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USAWorld

The AmericanRevolution 1776–1783

The AmericanRevolution 1776–1783

Section 1The EarlyYears of the War

Section 2The WarExpands

Section 3The Path toVictory

Section 4The Legacyof the War

7This painting shows GeneralWashington and his troops intheir winter camp at Valley Forge.

1776British capture NewYork, but Americans wina battle in New Jersey.

1777Battles of Saratogaconvince Europeansthat America mightwin the war.

1779Americanfrontier soldierstake a Britishfort in what isnow Indiana.

1778France

enters thewar on the

Americanside.

1776Scotsman Adam Smithpublishes a book saying thatgovernment shouldn’t controlthe economy.

1778Voltaire, who wroteabout the rights ofpeople, dies in Paris.

1776

CHAPTER

The American Revolution 191

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Visit the Chapter 7 links for more informationabout the American Revolution.

Interact with History

1783Treaty of

Paris endsthe war.

1780Moving south,the Britishcapture CharlesTown(Charleston).

1781In the war’s last bigbattle, the Americansand French defeatthe British atYorktown.

1781Emperor Joseph II of Austriaends serfdom, which forcedpeasants to farm someone

else’s land for life.

1783Simón Bolívar, who will becomea revolutionary leader in SouthAmerica, is born in what is now

Venezuela.

1783

It is 1777. Your brother is an American sol-

dier. In his last letter to you, he wrote that

the army has no shoes or bullets and little

food. But he plans to keep fighting.

Now, a British army is coming toward your

farm. You hear that the soldiers are stealing

crops to feed themselves and their horses.

What wouldyou sacrifice towin freedom?What Do You Think?• What sacrifices do civilians make during

wartime?

• What sacrifices do soldiers make?

• Is it worth such sacrifices to win independencefor your country? Why or why not?

Sequencing EventsTo sequence is to put events in the order in which they happened. You learned this skill inChapter 6 by sequencing the events that led to the American Revolution. Now as you readChapter 7, practice sequencing again. Put the major battles and events of the war in orderby recording them on a time line. Copy the time line below in your notebook. You maywant to make it bigger.

See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R4.

What Do You Know?What stories do you know about the people or events of the Revolution? How do people display courage andself-sacrifice during wartime?

Think About• what you’ve learned about American settlers from

movies, television, historical fiction, or science fictionabout space travel

• opportunities and challenges offered in a new land• your responses to the Interact with History about

sacrificing to win freedom (see page 191)

What Do You Want to Know?What would you like to learn about the steps that people took to win the AmericanRevolution? In your notebook, record what you hope to learn from this chapter.

Reading Strategy: Sequencing Events7

192 CHAPTER 7

1776 1778 1780

1777 1779 1781

1783

1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783

CHAPTER

Colonists burn the harvest to keep it fromthe British.

Taking Notes