Americans Seize Forts

• Ft. Ticonderoga falls to the Green Mountain Boys

• Fort Crown Point follows

How About Another Meeting

• The Second Continental Congress Meets

Peace Offering

• The Olive Branch Petition is sent to King George

• He rejects it!

A Nation Divided

• 1/3 are loyal to the King• 1/3 want war• 1/3 are neutral

Congress Takes Action

• Plan for war• Organize an army and navy• Beg for money

Pick a Leader

• George Washington to the rescue!

Pick a Postmaster

• Who else but Ben Franklin!

• What bill is he pictured on?

Let’s Make a Deal

• General Gage (he’s British) offers forgiveness to naughty colonials

• In return for a pledge of loyalty to old King George

Boston Explodes

• The Battle of Bunker Hill• “Don’t fire ‘till you see the whites of their

eyes”

Fighting Spreads

• The Americans capture Montreal, but not Quebec

• Gen. Montgomery killed; Col. Benedict Arnold wounded

Misplaced Loyalty

• “Loyalists” defeated at Moore’s Creek, N.C.

The Declaration of Independence

• On July 4, 1776, we officially separate from Great Britain

• “Separate and Fight. The war has already begun!”

The Revolutionary War

• Colonial Strengths: George Washington, frontier fighters, home field advantage

• Colonial Weaknesses: No money, weak navy, 1/3 of colonists are loyalists, we need help from other countries to win the war

The Bad Guys

• British strengths: well-trained soldiers, good equipment, powerful navy, money, help from loyalists

• Weaknesses: Old school fighting style, also fighting other countries, far from home

The Empire Strikes Back

• The American army is routed at the Battle of New York

• George Washington retreats

An Unsung Hero

• Nathan Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

The Christmas Crossing

• Gen. Washington leads his troops in a surprise attack on Trenton the day after Christmas

A Big Risk Pays Off

• George Washington was loosing the confidence of the troops

• After winning the battle the troops are encouraged troops to sign up for more fighting at Princeton and Brandywine.

Suffering

• The Continental Army spends a long, cold winter at Valley Forge, PA.

The Turning Point

• The British are soundly defeated at Saratoga, NY

• The tide turns in favor of the Americans

Back and Forth

• Monmouth, NJ- a tie goes Washington’s way• Savannah, Ga.- the British prevail• Charleston, SC- the biggest British win of the war• Camden, SC- the Americans are mauled• King’s Mountain, NC- Americans come back• Vincennes- The British and Mohawk allies lose• Cowpens, SC.- the end of British successes in the

South

War at Sea

• Captain John Paul Jones: Naval hero

• “I have not yet begun to fight!”

Traitor

• Benedict Arnold betrays America• Plots to turn West Point over to Great Britain

The Final Battle

• The British are surrounded at Yorktown

• General Cornwallis gets cornered• 8,000 British troops surrender

Why did the British end the War?

• The war had become unpopular in Britain• War drags on and is not going well• World War with France,

Spain and Dutch

The Treaty of Paris September 3, 1783

• The new nation’s boundaries are established• Freedom and independence at last!