1. Ch 6, Sec 1-The Early Years

2. Early Ideas about the Revolutionary War in July 1776 BritainColonists Quick War Crush the colonists by military force Quick War British soldiers would give up and leave if they lost a few battles

3. Advantages for each country BritainColonists Powerful/bigger army/navy More money Bigger population (8 million to 2.5 million) Had Gen. Cornwallis leading the troops Home field advantage Inspired by a cause Had militias to fight Had Gen. Washington leading the troops

4. Disadvantages for each country BritainColonists Fighting on foreign land some soldiers forced into military-not very loyal Used mercenaries called the Hessians from Germany to fight-not very loyal Some soldiers lacked motivation to fight Had to ship soldiers/supplies to the fight Did not have a regular army/navy Had very little military experience Bad training Not a lot of weapons/ammo Militias only fought for short periods of time Not all people were Patriots

5. Should I be a loyalist or a patriot? People went back and forth on the issue throughout the whole war Some chose sides depending on what army was closest to them at the time Split families up when members took different sides

6. Who were the loyalists? People that stayed with King George III Known as Tories 1/3 rd -1/5 th of colonists Most lived in the Carolinas and Georgia

7. Reasons to stay with the king Feared him/consequences for rebelling He offered jobs Wanted to stay in the Anglican Church They didn’t understand why people were so upset with the king’s actions

8. Who were the Patriots? People who rebelled against the king 2/3 rd -4/5 th of the colonists Lived mostly in the middle colonies/northern colonies

9. Reasons to break away from the King Had more negative contact with the British troops Received the biggest consequences from the king Taxation without representation Unfair laws/treatment by the king/parliament

10. African Americans in the war Loyalists wanted their support Were promised freedom for joining the British cause Some were freedom and others were sent to Canada and to the British colony of Sierra Leone in Africa

11. Big Problem Colonists did not trust a strong, centralized gov’t Continental Congress had little power Congress could not make citizens fight in the war or raise money to pay for it

12. Raising an army Colonists needed state militias and a regular army Started the Continental Army but had the states recruit soldiers for it Soldiers could sign up for 1 yr, 3 yrs, or for the whole war

13. Role of Women Women came with their husbands for the war Used as spies, cooks, nurses, and for laundry Margaret Corbin-fought in her husband’s place after he died in battle Molly Pitcher (Mary Ludwig Hays McCauley) gave water to troops in battle Deborah Sampson- dressed up like a man and fought

14. Early Battles Mostly won by the colonists Small fights with less then 2,500 troops on each side Britain sent Gen. Howe over with 32,000 troops to attack NY

15. Battle of Long Island 32,000 British troops vs. 20,000 Continental Army troops Aug 2014 in NY Colonists ran out of supplies Colonists were pushed out of NY to Pennsylvania

16. New Problem By the end of 1776, most of the soldiers in the Continental Army served their time and went home Other soldiers went AWOL Running out of soldiers

17. African Americans save the day Gen Washington asked for slaves to be allowed to fight States ignored the ban against using slaves South Carolina is the only state to not allow slaves to fight 5,000 slaves joined the war Some joined to get paid Others ran away to fight for their freedom Rhode Island was the first colony to have an all black unit

18. Colonial victories in New Jersey British army remained in NY British had two army camps in NJ Most armies did not fight during winter time Gen. Washington attacked the bases in Trenton and Princeton on Christmas 1776 Colonial army won both battles

19. British Plan for 1777 Needed a new war plan after early defeats by the colonists Split the colonies in two at the Hudson river Separate the New England and Middle Colonies with 3 large armies coming together British soldiers defeated and took over Philadelphia-one of the last major colonial cities in the North

21. British plan failed Gen. Howe remained in Philadelphia and refused to meet up at the Hudson Gen. Burgoyne’s moved too slow and his route was destroyed by colonists Green Mountain Boys forced British troops who were looking for food/supplies to retreat Benedict Arnold led several successful battles in NY Gen. Gates forced Gen. Burgoyne to surrender at Saratoga