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War of Words Erupts into the American Revolution

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American Revolution- The Native Americans' War of Independence

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1. Synonym: American War of Independence

2. Duration: 8 years (1775 - 1783)

3. Sides: British vs. Colonists

4. Location: North America, Europe, India

5. Causes: Taxes, rebellion, violence

6. Battles: Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Quebec

7. Winners: USA and their allies

8. Movies: John Adams, April Morning, The Patriot, The Crossing

9. Type: Independence war

10. Commanders: George Washington, Nathanael Greene, Sir William Hove, Thomas Gage

1. Beginning: The War Officially Started near Boston on April 19, 1775

2. Involvement: Revolutionary War Was Actually a World War

3. Casualties: The War May Have Claimed over 100,000 Lives

4. Commander: George Washington Was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army

5. Sides: Native Americans and Loyalists Fought on the British Side

6. Alliances: Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin Established Alliances That Helped Win the War

7. British. Howe, H. Clinton and G. Carleton Were British Commanders-in-Chief during the War

8. Documents: The Declaration of Independence is the Most Important Document of the War

9. Unity: Only 40 - 45% of Colonists Supported the Rebellion

10. End: The Treaty of Paris in 1783 Officially Ended the Revolutionary War

1. George Washington Put Down the Newburgh Conspiracy Rebellion Himself

2. The First Military Submarine Was Used during the Revolutionary War

3. Benedict Arnold Was an Important Asset of the Colonists

4. Believe It or Not, Women Also Fought in the Continental Army

5. George Washington Was Apparently the Greatest Man in the World

6. There Was a Sequel to the Boston Tea Party

7. The Word "Independence" Never Appears in the Declaration of Independence

8. Continental Congress Hired Pirates to Attack British Ships

9. Mel Gibson's Character in The Patriot Was Inspired by Real Patriots

10. The Famous Battle of Bunker Hill Was Actually Fought on Breed's Hill

Revolutionary War Facts Infographics

The War Officially Started near Boston on April 19 1775

Revolutionary War facts reveal that the war's first military conflicts started in the towns of Lexington and Concord on the morning of April 19. Prior to that, there were two other violent incidents in Boston: the 1770 Boston Massacre, where British soldiers killed 5 civilians on King Street (today known as State Street), and the 1773 Boston Tea Party, where a few members of the secret society Sons of Liberty destroyed an entire British shipment of tea. Neither of these two incidents were officially a part of the war, but they created tensions that gradually escalated to war in April 1775.

Revolutionary War Was Actually a World War

Although it was primarily an independence war of 13 American colonies against the Kingdom of Great Britain, fought in North America, it escalated to include various other parts of the world. France and Spain were the Colonists' main allies, backed-up by the Dutch Republic and the Kingdom of Mysore, while Britain was aided mostly by Germans and the natives of North America. The battles were fought on the land and in the waters of North America, Europe, Africa, India and the Caribbean.

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The War May Have Claimed over 100,000 Lives

As was the case with most wars of the era, the Revolutionary War saw more deaths caused by disease than actual combat. Around 7,000 Americans were killed in battle, together with 10,000 French and 5,000 Spanish soldiers. On the other side, about 6,000 British soldiers died in combat, along with 1,800 Germans. But if deaths outside of direct combat are included, the number may surpass the 100,000 victims mark, depending on the estimates used. The estimates vary greatly, ranging from 25,000 to 70,000 Americans killed, and 40,000 to 50,000 British.

George Washington Was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress created the Continental Army on June 14 1775. George Washington, veteran of the French and Indian War between 1754 and 1758, was appointed General and Commander-in-chief of the army, which, on average, consisted of about 15,000 soldiers through the years of war. After 8 years of combat and the victory of the Thirteen Colonies and its allies, the Continental Army was disbanded and replaced by the United States Army in 1784. George Washington became the first President of the USA in 1789.

Native Americans and Loyalists Fought on the British Side

Although some Native Americans fought on the Colonists' side, most (about 13,000) of those who were directly involved in the war fought for the British side. This led to a few splits inside native tribes, most notably among the Mohawk. The majority of Native Americans were joined by at least 25,000 Loyalists who were also against the revolution and remained loyal to the British Crown. It is estimated that about 60,000 Loyalists immigrated to the US during and after the war.

Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin Established Alliances That Helped Win the War

Two famous Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, who later became the 3rd President of the USA, and Benjamin Franklin were the driving forces behind alliances with big European nations that helped the Colonists win the war. They helped establish alliances with France, which was indirectly involved in the war since 1776; Spain, which joined the war in 1779; and the Dutch Republic, which officially entered the war in 1780.

W. Howe, H. Clinton and G. Carleton Were British Commanders-in-Chief during the War

According to Revolutionary War facts, Sir William Howe was the first of them, serving from September 1775 until May 1778. He was in charge of the Boston siege and won the famous Battle of Bunker Hill, but was later involved in the poor British planning of the Saratoga campaign, consequently inviting France to officially join the war on the Colonists' side.

In 1778, he was replaced by Sir Henry Clinton, who successfully won the Siege of Charleston in 1780, but eventually greatly contributed to the British defeat in the Siege of Yorktown.

The last of the British Commanders-in-Chief, Sir Guy Carleton, initially serving as the Governor of Quebec, was appointed in May 1782, but by then the Colonists were well on their way to victory. One of his major roles as the Commander-in-chief of the British forces was to supervise the final evacuation of the British troops.

The Declaration of Independence is the Most Important Document of the War

The Declaration of Independence is the most important document in the entire history of the USA as well. The 13 Colonies (Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) announced their independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain with this document, effectively forming a new nation: the Unites States of America.

The main driving force behind the Declaration was John Adams (later becoming the second President of the USA), but it was mostly written by Thomas Jefferson (the third President of the USA). It was unanimously approved on July 2 1776, but officially confirmed by the Second Continental Congress on July 4 1776 - the day which is today still commemorated as the Independence Day across the USA.

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Only 40 - 45% of Colonists Supported the Rebellion

Although the joint efforts and the vision of the Colonists eventually won the war, and won independence from the British, the Colonists were divided into 3 very different groups during the Revolutionary War. Some 40 - 45% of them supported the rebellion and the Patriots, but 15 - 20% opposed the revolution and remained loyal to the British Crown. And the rest? They tried to remain neutral and avoid the feud as much as possible...

The Treaty of Paris in 1783 Officially Ended the Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War facts show that the war effectively ended in April 1782 when the British House of Commons voted to end it, and peace negotiations began. But the official ending of the Revolutionary War was marked with the Treaty of Paris on September 3 1783, signed by the representative of the then British monarch, King George III, David Hartley, and the representatives of the USA - John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. The Treaty acknowledged the USA as a sovereign state and granted various territorial provisions to the USA and its allies.

George Washington Put Down the Newburgh Conspiracy Rebellion Himself

Towards the end of 1782, a group of officers of the Continental Army, organized under the leadership of General Henry Knox, drafted a memorial to Congress, stating their unhappiness over poor financial support for the soldiers and subtly threatening a rebellion. But the possible rebellion was put down by none other than the Commander-in-chief himself, George Washington, in a meeting with the officers in March 1783.

Not by force and not through threats - he united the Continental Army using just the power of his words. "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country" were the words that had the most impact on his fellow officers, supposedly moving many of them to tears and effectively ending the possibility of a rebellion.

The First Military Submarine Was Used during the Revolutionary War

Although the first reliably documented submarine appeared in the 17th century, it was not until 1775 when the world got its first submarine capable of independent underwater movement. The Turtle, as the submarine was named by its American inventor, David Bushnell, is the first documented submarine to be used in combat - on September 6 1776, it was used to attack the HMS Eagle, the flagship of the British fleet. Although the attack was unsuccessful, the Turtle set the foundations for modern submarine warfare.

Benedict Arnold Was an Important Asset of the Colonists

Although Benedict Arnold, a General in the Continental Army during the first years of the Revolutionary War, is today best-known as the traitor who joined the British during the war, he was actually one of the best generals the Continental Army had ever had. He bravely resisted the bigger British fleet in the Battle of Lake Champlain, and won the battle at Saratoga in 1777. In the words of historian George Neumann, the Colonists would probably have lost the Revolutionary War if not for Arnold.

Revolutionary War facts reveal that Arnold supposedly joined the British due to his disapproval of the French alliance, but, coincidentally, he himself largely caused the French to join the war by winning at Saratoga...

Believe It or Not, Women Also Fought in the Continental Army

Although women fighting wars was a ridiculous idea at the time, quite a few of them served in the army as nurses or cooks, and some of them even as soldiers on the battlefield! The most well-known among them are Molly Pitcher, who replaced her wounded husband behind a canon in the Battle of Monmouth, and Margaret Corbin, who served, and was wounded, in her husband's gun crew in the Battle of Harlem Heights.

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George Washington Was Apparently the Greatest Man in the World

At least, he was according to the words of King George III after the British realized that the war was lost. The king first decided to abdicate, but then withdrew his decision, finding consolation for the defeat of British forces in his belief that Washington would become a dictator and make America pray for the return of the British Crown.

Washington of course did no such thing. He calmly resigned his commission in 1783, returning the command of the army to Congress. When King George III was notified about Washington's plans to do that, he supposedly said, "If he does that, sir, he will be the greatest man in the world."

There Was a Sequel to the Boston Tea Party

While practically every American knows about the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when Sons of Liberty dressed as Mohawk Indians destroyed an entire British shipment of 342 chests of tea, many don't know that there was a sequel to the "tea drowning" in Boston. They reprised their attack in March 1774, but with much less success than the first time - they got hold of only 16 chests of tea...

The Word "Independence" Never Appears in the Declaration of Independence

Although arguably the most important document in US history, proclaiming independence from the British, the Declaration of Independence actually never uses the word "independence". Revolutionary War facts show that it was originally named "The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America".

Continental Congress Hired Pirates to Attack British Ships

Since the Continental Army had very limited funds and could not afford as big a navy as the British could, they were forced to hire private combat-able ships. These so called "privateers" were actually nothing more than pirates prior to the war...

Mel Gibson's Character in The Patriot Was Inspired by Real Patriots

Benjamin Martin, the fictional hero of the 2000 historical spectacle The Patriot, was modeled on real Colonial officers and heroes of the Revolutionary War: Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Andrew Pickens and Francis Marion.

The Famous Battle of Bunker Hill Was Actually Fought on Breed's Hill

According to Revolutionary War facts, most of the battle took place on the 62-feet high Breed's Hill, but was named after the adjacent Bunker Hill. Breed's Hill is thus the home of the commemorative Bunker Hill Monument...

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Revolutionary War Facts - Facts about the Revolutionary War Summary

The Revolutionary War was the war for American Independence between 1775 and 1783. The 13 colonies that wanted independence were represented by the Patriots and aided by France, Spain and Holland. They fought the British founders of these colonies, who were aided by many Native Americans, a few hundred German troops and Loyalists - inhabitants of the colonies that were against the rebellion. Estimates of the casualties of this 8-year war vary greatly, but it is clear that the deaths of men and women on both sides changed the world forever. The Colonies were confirmed and accepted as a new nation after the war, becoming the United States of America, and took an important role in shaping the world in the following centuries.

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Revolutionary War Facts: Causes, Battles & More - Facts.net

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Synonym: American War of Independence Duration: 8 years (1775 - 1783) Sides: British vs.

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Who Was Paul Revere?

Paul Revere was born in the North End neighborhood of Boston at the end of 1734 (the exact date is unknown) to a French Huguenot father who ran a silversmith shop and a mother from a local family.

The young Revere was educated in reading and writing in school before completing his training as an apprentice to his silversmith father. At age 19, Revere inherited the business upon his father's death. But he left the business briefly and enlisted in a provincial army in 1756 during the French and Indian War.

Children

Revere returned to Boston after a failed military expedition and started to build his family life and business. He wed Sarah Orne in 1765, and they had eight children before she died nearly two decades later.

The silversmith was resourceful and dabbled in a range of work, taking on apprentices and workers who created specialty flatware, silver bowls, tea sets and even casting the first bell in Boston in his foundry. He turned to dentistry to augment his income when the colonial economy faltered during a recession.

Revere's network was also expanding to include local activists angered by British rule. In the mid-1760s, as tensions were rising between the colonists and the British, he joined the rebellious Sons of Liberty.

Revere took part in the Stamp Act protests in 1765, which eventually led the Crown to repeal a tax that ignited the colonists' hatred of taxation without representation.

Did you know? Paul Revere did not gain immediate fame for his April 1775 "Midnight Ride." In fact, it wasn't until Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1861 poem, which greatly embellished Revere's role, that he became the folk hero we think of today.

Boston Massacre

With British troops in Boston and a rebellion stewing, Revere became a master propagandist, using his artisan skills to craft engravings that incited the colonists to join in the rebellion.

The growing unrest boiled over on March 5, 1770, when British troops and a crowd of colonists faced off on Boston's King Street near the Customs house. The tense standoff ended in the Boston Massacre, as the British used their bayonet rifles to shoot and kill five unarmed colonists.

One of Reveres' best-known pieces of propaganda depicted the violent night. He reworked a Henry Pelham drawing in an engraving and widely distributed prints of the stark image of armed British troops taking aim at the colonists.

Paul Revere's House

Amid the growing political tensions in Boston, Revere continued to strengthen his roots in the colonial harbor city. In 1770, he bought the now-landmarked Paul Revere House at 19 North Square for his growing family.

Revere lived in his North End home on and off for 30 years as his family continued to evolve. After the death of his wife, Sarah, in 1773, he married Rachel Walker and they had eight additional children.

Revere sold the home in 1800, and it was purchased by his great-grandson roughly a century later to ensure it was preserved. The 1680 structure still stands today as the oldest building in downtown Boston.

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

As Revere was settling into his Boston home in the early 1770s, he became active politically. He responded to the new laws about tea imports that bypassed Boston's merchants by attending secret meetings with the inner circle who planned the Boston Tea Party. Revere joined other activists and dumped tea from the British East India Company on December 16, 1773, into Boston's harbor.

His activism extended beyond the confines of Boston when Revere began work as a courier and rode from Boston to New York on horse to spread information about the colonies.

When his associates learned the British were moving troops out of Boston and planned to arrest revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington, Massachusetts, Revere was tasked with tipping them off to help them avoid arrest.

He first used his signal system and had two lanterns placed on the Old North Church steeple in Boston to alert those on the harbor that the troops had left Boston and were crossing the Charles River.

Then, at about 10 p.m. on April 18, 1775, Revere set out in the dark from his North Boston home by horse with William Dawes to reach Adams and Hancock. The two riders met Adams and Hancock in Lexington and enabled the revolutionaries to avoid arrest.

Revere's next stop that late night was Concord, Massachusetts, a hotbed of the resistance and the suspected location of the British troops' second attack. But Revere, Dawes and a third rider named Samuel Prescott were captured by the British en route, and only Prescott reached Concord.

Revere was soon released, but he had already helped give the colonial militia a key advantage by alerting them to the impending attack by the British. The Battles of Lexington and Concord would spark the Revolutionary War.

Paul Revere's Ride

Revere remained active in the Revolutionary War, building Boston's first gunpowder mill and joining a Massachusetts infantry, but his remaining war record was lackluster, and he was largely unknown in his lifetime.

He became an American folk hero about 100 years later because of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's stirring retelling of his act of patriotism in "Paul Revere's Ride."

It begins with the now-famous lines, "Listen, my children, and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere" and depicts a dangerous, midnight ride as Revere warns the colonists about the British attack. The poem recounts his lantern signal system in the lines "one if by land, two if by sea."

The stirring poem made him an American hero, and while it contains historical inaccuracies-such as claiming Revere rode alone-the poem highlights the risks taken by this patriot at the start of the American Revolution.
READ MORE: 7 Events That Led to the American Revolution
Sources

The Paul Revere House. Paul Revere Memorial Association.
"Paul Revere's Ride." Academy of American Poets.
Revolutionary War Battles. American Battlefield Trust.
Paul Revere. Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum.
Voices of the Revolution: The Five Riders. Constitution Facts.

Fact Check

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Paul Revere: House, Midnight Ride, Boston Massacre - HISTORY

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Paul Revere was born in the North End neighborhood of Boston at the end of 1734 (the exact date is unknown) to a French Huguenot father who ran a silversmith shop and a mother from a local family. The young Revere was educated in reading and writing in school before completing his training as an apprentice to his silversmith father.

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Paul Revere's Ride: The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes

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Special thanks to Marge and Ben Edwards and their son Ben L. Edwards of Walking Boston for generously funding the redesign of our website. ©2019 Paul Revere Memorial Association. All rights reserved.

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Paul Revere | Biography, Midnight Ride, Boston Massacre, & Facts

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Paul Revere, folk hero of the American Revolution whose dramatic horseback ride on the night of April 18, 1775, warning Boston-area residents that the British were coming, was immortalized in a ballad by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Learn more about Revere’s life in this article.

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Located in the heart of Historic Philadelphia, the Museum explores the dramatic, surprising story of the American Revolution and its enduring legacy.

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also called:

United States War of Independence or American Revolutionary War

What was the American Revolution?

How did the American Revolution begin?

What were the major causes of the American Revolution?

Which countries fought on the side of the colonies during the American Revolution?

How was the American Revolution a civil war?

American Revolution, (1775-83), insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and a large and influential segment of its North American colonies that was caused by British attempts to assert greater control over colonial affairs after having long adhered to a policy of salutary neglect. Until early in 1778 the conflict was a civil war within the British Empire, but afterward it became an international war as France (in 1778) and Spain (in 1779) joined the colonies against Britain. Meanwhile, the Netherlands, which provided both official recognition of the United States and financial support for it, was engaged in its own war against Britain. From the beginning, sea power was vital in determining the course of the war, lending to British strategy a flexibility that helped compensate for the comparatively small numbers of troops sent to America and ultimately enabling the French to help bring about the final British surrender at Yorktown.

Land campaigns to 1778

Americans fought the war on land with essentially two types of organization: the Continental (national) Army and the state militias. The total number of the former provided by quotas from the states throughout the conflict was 231,771 men, and the militias totaled 164,087. At any given time, however, the American forces seldom numbered over 20,000; in 1781 there were only about 29,000 insurgents under arms throughout the country. The war was therefore one fought by small field armies. Militias, poorly disciplined and with elected officers, were summoned for periods usually not exceeding three months. The terms of Continental Army service were only gradually increased from one to three years, and not even bounties and the offer of land kept the army up to strength. Reasons for the difficulty in maintaining an adequate Continental force included the colonists' traditional antipathy toward regular armies, the objections of farmers to being away from their fields, the competition of the states with the Continental Congress to keep men in the militia, and the wretched and uncertain pay in a period of inflation.

By contrast, the British army was a reliable steady force of professionals. Since it numbered only about 42,000, heavy recruiting programs were introduced. Many of the enlisted men were farm boys, as were most of the Americans. Others were unemployed persons from the urban slums. Still others joined the army to escape fines or imprisonment. The great majority became efficient soldiers as a result of sound training and ferocious discipline. The officers were drawn largely from the gentry and the aristocracy and obtained their commissions and promotions by purchase. Though they received no formal training, they were not so dependent on a book knowledge of military tactics as were many of the Americans. British generals, however, tended toward a lack of imagination and initiative, while those who demonstrated such qualities often were rash.

Because troops were few and conscription unknown, the British government, following a traditional policy, purchased about 30,000 troops from various German princes. The Lensgreve (landgrave) of Hesse furnished approximately three-fifths of that total. Few acts by the crown roused so much antagonism in America as that use of foreign mercenaries.

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American Revolution | Causes, Battles, Aftermath, & Facts

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American Revolution (1775-83), insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and many North American colonists.

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Causes of the Revolutionary War

For more than a decade before the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, tensions had been building between colonists and the British authorities.

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years' War (1756-1763), brought new territories under the power of the crown, but the expensive conflict lead to new and unpopular taxes. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December 1773, when a band of Bostonians altered their appearance to hide their identity boarded British ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party, an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures (known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts) designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.

Did you know? Now most famous as a traitor to the American cause, General Benedict Arnold began the Revolutionary War as one of its earliest heroes, helping lead rebel forces in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.

In response, a group of colonial delegates (including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York) met in Philadelphia in September 1774 to give voice to their grievances against the British crown. This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent. It issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May 1775 to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out.

On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoats. On April 19, local militiamen clashed with British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the "shot heard round the world" that signified the start of the Revolutionary War.

HISTORY Vault: The Revolution

Declaring Independence (1775-76)

When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates-including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson-voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief. On June 17, in the Revolution's first major battle, colonial forces inflicted heavy casualties on the British regiment of General William Howe at Breed's Hill in Boston. The engagement, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause.

Throughout that fall and winter, Washington's forces struggled to keep the British contained in Boston, but artillery captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York helped shift the balance of that struggle in late winter. The British evacuated the city in March 1776, with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June 1776, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On July 4, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson. That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34,000 troops to New York. In August, Howe's Redcoats routed the Continental Army on Long Island; Washington was forced to evacuate his troops from New York City by September. Pushed across the Delaware River, Washington fought back with a surprise attack in Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night and won another victory at Princeton to revive the rebels' flagging hopes before making winter quarters at Morristown.

Saratoga: Revolutionary War Turning Point (1777-78)

British strategy in 1777 involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England (where the rebellion enjoyed the most popular support) from the other colonies. To that end, General John Burgoyne's army marched south from Canada toward a planned meeting with Howe's forces on the Hudson River. Burgoyne's men dealt a devastating loss to the Americans in July by retaking Fort Ticonderoga, while Howe decided to move his troops southward from New York to confront Washington's army near the Chesapeake Bay. The British defeated the Americans at Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, on September 11 and entered Philadelphia on September 25. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

Howe's move had left Burgoyne's army exposed near Saratoga, New York, and the British suffered the consequences of this on September 19, when an American force under General Horatio Gates defeated them at Freeman's Farm in the first Battle of Saratoga. After suffering another defeat on October 7 at Bemis Heights (the Second Battle of Saratoga), Burgoyne surrendered his remaining forces on October 17. The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France (which had been secretly aiding the rebels since 1776) to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June 1778. The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

Stalemate in the North, Battle in the South (1778-81)

During the long, hard winter at Valley Forge, Washington's troops benefited from the training and discipline of the Prussian military officer Baron Friedrich von Steuben (sent by the French) and the leadership of the French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette. On June 28, 1778, as British forces under Sir Henry Clinton (who had replaced Howe as supreme commander) attempted to withdraw from Philadelphia to New York, Washington's army attacked them near Monmouth, New Jersey. The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York. On July 8, a French fleet commanded by the Comte d'Estaing arrived off the Atlantic coast, ready to do battle with the British. A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island, in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

The Americans suffered a number of setbacks from 1779 to 1781, including the defection of General Benedict Arnold to the British and the first serious mutinies within the Continental Army. In the South, the British occupied Georgia by early 1779 and captured Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. British forces under Lord Charles Cornwallis then began an offensive in the region, crushing Gates' American troops at Camden in mid-August, though the Americans scored a victory over Loyalist forces at King's Mountain in early October. Nathanael Green replaced Gates as the American commander in the South that December. Under Green's command, General Daniel Morgan scored a victory against a British force led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens, South Carolina, on January 17, 1781.

Revolutionary War Draws to a Close (1781-83)

By the fall of 1781, Greene's American forces had managed to force Cornwallis and his men to withdraw to Virginia's Yorktown peninsula, near where the York River empties into Chesapeake Bay. Supported by a French army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14,000 soldiers, while a fleet of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October 19. Claiming illness, the British general sent his deputy, Charles O'Hara, to surrender; after O'Hara approached Rochambeau to surrender his sword (the Frenchman deferred to Washington), Washington gave the nod to his own deputy, Benjamin Lincoln, who accepted it.

Though the movement for American independence effectively triumphed at the Battle of Yorktown, contemporary observers did not see that as the decisive victory yet. British forces remained stationed around Charleston, and the powerful main army still resided in New York. Though neither side would take decisive action over the better part of the next two years, the British removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782 finally pointed to the end of the conflict. British and American negotiators in Paris signed preliminary peace terms in Paris late that November, and on September 3, 1783, Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States in the Treaty of Paris. At the same time, Britain signed separate peace treaties with France and Spain (which had entered the conflict in 1779), bringing the American Revolution to a close after eight long years.

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Revolutionary War - Timeline, Facts & Battles | HISTORY

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The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.

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What British People in 1776 Really Thought of American Independence

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“None can profit by the continuance of this war,” one trade group noted

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April 19, 1775. Four hundred British regulars approached the small village of Lexington, Massachusetts. Eighty men of the local militia meet them on the town green. "Stand your ground" their commander shouts. "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war let it begin here." How did it come to this? Why are these American subjects facing down there King George III and his empire?

The rallying cry is, "no taxation without representation." For ten years, the American colonists have protested the taxes levied by the British crown. The protests are sometimes eloquent and sometimes violent. No matter the method, the Americans have no voice in the British government. Most colonists are not yet ready to break away, yet they are determined to defend their rights to assembly, free speech, trial by jury, taxation by their own representatives, and to bear arms.

The controversy explodes on that April morning. Two British companies form a line of battle on the Lexington Green. A British officer orders the militia to disperse. Most of the men began to scatter, but a few stubbornly stand their ground. A moment later, a shot rings out, who fired that first shot heard around the world may never be known. The British then unleash a full volley into the militia. When the smoke clears, eight Americans lay dead, and another nine are wounded.

In search of a rumored stockpile of American weapons, the British advance to Concord. Word of the movement spreads among the American Patriots. At Concord, the British find only remnants of the Patriot stockpile. The real weapons are in the hands of the militia. Three hundred Americans attack the British column near the Concord River. The British withdrawal. The Americans pursue, and it devolves into a running battle.

More militiamen, sometimes called Minutemen, arrive using country paths to ambush their exhausted foes. British soldiers are killed or wounded continuously. Most run out of ammunition. Some consider surrendering. The British limp back into Boston having lost nearly 300 men. Almost miraculously, the American Patriots win their first battle, but the revolution has only just begun.

Within weeks, Boston is surrounded by an army of New England militia. As news of the first victory spreads, other Americans take action. In May, a group of men who call themselves the Green Mountain Boys, seize Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. In June, the British attack an American position near Boston, a rise known to the locals as Bunker Hill. As a red coat battle lines approach, an American commander tells his men, "not to fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

The British are slaughtered. Although the British capture the hill, American morale rises as British morale plummets. Despite these early successes, American leaders know that they will need more than enthusiastic militia to win the conflict. The Continental Congress in session in Philadelphia, creates the Continental Army and appoints George Washington, a member of the Virginia delegation, to lead it.

Washington rushes to join the Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts telling Congress that he will need heavy artillery to drive the British out of Boston. In January, he orders Thomas Paine's pamphlet, Common Sense, which advocates independence from Great Britain, to be read aloud to his soldiers in order to strengthen their resolve for the cause. Washington is aided by 25-year-old Henry Knox, who spends the winter removing cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and bringing them to Boston. Despite having to sled across frozen rivers and scale snowy mountains, Knox doesn't lose a single gun.

By March of 1776, the American artillery is in place. Unwilling to suffer a bombardment or risk another attack, the British evacuate the city. Washington watches as the fleet sails away. He knows the enemy will soon return in even greater numbers. The question is where?

That Patriots face enormous challenges. The British empire wields incredible power. To win the revolution the Americans will need foreign support. In early 1776, France begins to secretly send weapons to the colonists. But before the French will do more, the Americans need to demonstrate their determination. On July 4, 1776, congressional delegates sign the Declaration of Independence, signaling to France that the United States of America is committed to victory and capable of achieving it. The war for independence has officially begun.

Washington moves the Continental Army from Boston to New York anticipating a British attack. By the end of June, 19,000 Patriots have joined him. And then the British return. One hundred and thirty ships carrying more than 20,000 soldiers sail into New York harbor. One amazed American exclaims that "all of London is afloat."

August 22, the British land on Long Island sweeping aside the American defenders at the battle or Brooklyn. Washington skillfully retreats across Manhattan to Harlem Heights. In September the British land on lower Manhattan and capture the city then dislodge the Americans from the defenses of Harlem Heights. Washington retreats again. Part of the Army withdraws North to White Plains, while another occupies a strong position astride the Hudson at Forts Washington and Lee. William Howe, the British commander defeats Washington in the battle of White Plains on October 28th.

In November, he decides to remove the threat to his rear at Forts Washington and Lee. The battle of Fort Washington is a disaster. Three thousand Americans are overwhelmed and captured by the British assault. Four days later, the British crossed the Hudson and capture Fort Lee.

Washington's army is reduced to but a few thousand men. With morale low and enlistment set to expire, he retreats across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. All that is stopping the British is the Delaware River and the coming winter. Convinced the rebels are all but defeated, the British spread out in numerous outposts throughout New Jersey. Washington must rekindle his army's confidence. He tells his men that if you will consent to stay only one month longer, you will render that service to the cause of liberty and to your country, which you probably never can do under any other circumstances. Thomas Paine writes a second pamphlet, The American Crisis, which circulates around campfires and steals the resolve of the Patriots.

On Christmas night, 1776, Washington makes good on his promise. He moves his forces across the ice-choked Delaware River. It is a desperate and dangerous maneuver, but it works. His men gather on the opposite bank, and Washington launches a surprise attack on Trenton New Jersey.

The battle of Trenton is a storing American victory. Over 1,000 Hessians are captured along with six cannons, and enough supplies to outfit several American brigades. Seven days later, Washington presses his advantage, outmaneuvering the main British army and striking the garrison at Princeton. He wins another victory and captures nearly 200 British regulars. With his army rejuvenated, Washington marches to Morristown and settles in for the rest of the winter. There was almost constant skirmishes between Patriots and British foraging parties, forcing the New York City British-controlled garrison to rely on supplies bought by sea.

In the spring of 1777, the British devise a plan to isolate New England from the other American colonies. Three columns are ordered to converge on Albany, New York. One column is stopped at Fort Stanwix. One disregards the plan and instead moves toward Philadelphia, defeating an American force at the Battle of Brandywine and capturing the American Capital. Washington attempts to recapture this city, but is defeated at the Battle of Germantown.

Afterward, he moves his army to Valley Forge for the winter. The third British column meets heavy resistance from partisan fighters, giving the Americans time to assemble a large force near Saratoga. The fighting at Saratoga rages from September to October. Victory sways in the balance. Finally, the Americans surround the British army and force them to surrender.

The Continental Army suffers through a brutal winter at Valley Forge but holds together. Discipline actually improves due to the training regimen implemented by Baron von Steuben, a European officer who lends expertise to the cause. It is one of the war's greatest displays of American determination. In the wake of the American victory at Saratoga, France signs an alliance with the United States and declares war on Britain.

Threatened by the French fleet, the British abandon Philadelphia. Washington pursues them across New Jersey. On June 28, Washington attacks a British rear guard at Monmouth, New Jersey. Although the battle is inconclusive, the winter training at Valley Forge has paid off. The Continentals had stood firm against British regulars who continue their movement to New York.

Throughout 1778, Washington maintains pressure on New York City. The countryside between the armies becomes a no man's land of spies, forging parties, and skirmishes. Unable to make headway in the Northeast, British strategists shift their focus to the southern colonies, where a guerrilla war had raged since 1775. They're banking on the support of Southern loyalists. In December, the British establish a foothold by capturing Savannah, Georgia. Months later, French troops join the Americans in an attempt to recapture Savannah, but the allies suffered severe losses and are unable to retake the city.

The Southern offensive continues into 1780. On May 12, a British army captures Charleston, South Carolina, along with more than 5,000 American soldiers and nearly the entire American force in the South. American reinforcements rushed to the Carolinas, but they fare little better. In August, another American army is crushed at the Battle of Camden. The countryside is still engulfed in a vicious partisan war. Neighbors take up arms against each other. The British troops burn homes and farms in their search for Patriots. They harden the revolutionary resolve of the Southern people.

In October, a force of more than 1,000 British loyalists is annihilated at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Washington sends more men to the south where they unite with Patriot militia fighters. Daniel Morgan leads the Americans to a major victory at Cowpens. But years of campaigning forced him to retire. Nathaniel Greene takes over.

In a grueling campaign in early 1781, he grinds down the British forces during a series of strategic retreats toward the Dan River. Greene is able to keep one step ahead of the British. He crosses on February 14, and the British without boats, are unable to pursue, the race is over. After a brief rest, Greene, now reinforced, re-crosses the dam.

On March 15, at Guilford Courthouse, Greene finally faces the British, fighting them to a bloody standstill.

After Guilford, Cornwallis withdraws his battered and exhausted army toward Wilmington. Soon after, he marches north to Virginia, hoping to stop the flow of men and supplies into the southern colonies. With Cornwallis gone, Greene swiftly re-enters the Carolinas. At Utah Springs, though a draw, Greene inflicts enough casualties to compel a British withdraw to Charleston, where Greene pins them for the rest of the war.

Thwarted in the north and in the south, British strategists now try to attack the center. Cornwallis marches into Virginia and chases a continental force before marching his weary army to Yorktown in July 1781, where he expects reinforcements by sea. On September 5, the British and French fleets battle each other off the Virginia Capes. The French are victorious, and Cornwallis is cut off.

A combined American and French force marches south and lays siege to the British on September 26. On October 14, American defense units storm two British [INAUDIBLE]. Cornwallis realizes there will be no reinforcements, no escape. He surrenders. More than 8,000 soldiers about one-fourth of all British troops in the United States are taken prisoner.

News of Yorktown reaches London in late November 1781. In February 1782, the British parliament adopts a resolution against further prosecution of offensive warfare on the continent of North America. The final treaty of peace is signed in September 1783.

After eight years of war, the longest war ever fought in North America. The United States win their independence. The American Revolution began the most important experiment the world has ever witnessed. Can people govern themselves? Can they treat each other as equals? Can liberty produce power? So far through many rigorous tests, America has answered-- yes.

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Major events of the American Revolutionary War examined

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Learn about major events of the Revolutionary War (1775-83), which won 13 American colonies their political independence from Great Britain.

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Tea, Taxes, and The American Revolution: Crash Course World History #28