1. The Revolutionary War

2. British vs. Americans

3. Comparing The Two Sides
American Weaknesses
Small, inexperienced army
Left to tend farms
Lack of money and supplies
American Strengths
Knew landscape
Had something to fight for (patriotism)
Overseas help from French
George Washington
British Weaknesses
Far away from supplies and information
Poor leadership and experience with America
British Strengths
Large, professional army
Money to hire 30,000 Hessians and buy supplies
Loyalists and African Americans
Artillery experience

4. Lexington and Concord April 14, 1775 “Shot heard ‘round the world.”
First battle of the Revolution
Americans held off the British.

5. Battle of Trenton

6. Battle of Trenton December 25,1776
British and Hessians had been “celebrating”
The hazardous crossing across the Delaware in adverse weather made it possible for Washington to lead the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian soldiers garrisoned at Trenton.
After a brief battle, nearly the entire Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans.
The battle significantly boosted the Continental Army's morale, and inspired reenlistments.

8. Battle of Saratoga October 17, 1777
General Burgoyne, who a commanded large force of British soldiers was forced to surrender to General Horatio Gates, commander of the Patriot forces.
AMERICANS WON
Victory convinced French to enter the war and support the Patriots

9. Winter at Valley Forge

10. Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
Armies camped during the winter of
Cold and harsh conditions
Undernourished and poorly clothed, living in crowded, damp quarters, the army was ravaged by sickness and disease
Troops trained with Baron Von Steuben and the Marquis de Lafayette. These officers turned Washington’s men into a “real” army.

11. France is honored to help Your leg is frostbitten
Marquis de Lafayette…
Thank you for helping us
France is honored to help
Your leg is frostbitten

12. Benedict Arnold
He was passed over for promotion by the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments.
While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces. After the plot was exposed in September 1780, he was commissioned into the British Army.

13. John Paul Jones was America's greatest Revolutionary naval commander
“I have not yet begun to fight!”
Serapis vs. Bonhomme Richard
Crucial American Naval Victory

14. Francis Marion Fought in the swamps of the South “The Swamp Fox”
Guerilla Warfare

16. Battle of Yorktown September - October 1781

17. Last major land battle in North America of the American Revolutionary War
General Washington commanded the Americans and Major General Lord Cornwallis commanded the British.
Siege at Yorktown. British tried to get away but a storm stopped them. Out of ammunition for his guns and unable to shift his army, Cornwallis decided to open negotiations with Washington. At 9:00 AM on October 17, a single drummer mounted the British works and beat the long roll as a lieutenant waved a white flag.

18. Treaty of Paris 1783
Peace negotiations began in April of 1782, involving American representatives, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, and John Adams
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the United States of America

19. Benjamin West painting titled "American Commissioners of the Preliminary Peace Agreement with Great Britain" also sometimes referred to as "Treaty of Paris" (The British commissioners refused to pose, and the picture was never finished.)