Chapter 8:
The Revolutionary War
By : Rebekah York
Chapter 8 Notebook
"Table of Contents"
1. Notes
- Ch.8
2. Assignments
- 5-2 Review
-5-4 Review
-Ch.8 Review
- Essay
3. Homework Worksheets
-American Portrait 8
-American Literature Reading 8
-Primary Source Reading 8
4. Maps
-British
-America
8-1 Declaring Independence
1. The Battle of Bunker Hill.
1.1 Bunkers Hill was a high point overlooking Boston.
1.1.1 High points were valuable offensive positions.
1.2 America held Bunkers Hill with 1,200 inexperienced soldiers.
1.2.1 The English attacked with 2000 experienced soldiers.
1.3 To attack, the English army had to march straight up this hill.
1.3.1 The Americans were told not to fire until they saw the whites of their eyes.
1.4 With that strategy, America stopped England’s first two charges up the hill.
1.4.1 But, the Americans were running out of ammunition.
1.5 On their third charge, England took Bunkers Hill and Breeds hill.
1.6 So, who won the battle?
1.6.1 You could say that England won the battle because they conquered the hill.
1.6.2 England suffered over 1000 casualties. America only suffered only 400 casualties.
1.6.3 “Moral Victory for America”= American’s inexperienced army had done well against England’s superior army.
2. Thomas Paine, 1776, writes the pamphlet – ‘Common Sense’
2.1 He explained why America should be independent.
3. The Declaration of Independence
3.1 America told the world that it was now independent form England.
3.2 There are four parts to Declaration of Independence.
3.2.1 Preamble- Introduction
3.2.2 Declaration of Natural Rights
3.2.3 List of Grievances against the King of England
3.2.4 Resolution of Independence by the U.S.
3.3 the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be executed if America lost the war.
4. America-A divided nation
4.1 Some Americans were loyalists-they were loyal to the King of England
4.2 Other Americans were Patriots-they wanted to fight and break away form England.
4.3 Many were Neutral-they didn’t care what happened.
8-2 the Colonies At War
1. Map (pg. 226)
2. November, 1775 America captures Montreal
2.1 America hoped that France would join with America in fighting England
3. December, 1775 America unsuccessfully captures Quebec
3.1 Canada would remain British property
4. March, 1776 in Boston, Dorchester Heights
4.1 George Washington had been able to move some heavy cannon onto Dorchester Heights
4.2 the British army evacuated Boston heading up to Canada
5. June 1776
5.1 England’s army swept down from Canada and captured New York City.
5.1.1 George Washington now became a master of retreat!
6. George Washington crossing the Delaware River.
6.1 December 25, 177; Trenton, New Jersey; an English army and a group of Hessians were camped next to the Delaware River.
6.2 the Delaware River was a frozen or nearly frozen and because of the winter, there had been no fighting
6.3 The legend is that George Washington threw a coin into the river.
6.4 George Washington crosses the river and attacks.
6.4.1 Most of the British soldiers were drunk and not able to fight
6.4.2 this was a complete surprise victory for George Washington.
6.5 January 3, George Washington has another surprise attack on Princeton, New Jersey.
7. October 1777, The Battle of Saratoga
7.1 this was an old style battle.
7.2 America wins this battle, which is probably the biggest American victory of the war.
7.3 France now joined America’s side.
7.4 Things now looked good for America but….
1. * Nathan Hale- 24 year old American lieutenant. He spied for George Washington.
*General Charles- He was sent to pursue Washington and his troops.
*Marquis de Lafayette- a young French soldier. He fought with Washington in Pennsylvania.
*George Rogers Clarks- led volunteers on a raid against the British and attacked them in the Ohio Valley.
*John Paul Jones- he sailed to the coast of Great Britain and attacked them.
*Long Island- it was a battle were Washington’s troops ought bravely.
*Valley Forge- George Washington’s troops endured a hard winter there in Pennsylvania.
*Vincennes- British fort where Clark made a surprise attack on the British.
2. *Blockade- prevents goods and people from going n and out of an area.
*Battle of Saratoga- a turning point in the American Revolution in which the American militia defeated the British.
*Treaty of Alliance- a treaty that assured the Americans of the support they desperately needed.
*Privateer- armed private ships.
3. The British army realized that they could not force the Americans to leave, so the British army and 1000 loyalists evacuated Boston by ship.
4. The victory helped the continental army because they took many British soldiers as prisoners.
5. Native Americans would be interested in the outcome of the war because they would want to see who would have power over them and also who would be living with and close to them.
6. 5 things that I would send to my friends at Valley Forge:
1. Shoes
2. Clothing/blankets
3. Tents (housing)
4. Food
5. Mattresses for sleeping (cots)
8-3 The War Moves South
1. England no focused on the south, hoping to find support from the southerners.
1.1 The English army did have many victories in the South.
2. Benedict Arnold-Traitor!
3. Two important American victories in the south.
3.1 The Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina (January, 1781)
3.2 The Battle at Gilford Courthouse in North Carolina.
8-4 the Victory at Yorktown!!!
1. Frances Navy had given America and France control of the Atlantic coast.
2. Surrender at Yorktown (1781)
2.1 the British army had retreated to Yorktown, but quickly found itself surrounded.
2.2 England surrenders. The War is over!!!!
2.3 America was now a free and independent country!
2.4 At the final surrender, the English band started to play a song called, “ The World Turned Upside down.”
3. The treaty of Paris.
3.1 England recognized Americas Independence.
3.2 Britain will remove all troops from America.
3.3 Set new American boundaries/borders.
3.3.1 the western boundary of America would be the Mississippi River.
3.3.2 The Northern boundary would still be Canada
3.3.3 In the south, England gave Florida back to Spain.
8-4 Review
- a. Admiral François de Grosse- He was the commander of the French fleet.
b. Yorktown- On a peninsula in Virginia.
c. Chesapeake Bay- Yorktown was formed by this bay.
2. a. Compromise- an agreement acceptable to both sides.
b. Treaty of Paris- an agreement in 1783 in which Britain acknowledged the independence of the colonists.
3. The French helped the colonists defeat the British by blocking the British from getting the colonists supplies.
4. It said that America could have all the land west of the Mississippi River. It also went into Canada, into the north of Florida and a little bit into the south.
5. I think that if France would not have joined with America than America might have lost eh war, because France had excellent ammunition and America was running out of it. If France had not joined with America, America might have surrendered and the British would have won.
| 6 AMERICA + FRANCE = 1!  +  |
Chapter 8 Test Review
Vocabulary
1. Blockade
2. Privateers
3. Loyalists
4. Patriots
5. Compromise
Reviewing Facts
1. It made people decide if they were loyal to the king, or if they wanted independence. The people that wanted independence were patriots and the ones that wanted to stay were called loyalists.
2. They made a continental army and gave George Washington the job to be the commander.
3. The battle that was the turning point or the colonists was the Battle of Saratoga because France joined with America.
4. France’s navy helped Washington defeat the British at Yorktown.
5. * Britain realized the colonists independence.
*Britain said that they would remove all troops from America.
*There would be new boundaries made.
Understanding Concepts
1. The preamble was the first part and it was the introduction. The second part was the List of Natural Rights, and it said that everyone was created in God’s eyes and everyone was equal. The third part was the list of Grievances toward the King of England. It basically stated all the bad things that the British did. The last section was their reasons for independence, and it explained why the colonists wanted freedom.
2. Because they already had a democracy even though it was far away. It was the British Parliament.
3. The continental army had France ally with them so they had good ammunition and the colonists also had the Atlantic Coast.
4. The African Americans helped fight in the war because they were told that if they helped, they wouldn’t have to be a slave.
5. The Europeans helped America by giving them ammunition and helping them fight against Britain.
History and Geography
1. The Mississippi River
2. Most: Spain; Least: Disputed
3. Mostly Britain
4. Russian
The Revolutionary War
ESSAY
“Give me Liberty or give me death.” These strong, powerful words written by Patrick Henry were exactly how the colonists felt toward their mother country, England.
The Revolutionary War was a war for independence on the colonist’s part. They were fighting against England because of the unfair treatment that was being enforced on the colonists. The British were taxing them on items like tea, newspapers, paints, and other supplies similar to these. The highest tax was the tax on tea. The colonists were very upset about this tax, so, on December 16, 1773, a number of men from the Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and jumped on a ship that was full of tea. They dumped out all the tea into the harbor and this cost the British a lot of money.
There was an earlier incident in Boston that changed the colonist lives! The Colonists got mad at the British soldiers on March 5, 1770 and they started to throw snowballs and sticks at them. Later, one of the British soldiers open fired on the colonist, which led to others firing. In the end five Colonists were wounded. Later on, the newspapers called this occurrence a “massacre”, because they wanted it to sound more dramatic. Shortly after this, Parliament canceled the Stamp Act. This act said that the colonists had to buy a stamp and place it on the item that they bought as a tax. Also the Townsend Acts, which was a tax on glass, lead, paints, paper and tea, was also repealed, but the tax on tea was not. So began the war!
On April 19th, 1775, a brave colonist named Paul Revere was sent to warn the colonists that the British were coming. The British troops had suddenly started stealing ammunition and even planned to capture some of the colonists. When Revere was shouting, “The British are coming, the British are coming,” the colonists were gathering their “ammunition” and were there waiting for the British on the Lexington Greene.
When the British arrived, there was a standoff, because the Colonists surprised the British and they did not know what to do. The British commander shouted, “Disperse ye rebels!” When no one moved, someone fired, but no one knows exactly who fired the first shot. This marked the start of the Revolutionary War!
After this small battle, the British continued on their way to Concord. Later in the day, the English army marched back toward Boston and the colonists shot at them using Native American strategies.
In May 1775, there was another Continental Congress that decided to create a continental army. They named George Washington the commander of the army. In hopes of settling this peacefully, the colonists sent a petition to King George III, but he said that the colonists were rebelling against him. With that said and done, the colonists knew for sure that it was time for WAR!
On June 17, 1775, the colonists held Bunkers Hill with 1,200 inexperienced soldiers, while the English army attacked with 2,000 experienced soldiers. The colonists were ready to fight the British, but since they didn’t have a lot of ammunition, they were told, “not to shoot until they saw the whites of their eyes”. With this strategy, the colonists held the hill the first two times that the British attacked, but their ammunition was running out. This was a moral victory for the colonists because the British suffered many casualties, even though they lost this first battle of the War.
In 1776, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called “Common Sense”. In it he explained why the colonists should be independent. This pamphlet changed many peoples’ view on fighting for independence.
A few months after this was written, the colonists officially declared their independence from England. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It had four main parts, The Introduction or Preamble, The Declaration of Natural Rights, List of Grievances, and then finally The Resolution of Independence. On July 4, 1776, the delegates from the thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, PA.
After these two big events, the colonists were separated into three groups, but two main ones: the Loyalists who were loyal to the king of England, and the Patriots, who wanted independence. The third group was called Neutral, in that they didn’t really care what happened.
In the winter of 1775, the colonists successfully captured Montreal, Canada. They hoped that if they had some French territory, then the French would join and help them in the war. France had a lot of ammunition that could help the colonists. However in December of 1775, the colonists unsuccessfully tried to capture Quebec. Therefore, Canada would remain British property.
In March 1776, the colonists decided to capture Dorchester Heights, MA. George Washington had been able to move a great deal of ammunition there, but because England saw all their ammunition, they evacuated Boston, heading to Canada.
At this time, the colonists were strong and in June of 1776, the British tried to capture New York City, but George Washington stopped them. He had become a master of retreat.
On December 25, 1776 the famous crossing of the Delaware took place. Legend has it that George Washing took a coin and threw it in the river. He heard it sink, and knew that it was safe to cross. They crossed late at night to attack. This was a total surprise attack on the British, because they had not anticipated an attack on Christmas. The second surprise attack was on Princeton, New Jersey, where the colonists also won.
October 1777 was the Battle of Saratoga. This was an old style battle and an extremely big victory for the colonists. After this immense victory, France became an ally of the colonists.
By now the English army was getting weaker, and knowing that they were in trouble began to focus on the South in hopes of getting support from the southerners. Even though they had many victories in the south, the British did not have much luck in getting support. The colonists had two important victories in the south: The Battle of Cow Pens, and The Battle at Gilford Courthouse. They took place in South and North Carolina.
Now that the French were allies with the colonists, the French Navy gave them control of the Atlantic Coast. This was very helpful because they could cut off England from the sea and it also helped them win the war.
In October 1781, the British army retreated to Yorktown, but promptly found itself surrounded. England was tired of war at this point so they decide to surrender!!!! THE WAR WAS OVER!!!
Now that the colonists were a free and independent country they had to sign a treaty saying that America was no longer a British territory. After the final surrender, both sides met in Paris to make this treaty, which became known as the Treaty of Paris. The Treaty of Paris stated that England recognized Americas independence, England would remove all troops from America, and they would set new boundaries. The western boundary of America would be the Mississippi River, and the northern boundary would still be Canada. In the south, England gave back Florida to Spain, because Florida was in America but England had taken it away form Spain.
The Revolutionary War was a long war for America. Many people thought that America didn’t have a chance because England had such a big army and all America had was a few inexperienced colonists. People never dreamed that it would take 8 years for someone to win, but during the war England got weaker and then finally had enough of fighting and surrendered.
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-Rebekah:)
