1. Lexington & Concord –British soldiers march into Massachusetts to arrest Patriot leaders and seize weapons –Colonist Militia meet them in battle –First shots of Revolutionary War were fired –“Shot Heard ‘Round the World” The Revolutionary War

2. 2 nd Continental Congress –May, 1775 Representatives from colonies meet in Philadelphia –Created the Continental Army –Appointed George Washington supreme commander of army –Sent Olive Branch Petition to the king –King rejects their request for peace –Declaration of Independence The Revolutionary War

3. Patriots lose battles early in the war… –Battle of Bunker Hill British win, but lose more soldiers than the colonists –Battle of Long Island Colonists occupied New York until 1776, when the British defeated Washington and took control of New York –Low point of war for the Patriots The Revolutionary War

6. Washington’s victories –Trenton and Princeton Washington leads his soldiers back against the British on Christmas night, 1776, surprising the British and winning important victories The Revolutionary War

7. Turning Point of the War –British Strategy Seize control of the Hudson River and cut off New England from the other colonies A divided America would be easier to defeat Three British armies were supposed to meet at the Hudson River The Revolutionary War

9. Turning Point of the War –British Strategy fails One of the British armies attacks Philadelphia and is delayed Another is delayed The third reached Saratoga, but was attacked and defeated by the Continental Army The Revolutionary War

10. Turning Point of the War –Saratoga 1777 The turning point in the war British strategy failed This American victory convinced the French to join the fight against the British The Revolutionary War

11. Major Test for Rebels –Valley Forge Washington and his army had to spend the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge Army suffered from lack of food, diseases, lack of warm clothing, desertion The Revolutionary War

12. The War moves South –After Saratoga, the war moved South The Revolutionary War

13. War On the Seas –The British had a much stronger navy –The Americans used privateers to attack British ships –In 1779, John Paul Jones led a new American navy to victory over British ships The Revolutionary War

15. The End of the War –After several more years of fighting, Washington and his armies had forced Britain’s main general, Cornwallis, into a corner in Yorktown, Virginia –Siege: The French blocked the British in by sea, while the Continental Army blocked them by land –In October 1781, Cornwallis and his army was forced to surrender to Washington The Revolutionary War

17. BRITISH SURRENDER YORKTOWN 1781

18. “The World Turned Upside Down” –Yorktown was the last major battle of the war –British still occupied important cities, but Yorktown was a major defeat for them –Americans and British sent delegates to Paris to work out a treaty –Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay represented the Americans –The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783, officially ending the war and recognizing the United States as an independent nation The Revolutionary War