1. American Strengths
1.1. Patriotism
1.2. They had help from over seas
1.3. The commander George Washington
1.4. George Washington inspired courage and confidence
1.5. Their homes were at stake so they fought harder
1.6. minutemen
1.7. Militiamen
2. British Weaknesses
2.1. The distance between America and Britian
2.2. Sending supplies and troops were slow
2.3. Their leaders could never convince Britian that if they didn't beat america bad things would happen later.
2.4. They had poor leadership.
3. British Strengths
3.1. They had 50,000 soldiers and hired 30,000 more
3.2. They could recruit many loyalists, African Americans, and Native americans
3.3. Their soldiers were well trained.
3.4. They excelled in large battles
3.5. They had more experience in fighting
3.6. George III Had hired 30,000 mercenaries that were called Hessians.
3.7. They had a lot of supplies and seldom lacked food, uniforms, weapons or ammunition
4. Battle of Saratoga
4.1. The Rebels outnumbered the British.
4.2. Before they fought this war, the British were loosing almost every time, but America finally fought back and showed them that they can win a battle if not the entire war
4.3. General Burgoyne (A British officer) ordered an attack on the rebels on October 17 1777.
4.4. General Burgoyne surrendered this war, and marked it as a turning point.
4.5. In this war at Saratoga, General Burgoyne ordered an attack on the rebels on October 17 1777. Before they fought this war, the Rebels lost all of the other wars before so when the other general surrendered, It was a turning point for America.
4.6. The french came in
5. `[Winter at] Valley Forge
5.1. Basic
5.1.1. Washington's army was roaming the countryside as Howe's army still occupied Philedelphia
5.1.2. Late 1777 [Congress] declares an official thanksgiving day.
5.2. Quote: "We had nothing to eat for two or three days previous... But we must no have what Congress said a sumptuous Thanksgiving... It gave each and every man a gill of rice and a tablespoon of vinegar! The army was now not only starved but naked. The greatest part were not only shirtless and barefoot, but destitute of all other clothing, especially blankets"
5.3. It showed their persistance
5.4. Vocab
5.4.1. Baron Von Steuben: was a Prussian and American military officer
6. Yorktown
6.1. France sent 5000 troops to join Washingtons army in New York. Their were also 3000 more on the way
6.2. They than planned a secret attack on the brittish, Washington knew that they were coming so he had 16,000 troops.
6.3. When the three thousand french soldiers came, (middle of war) it was a crucial help to america, and the british general Cornwallis was cut from the british.
6.4. The signifigance of this war was the suprise of the attack and how they won with the french.
6.5. This triggered the signing of the treaty of paris,
6.6. The french helped us by bring food, ammo, weapons and men to us and we won the war with them.
7. The american revouloution
7.1. It started when a fifteen year old boy couldnt be in the army but a year later he war ready to go
7.1.1. The war was started when the brittish kept adding taxes and the colinists didnt like it, also they added taxes because after the French and Indian war, they were debt. Also the West india tea company was shutting down due to no money
8. The defeat in new york
8.1. On august 27 1776 both armies met in Brookyln, the Americans began to protect their city but they were no match for the British. the british lost 377 men while america lost 1407. Washington was made to retreat. The British officer could have ended it their but he kept waiting until Washington retreated
9. American Weaknesses
9.1. Inexperience
9.2. Untrained army
9.2.1. Hastley Orgainized
9.3. Hastily Organized
9.4. Tiny Navy
9.5. The army was likely to turn and run
9.6. They didn't have a lot of guns and gun powder so some of them trained with spears and axes
9.7. They didn't have a lot of food.
9.8. The British were very hard to fight because they had more people.
9.9. The british were called red coats because of their uniforms
9.10. Low on uniforms and could be seen shoeless in the middle of the winter
10. Bunker Hill
10.1. Examples
10.1.1. 2000 Redcoats were ordered to attack and formed 2 lines at the bottom of the hill
10.1.2. Their were 2,000 red coats at Bunker hill when they were fighting.
10.1.3. Rebels were defeated by the British when they ran out of gunpowder
10.1.4. Putnam ordered his men and said, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." Only until the British were so close to them did they fire.
10.1.5. More than 1,000 British troops were killed
10.1.6. The militiamen fired only when the british were almost on top of them because Putman told them not to fire until they saw the whites of their eyes.
10.2. In other words, why was this an important battle for the Rebels/British?
10.2.1. This battle, the battle of bunker hill was an important battle for the rebels because as they were defeated due mainly to loss of weaponry and gunpowder it showed them what they would need to improve upon for future battles and in all win the war with the British red coats. This was also an important battle for the rebels because it sent somewhat of a warning flag to the redcoats that the rebels could handle themselves throughout the war.
11. Battles of Trenton and Princeton
11.1. Victory in Trenton
11.1.1. It was a matter of "Victory or Death"
11.1.2. They were cold and warn out when they eventually found the Hessians after their Christmas dinner but caught by surprise the mercenaries surrendered and Washington, while there were no American deaths took on 868 prisoners.
11.1.3. In Delaware
11.1.4. Late on December 25, 1776
11.2. Princeton
11.2.1. Only a week later the Americans captured another 300 British troops
11.2.2. in Princeton, New Jersey(NJ)
11.3. Significance
11.3.1. These events "electrified" and brought more unity to within the American troops. These battles also showed the British that the Americans were willing to fight and that the British may need to give a little more effort in future battles. This war was far from over.