significant events of the american revolution
Introduction
The British Army approached the American Revolution with extreme confidence, believing that the patriots would be defeated quickly. The British also had a widespread belief that the American population did not wholeheartedly support the independence movement and that once they quieted the radicals, the rest of the American colonists would rush to assist the British efforts. To put down the revolt, the British adopted a traditional strategy based on the notion that the Americans could be defeated if the British captured the major colonial cities.
This strategy proved flawed, however, first because unlike European nations, the American colonies had no single capital city whose loss would undermine the entire war effort. In addition, as the colonies were primarily rural, cities did not play as important a role in colonial life as cities played in European life. Finally, in order to halt the rebellion, the British needed to secure a total victory in the colonies, while the Americans needed only to force the British to a stalemate. Nevertheless, the American challenge against well-trained British troops serving under professional officers was a formidable one, and many doubted whether even a stalemate was within the Americans' grasp.
A series of military campaigns began in the North and then moved to the South, where the British ultimately suffered defeat. In the summer of 1776, Sir William Howe brought troops to New York, where they defeated Washington's army at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, and then on the island of Manhattan that ended with the American loss of New York City. With the British holding New York, Washington retreated to New Jersey.
Battle of Saratoga
During the spring of 1777, British general John Burgoyne made a plan to isolate New York from the rest of the American colonies. He realized that the Northeast contained the firebrands of the revolution, and he hoped that physically separating them from the men, supplies, and political leadership east and south of New York would effectively divide and conquer.
Burgoyne was largely successful in his plan until he neared Saratoga, where everything began to fall apart. Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger had laid siege to Fort Stanwyx in mid-August but fled upon news that a larger colonial force under Benedict Arnold was on the way. Despite the setback, Burgoyne attacked Gates at Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777. Gates' sharpshooters picked off every officer in Burgoyne's center column, which quickly retreated. Burgoyne responded quickly and advanced his left and right columns. For three hours more, the action continued until Burgoyne finally ordered his force to entrench around Freeman's Farm and wait for relief from Gen. Henry Clinton, who was marching north from New York City to Albany. Burgoyne waited for three weeks, but Clinton had retreated after meeting resistance at West Point.
Low on supplies and with winter approaching, Burgoyne realized he would need to attack or retreat. On October 7, he led a reconnaissance to Bemis Heights and met a tough counterattack led by Arnold. Burgoyne retreated, but Gates surrounded him at Saratoga. Burgoyne was doomed, and on October 17, he surrendered his force to Gates.
The battles near Saratoga proved to be the turning point of the American Revolution. The encounters removed a significant British force from combat and thwarted the British plan to divide the colonies. There were no more serious threats to the waterway, and most of New York remained secure.
The American victory during the Battle of Saratoga maintained control of the vital Hudson River valley and convinced France to recognize the United States and sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The flow of French supplies virtually guaranteed the British colonies' independence during the American Revolution.
US Alliance with France
Benjamin Franklin had been serving as a diplomat in Paris to forge such an alliance since late 1776. In 1778, France and America signed two treaties. In the first, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, France recognized American independence and established a trade relationship with the struggling country. In the second, the Treaty of Alliance, the two countries promised to consult the other when negotiating peace agreements with Britain. The Franco-American alliance brought much-needed supplies and troops into the fight against Britain, and France's recognition and support for the fledgling country served as a powerful symbol of legitimacy.
Winter at Valley Forge
Problems of insufficient supplies and irregular pay also plagued the Continental Army. Such low points as the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge nearly led to mutiny. With the onset of the bitter winter cold, the Continental Army under General George Washington, still in the field, enters its winter camp at Valley Forge, 22 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Washington chose a site on the west bank of the Schuylkill River that could be effectively defended in the event of a British attack. The particularly severe winter of 1777-1778 proved to be a great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers stationed at Valley Forge, hundreds died from disease. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men. As the winter stretched on, Prussian military adviser Frederick von Steuben kept the soldiers busy with drills and training in modern military strategy.
When Washington's army marched out of Valley Forge on June 19, 1778, the men were better disciplined and stronger in spirit than when they had entered. Nine days later, they won a victory against the British under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.
The War Continues
Meanwhile, the war moved to the South. A string of British victories along the southern coastline culminated in the British capture of Charleston, South Carolina on May 12, 1780, where the American general Benjamin Lincoln surrendered the entire Continental Army in the South. The defeat, however, only served to encourage patriots to redouble their efforts. Washington appointed Nathanael Greene to command patriot forces in the South against Lord Charles Cornwallis. Greene urged leniency against neutral settlers and loyalists, realizing that his conciliatory approach would win the loyalty of the settlers who were tired of war in their region. Greene also managed to convince most Native American groups to end their alliances with the British. At the end of 1780 and into 1781, the tide in the South turned toward the Americans in a series of small but important fights, including the Battle of Cowpens in early 1781 and the Battle of Guildford Court House in March of that same year. Fighting in the South continued throughout the spring, but the Americans steadfastly reclaimed lost territory and forced the British to a massive retreat to the North Carolina coast.
Battle of Yorktown
By the fall of 1781, Lord Charles Cornwallis had moved his troops to Virginia, believing that Virginia served as the major supply base for all the fighting in the South. In total, he commanded a force of 7,200 men on the Yorktown peninsula, not far from the spot of the first permanent English settlement in America, Jamestown. As Cornwallis prepared to defeat the Virginians, Washington and his army swept down toward Yorktown from New Jersey, while a French naval fleet intercepted and defeated a substantial British fleet in Chesapeake Bay that had been sent to relieve Cornwallis. The combination of American troops on land and French ships on the water kept the British under siege in Yorktown for several weeks before a major battle on October 19 ended in British defeat. Cornwallis' subsequent surrender marked the end of fighting in North America.
The British Army approached the American Revolution with extreme confidence, believing that the patriots would be defeated quickly. The British also had a widespread belief that the American population did not wholeheartedly support the independence movement and that once they quieted the radicals, the rest of the American colonists would rush to assist the British efforts. To put down the revolt, the British adopted a traditional strategy based on the notion that the Americans could be defeated if the British captured the major colonial cities.
This strategy proved flawed, however, first because unlike European nations, the American colonies had no single capital city whose loss would undermine the entire war effort. In addition, as the colonies were primarily rural, cities did not play as important a role in colonial life as cities played in European life. Finally, in order to halt the rebellion, the British needed to secure a total victory in the colonies, while the Americans needed only to force the British to a stalemate. Nevertheless, the American challenge against well-trained British troops serving under professional officers was a formidable one, and many doubted whether even a stalemate was within the Americans' grasp.
A series of military campaigns began in the North and then moved to the South, where the British ultimately suffered defeat. In the summer of 1776, Sir William Howe brought troops to New York, where they defeated Washington's army at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, and then on the island of Manhattan that ended with the American loss of New York City. With the British holding New York, Washington retreated to New Jersey.
Battle of Saratoga
During the spring of 1777, British general John Burgoyne made a plan to isolate New York from the rest of the American colonies. He realized that the Northeast contained the firebrands of the revolution, and he hoped that physically separating them from the men, supplies, and political leadership east and south of New York would effectively divide and conquer.
Burgoyne was largely successful in his plan until he neared Saratoga, where everything began to fall apart. Lt. Col. Barry St. Leger had laid siege to Fort Stanwyx in mid-August but fled upon news that a larger colonial force under Benedict Arnold was on the way. Despite the setback, Burgoyne attacked Gates at Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777. Gates' sharpshooters picked off every officer in Burgoyne's center column, which quickly retreated. Burgoyne responded quickly and advanced his left and right columns. For three hours more, the action continued until Burgoyne finally ordered his force to entrench around Freeman's Farm and wait for relief from Gen. Henry Clinton, who was marching north from New York City to Albany. Burgoyne waited for three weeks, but Clinton had retreated after meeting resistance at West Point.
Low on supplies and with winter approaching, Burgoyne realized he would need to attack or retreat. On October 7, he led a reconnaissance to Bemis Heights and met a tough counterattack led by Arnold. Burgoyne retreated, but Gates surrounded him at Saratoga. Burgoyne was doomed, and on October 17, he surrendered his force to Gates.
The battles near Saratoga proved to be the turning point of the American Revolution. The encounters removed a significant British force from combat and thwarted the British plan to divide the colonies. There were no more serious threats to the waterway, and most of New York remained secure.
The American victory during the Battle of Saratoga maintained control of the vital Hudson River valley and convinced France to recognize the United States and sign the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. The flow of French supplies virtually guaranteed the British colonies' independence during the American Revolution.
US Alliance with France
Benjamin Franklin had been serving as a diplomat in Paris to forge such an alliance since late 1776. In 1778, France and America signed two treaties. In the first, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce, France recognized American independence and established a trade relationship with the struggling country. In the second, the Treaty of Alliance, the two countries promised to consult the other when negotiating peace agreements with Britain. The Franco-American alliance brought much-needed supplies and troops into the fight against Britain, and France's recognition and support for the fledgling country served as a powerful symbol of legitimacy.
Winter at Valley Forge
Problems of insufficient supplies and irregular pay also plagued the Continental Army. Such low points as the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge nearly led to mutiny. With the onset of the bitter winter cold, the Continental Army under General George Washington, still in the field, enters its winter camp at Valley Forge, 22 miles from British-occupied Philadelphia. Washington chose a site on the west bank of the Schuylkill River that could be effectively defended in the event of a British attack. The particularly severe winter of 1777-1778 proved to be a great trial for the American army, and of the 11,000 soldiers stationed at Valley Forge, hundreds died from disease. However, the suffering troops were held together by loyalty to the Patriot cause and to General Washington, who stayed with his men. As the winter stretched on, Prussian military adviser Frederick von Steuben kept the soldiers busy with drills and training in modern military strategy.
When Washington's army marched out of Valley Forge on June 19, 1778, the men were better disciplined and stronger in spirit than when they had entered. Nine days later, they won a victory against the British under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey.
The War Continues
Meanwhile, the war moved to the South. A string of British victories along the southern coastline culminated in the British capture of Charleston, South Carolina on May 12, 1780, where the American general Benjamin Lincoln surrendered the entire Continental Army in the South. The defeat, however, only served to encourage patriots to redouble their efforts. Washington appointed Nathanael Greene to command patriot forces in the South against Lord Charles Cornwallis. Greene urged leniency against neutral settlers and loyalists, realizing that his conciliatory approach would win the loyalty of the settlers who were tired of war in their region. Greene also managed to convince most Native American groups to end their alliances with the British. At the end of 1780 and into 1781, the tide in the South turned toward the Americans in a series of small but important fights, including the Battle of Cowpens in early 1781 and the Battle of Guildford Court House in March of that same year. Fighting in the South continued throughout the spring, but the Americans steadfastly reclaimed lost territory and forced the British to a massive retreat to the North Carolina coast.
Battle of Yorktown
By the fall of 1781, Lord Charles Cornwallis had moved his troops to Virginia, believing that Virginia served as the major supply base for all the fighting in the South. In total, he commanded a force of 7,200 men on the Yorktown peninsula, not far from the spot of the first permanent English settlement in America, Jamestown. As Cornwallis prepared to defeat the Virginians, Washington and his army swept down toward Yorktown from New Jersey, while a French naval fleet intercepted and defeated a substantial British fleet in Chesapeake Bay that had been sent to relieve Cornwallis. The combination of American troops on land and French ships on the water kept the British under siege in Yorktown for several weeks before a major battle on October 19 ended in British defeat. Cornwallis' subsequent surrender marked the end of fighting in North America.
The Treaty of Paris of 1783
Unbelievably, the Americans had forced the British to a stalemate in North America, thus compelling Great Britain to recognize the colonies' independence. American diplomats Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams negotiated a preliminary peace treaty in November 1782 in Paris. The so-called Treaty of Paris was formally signed by representatives from both nations on September 3, 1783. Although the cost of the victory had been substantial for the Americans, with about 25,000 deaths from wounds and disease and serious economic disruption from the waste and carnage of several years of war, the Americans quickly set about erecting the institutions to govern their new nation. The revolution, with its Enlightenment principles of equality and natural rights, has since served as an inspiration to other peoples around the world attempting to secure their rights through the mechanism of self-government.