1. Terms and People
enlist – sign up for duty
continental – paper money printed by the Continental Congress

2. Terms and People
civilian – person not in the military
George Rogers Clark – Virginian who led American troops against the British on the western frontier

3. The American Revolution and Society

4. Objectives
Discover the role that African Americans played in the American Revolution.
Find out how the war affected women and other civilians.
Learn about the impact the war had on Native Americans.

5. How did the American Revolution affect society?
While Continental soldiers faced battle in the thirteen colonies, other people also felt the war’s effects.
American Revolution
African
Americans
Women
Native
Americans

6. African Americans fought on both sides during the American Revolution.
Patriots
British

7. Free African Americans fought for the Patriots from the beginning, seeing action at several key battles.
Lexington and Concord
Bunker Hill
Saratoga
Some enslaved people also supported the Americans after escaping from their owners.

8. If they fought for the British, however, enslaved people were offered something of immense value.
Freedom
To gain their freedom, thousands of enslaved African Americans fled their owners and joined the British.

9. At first, George Washington refused to accept African American soldiers.
Washington reversed his policy, however, when so many African Americans began to join the British forces.
By the end of the war, more than 7,000 African Americans had fought for the Patriots.

10. Women were also affected by the war, often taking on new responsibilities.
At home, women
planted crops
tended livestock
ran businesses
Men who
enlisted were
away for at
least one year.

11. Some women followed their husbands into battle.
They provided supplies, food, and water. They also cared for the wounded.
Some, like Molly Pitcher, stepped in to fight when their husbands fell.

12. Congress had no power to tax, and the states had little money.
Soldiers and civilians alike were affected by the financial burdens of paying for the war.
Congress had no power to tax, and the states had little money.
Amount printed
Continental
Value
Congress printed continentals to pay expenses, but the money soon lost its value.

13. Native Americans also felt the war’s effects.
British
Native
Americans
Most Native Americans sided with the British, fearing an American victory would bring more settlers onto their lands.

14. A deadly epidemic added to the crushing effects of war.
Many Indian groups, however, were bitterly divided about which side to support. Some split into warring factions.
A deadly epidemic added to the crushing effects of war.
Infighting
Western
raids
Smallpox
Native Americans

15. George Rogers Clark pushed west to strike British forts on the frontier.
Clark won key battles against the British and their Native American allies.
These victories allowed settlers to remain on the frontier.

16. Quiz John Paul Jones 1. paper money printed by Congress b. privateer
c. continentals
d. Bernardo de Gálvez
e. George Rogers Clark
f. enlist
1. paper money printed by Congress
2. head of a militia force that defended the frontier in the late 1770s
3.commander of the American ship Bonhomme Richard
4.sign up for duty
5. Most Native Americans sided with the (Patriots/British) in the Revolutionary War.
6. The British offered slaves (Money/Freedom) if they would come and fight for their cause.
7. The Continental Congress (collected taxes/printed money) to pay for the expenses of the Revolutionary war.
8. By the end of the war, more than (7,000/10,000) African Americans had fought for the Patriots.
9. At the beginning of the war all African Americans had to choose which side they would fight for. Which side should they have chosen? Why?