The American Revolution

How did the colonists defeat Great Britain

in the Revolutionary War?

Bunker Hill, 1775

Declaring Independence

Battle of Trenton, 1776

Surrender at Saratoga, 1777

Camped at Valley Forge, 1777

Camped at Valley Forge, 1777

France joins the war, 1778

Surrender at Yorktown, 1781

Treaty of Paris

• Great Britain recognized Independence�
• Mississippi River was new western border for US�
• Florida was returned to Spain, establishing the southern border for U.S.�
• Britain agreed to withdraw troops�
• Americans retained fishing rights off coast of Newfoundland

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• Congress agreed to restore property rights to loyalists

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Why did the Americans win?

XI. Imperial Strength and Weakness

• Americans brashly rebelled against a mighty empire:
• Population: 7.5 million Britons to 2.5 million colonists
• Monetary wealth and naval power overwhelmingly favored England.
• Britain’s professional army equaled some 50,000 men as compared to numerous but poorly trained American militia.

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XI. Imperial Strength and Weakness (cont.)

• Mighty empire (cont.):
• George III could also hire foreign soldiers, including some 30,000 Germans (the Hessians).
• British enrolled about 50,000 American Loyalists and enlisted some Indians.
• Yet Britain was weaker than it seemed:
• Oppressed Ireland required troops to maintain British control.
• France was waiting to get even with Britain.

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XI. Imperial Strength and Weakness (cont.)

• Britain’s weakness (cont.):
• The London government was weak and inept.
• There was no William Pitt, only stubborn George and his pliant prime minister, Lord North.
• Many Britons had no desire to kill Americans.
• English Whigs opposed Lord North’s Tories.
• Whigs believed a battle for British freedom was being fought in America.

XI. Imperial Strength and Weakness (cont.)

• Britain’s army in America operated under numerous difficulties:
• Generals were second-rate.
• Soldiers were brutally treated.
• Provisions were often scarce, rancid, and wormy.
• Britain had to operate 3,000 miles from home.
• Distance greatly increased delays and uncertainties from storms and mishaps.

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XI. Imperial Strength and Weakness (cont.)

• Difficulties of British army (cont.):
• Military orders issued in London but received months later did not fit a changing situation.
• America’s geographical expanse was enormous: roughly 1,000 by 600 miles.
• Colonies had no urban nerve centers.
• British armies took every city of any size.
• Americans wisely traded space for time.

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XII. American Pluses and Minuses

• American advantages:
• They had outstanding leaders: George Washington, Benjamin Franklin.
• Eventually they had foreign aid from France.
• European officers volunteered to fight for pay.
• Marquis de Lafayette proved invaluable in securing further aid from France.

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XII. American Pluses and Minuses (cont.)

• Other conditions aided Americans:
• They were fighting defensively, with odds favoring the defender.
• Colonies were self-sufficient in food.
• Americans enjoyed a moral advantage from belief in a just cause.
• But American rebels were poorly organized:
• Continental Congress was mostly a debating society.

XII. American Pluses and Minuses�(cont.)

• Americans poorly organized (cont.):
• Disorganized colonists fought almost the entire war before adopting a constitution—the Articles of Confederation—in 1781.
• Jealousy hindered the war effort:
• Individual states, regarding themselves as sovereign, resisted attempts by Congress to exercise its powers.
• Sectional jealousy boiled over the appointment of military leaders.

XII. American Pluses and Minuses�(cont.)

• Economic difficulties:
• Metal money had been drained away.
• The Continental Congress, unwilling to raise taxes, massively printed “Continental” paper money.
• Confusion proliferated when individual states issued depreciated paper money.
• Inflation skyrocketed prices.

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XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes

• Military supplies in colonies were scanty:
• In earlier wars, England provided funds and weapons.
• Rebels were caught: the cost of home defense mounted just as the supply of British funds and war material evaporated.
• Sufficient stores of gunpowder, cannon, and other armaments could not be found in agricultural colonies.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• Lack of military supplies (cont.):
• Among the reasons for alliance with France was need for a reliable source of military supplies.
• At Valley Forge, Pa., soldiers went without bread for 3 days in the cruel winter of 1777–1778.
• In one campaign, some men fainted for lack of food.
• Manufactured goods were in short supply.
• Clothing and shoes were appallingly scarce.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• Militiamen were numerous but unreliable:
• They received only rudimentary training.
• Besides desertion, troops were hit by smallpox.
• Women played a significant part in the Revolution:
• They maintained farms and businesses while fathers and husbands fought.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• The part of women (cont.):
• Many female camp followers accompanied army:
• They Cooked and sewed in return for money and rations.
• One Massachusetts woman dressed in men’s clothing and served in the army for 17 months.
• Seven to eight thousand regulars were finally whipped into shape by stern drillmasters:
• German Baron von Steuben was an organizational genius.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• Blacks fought and died for the American cause:
• Many states initially barred them from the military.
• But eventually more than 5,000 blacks enlisted.
• The largest contingents came from northern states with substantial numbers of free blacks.
• Blacks fought at Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, and other important battles.

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XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• African Americans also served on the British side:
• In November 1775 the governor of Virginia promised freedom for any slave who joined the British army.
• Eventually thousands of slaves fled to the British.
• At the end of the war, the British evacuated 14,000 “Black Loyalists.”

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XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• Morale in the Revolutionary army was undermined by American profiteers:
• They sold to the British because British could pay in gold.
• Speculators forced prices sky-high.
• Some Bostonians made profits of 50% to 200%.

XIII. A Thin Line of Heroes�(cont.)

• Brutal truth: Only a minority of colonists selflessly devoted themselves to the cause of independence.
• Seldom have so few done so much for so many.

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