1. The War for America Independence The American Revolutionary War pt 2

2. Battle of Saratoga
In the Summer of 1777, the British planned to divide New England in half. A large army under the command of John Burgoyne was to march south from Canada and take the state of New York.
Defending New York was Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold. The two armies met and fought two battles near Saratoga. The Americans won a huge victory!
Saratoga is considered the turning point of the war!
Before Saratoga: Americans were losing the way
After Saratoga: Americans are winning the war
Benedict Arnold

3. Battle of Saratoga
Burgoyne and his British army of over 6,000 men surrendered to the Americans.
Benedict Arnold fought heroically at the battle of Saratoga and suffered a terrible leg wound which took years to recover. He didn’t get along with Horatio Gates and felt that Gates stole the credit for the battle and became bitter over this.
Burgoyne surrendering to Gates

4. The French enter the War
Benjamin Franklyn and John Adams had been sent to France in 1776 to negotiate alliance with France
After the victory at Saratoga the French agreed to help the Americans and signed the Treaty of Alliance.
France would send men, supplies, and its Navy to fight its old enemy, the British.
Franklyn became a major celebrity in France. The French fell in love with the most famous American of the time period

5. Marquis de Lafayette
The most famous French soldier to fight for the U.S. was the Marquis de Lafayette
Lafayette joined the Americans before the French even joined the War. He fought for free, George Washington basically adopted him, and he was extremely brave and enthusiastic about fighting for liberty and freedom.
He would also return to France in the middle of the war and get even more help for the cause
Lafayette, 18th century stud

6. Battle of Brandywine
At the same time as Saratoga, British General William Howe left New York and began to chase Washington again.
They fought north of Philadelphia (the US Capital at that time) at the battle of Brandywine.
Howe out-maneuvered Washington and the British won the battle.
Nation makers by Howard Pyle

7. Battle of Brandywine
Lafayette was wounded in the right leg in his first battle, but managed to help the Americans escape which impressed Washington.
Soon after the Americans lost the battle of Germantown. After these defeats Washington could not defend Philadelphia. Congress evacuated the city and the British took it in October of 1777.
Lafayette wounded

8. Valley Forge winter of 1777-78
Washington’s army was once again in bad shape. After two defeats and Philadelphia being captured, the moral (Attitude of the soldiers) of the army was very low.
For the winter Washington and his men camped at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

9. Valley Forge winter of 1777-78
Underfed and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease. Over 2,000 men would not survive the winter.
The British solider they were facing were better trained. The Americans needed to train and practice. The task of developing and carrying out an effective training program fell to the Baron Friedrich von Steuben, a recently arrived Prussian Military instructor. He drilled the American soldiers constantly and by the time they left Valley Forge, were a much stronger, and more disciplined army.

10. The Revolution at Sea
The British had the largest and most powerful Navy in the world, so it was difficult for the Americans to compete with them in the war to control the Atlantic Ocean.
The mostly used Privateers (basically Pirates) to attack British supply ships. The difference in a privateer and a pirate was that the privateers fought for America while pirates fight for themselves.
Once the French joined the war their Navy helped out tremendously and would be very important in bringing the war to an end.

11. “I have not yet begun to fight!!!”
The most famous naval battle of the war involved the American John Paul Jones whose ship the BonHomme Richard defeated the British ship the Serapis.
The two ships became locked together and the British yelled for Jones and his crew to surrender. He replied, “I have not yet begin to fight!” and he and his men took the British ship.

12. The War in the West
Frontiersman: A person who lives on the frontier
George Rogers Clark was a Kentucky (Then part of Virginia) frontiersman who led successful attacks on the British in the west.
Called the “Washington of the West” Clark help America claim the last in the west all the way to the Mississippi River and forced the British to send men and supplies to fight in.
Clark accepting the surrender of the British at Sackville after the battle of Vincennes