington Faces Largest British Army Ever
Fighting in New York and New Jersey
Winter at Morristown
The year 1776 was one of near disaster for the colonial army. General Howe would assemble the largest British army ever to find and defeat it. While trying to get time to train his soldiers, Washington would fight a series of retreats. At the end of the year, after the British had entered winter camp, Washington would cross the Delaware River, strike at Trenton, and enter winter camp himself at Morristown, where the colonial army would be trained for the next spring’s battles.

4. Common Sense Thomas Paine’s inspiring pamphlet was originally published anonymously because of its treasonous content.

5. George Washington at Princeton By Charles Willson Peale.

6. Why did Washington lead his army from Brooklyn to Manhattan and from there to New Jersey? How could General Howe have ended the rebellion in New York? What is the significance of the Battle of Trenton?

7. American Society at War
Choosing Sides
Militia and Army
Problems of Finance and Supply
Contrary to popular belief, the entire nation did not rise up to protest the American Revolution. Colonial society was split between three groups, the Tories, the Patriots, and those who were disinterested.
The colonial army was divided into two groups, the army, whose soldiers enlisted, and the militiamen, who were sent by their states to fight.
Any war effort requires money, and the United States was rich only in resources. It needed to find outside sources to provide much-needed supplies. Until it won a major victory, the Continental army would have grave difficulties meeting its needs.

8. American militia This sketch of militiamen by a French soldier at Yorktown, Virginia, shows an American frontiersman turned soldier (second from right), and it is also one of the earliest depictions of an African American soldier.

9. 1777: Setbacks for the British
The Campaign of 1777
Would launch a three-pronged attack on New York
Prong One, south from Canada
Prong Two, east from western New York
Prong Three, up the Hudson River from New York City
Alliance with France
The importance of Saratoga
The British plan in 1777 was to divide and conquer. By dividing New England from the Middle and southern colonies, the British hoped to kill the rebellion. This plan was filled with overconfidence and poor communication. All three ended in defeat for the Red Coats.
The largest failure was the Battle of Saratoga, in which British general John Burgoyne was captured. This was the first major victory for the United States. It showed potential allies that it could stand against the world’s strongest army and hold its own.
Because of the victory at Saratoga, the American Revolution became a world war. France would enter into the conflict and provide war material and much needed ships to the war effort.

10. General John Burgoyne Commander of Britain’s northern forces
General John Burgoyne Commander of Britain’s northern forces. Burgoyne and most of his troops surrendered to the Americans at Saratoga on October 17, 1777.

11. Actions on the Frontier
1778: Both Sides Regroup
Valley Forge
Actions on the Frontier
After the debacle at Saratoga, General Howe would be replaced with General Henry Clinton. This would be a common theme among the British during this war; when one failed, another would take his place with new ideas and strategies.
While Washington was in winter camp at Valley Forge, the colonials there were shaped into a professional army.
At the same time that major battles were being fought in the colonies, British soldiers were stirring up Native American forces in the Ohio River Valley. These actions were intended to result in support from the colonial army, and thus divided, it would be easier to conquer. But things did not end up that way.

12. How did George Rogers Clark secure Cahokia and Vincennes
How did George Rogers Clark secure Cahokia and Vincennes? Why did the American army destroy Iroquois villages in 1779? Why were the skirmishes between settlers and Indian tribes significant for the future of the trans-Appalachian frontier?

13. Reasons for Lack of British Success in the South
The War in the South
Reasons to Move South
Reasons for Lack of British Success in the South
Savannah and Charleston
The Carolinas
Yorktown
The result
The British moved South to try and locate the Tory base that they believed would rise up and support them against the colonials. However, their actions of raping and pillaging the colonials they found did not endear themselves to whatever Tories were still in the area.
At the Battle of Camden, the British would defeat the colonials and the hero of Saratoga, Horatio Gates, commander of colonial forces, would flee for his life. He would be replaced by Nathaniel Greene.
Greene would lead Cornwallis away from his supply base up north, closer toward Greene’s own support network. Cornwallis took the bait and soon found himself on the Yorktown peninsula, surrounded. He would surrender his army, and with that, the war came to a conclusion.

14. Why did the British suddenly shift their campaign to the South
Why did the British suddenly shift their campaign to the South? Why were the battles at Savannah and Charleston major victories for the British? How did Nathanael Greene undermine British control of the Deep South? Why did Cornwallis march to Virginia and camp at Yorktown? How was the French navy crucial to the American victory? Why was Cornwallis forced to surrender?

15. Problems with Our “Allies”
The Treaty of Paris
Negotiators
Problems with Our “Allies”
America Enters into Solo Negotiations with Great Britain
The Treaty of Paris, 1783
As soon as the war had begun, the United States had sent diplomats to England to work to end it and secure a peace. Although the negotiators would fluctuate throughout the war, they were led by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams.
As soon as the war in the New World ended, it became obvious to the diplomats that France and Spain were not interested in ending the war. England’s army was defeated, but not her navy or her people. France wanted England beaten and was unwilling to broker negotiations with it for the United States. Spain had entered the war against England, but had never sided with the American colonies.
Franklin would enter into negotiations with England and secure the Treaty of Paris of 1783, which brought the war to an end.

16. How did France’s treaties with Spain complicate the peace-treaty negotiations with the British? What were the terms of the Treaty of Paris? Why might the ambiguities in the treaty have led to conflicts among the Americans, the Spanish, and the British?

17. The Political Revolution
Republican Ideology
State Constitutions
The Articles of Confederation
Was the American Revolution truly revolutionary? What had begun as a crisis for political rights had ended in a separation from the mother country. But once that separation was completed, the system of laws and standards remained as it was before the war.
One major change was the desire to codify the civil liberties and the powers of the states in the face of the national government.
This is seen in the crafting of our first system of national government, the Articles of Confederation, which created a loose network tying the states together, but only when necessary.

18. Equality and Its Limits The Paradox of Slavery The Status of Women
The Social Revolution
Exodus of Loyalists
Equality and Its Limits
The Paradox of Slavery
The Status of Women
Indians and the Revolution
Freedom of Religion
Those who had remained loyal to England during the war now found themselves ostracized from their communities. The war now over, they fled from the United States after losing much of their property.
It is important to remember that although this was a war fought for the independence of the American colonies and its citizens and that the Declaration of Independence declared that “all men were created equal,” after the war there was not much change for some groups.
While the strict class structure that existed in England had never fully developed in the colonies, what had been practiced was still in effect. Slavery was still practiced and would be a major political and social issue for almost another hundred years.
A major change in American society following the conclusion to the American War for Independence was the growth of non-Anglican churches. They would play a role in shaping the evolution of society and politics that will be carried out through the remainder of U.S. history.

19. Religious development The Congregational Church developed a national presence in the early nineteenth century, and Lemuel Haynes, depicted here, was its first African American preacher.

20. Emergence of an American Culture
Independence Day
America’s Destiny
The Revolution sparked a sense of nationalism amongst the newly freed colonies. It was not long after the Revolution that July 4 became the day set aside to memorialize the event.
Unlike the Old World, the United States did not have an ancient history to draw from for its national identity. Therefore, it became seen as a nation set apart by God for a higher purpose, to lead the world to greater liberty and freedom.