The Revolutionary War

1. The Revolutionary War

2. 1763
The French and Indian War
British vs. French and Native Americans
The French and Native Americans were allies.
They were fighting over the Ohio River Valley.
The British won this war.
It was very expensive because they had to have extra troops sent over from
England to help them fight.
Taxes were started in order to pay for this war.

3. King George III
This man was the King of Britain during the revolution. He supported taxing the colonists.

4. Taxes
A tax is an extra fee that a consumer pays when they buy something. The fee
is added to the total price. That fee goes to the government of the state or
country that the product was bought in.

5. 1765 - The Stamp Act
British government is called Parliament.
King George was the leader of the British.
Paper items were taxed under this act.
The items were taxed in order to pay for the French and Indian War.

6. Parliament
This was Britain’s law making assembly. They passed laws and new acts.
The colonists had no representation in Parliament.

7. Sons of Liberty
This group was created by Samuel Adams. They protested the Stamp Act
and other forms of taxes that the British tried. The burned stamps and
threatened tax collectors. They opposed British rule.

8. No taxation without
representation!

9. Boycott
A boycott is an act of voluntarily not using something, not buying from
someone or a company, or not dealing with a person, organization, or
country as an expression of protest, usually for social or political reasons.

10. The word repeal means to get rid of or cancel something.
British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act making the colonists boycott a success.

11. Patriots
Colonists who opposed British rule were called Patriots. They wanted to rule themselves and did not like how Britain was making them
pay taxes and controlling them.

12. Loyalists
Loyalists were colonists who were loyal to the British Parliament and King George III. They agreed with letting the British rule the
colonies. These British soldiers were nicknamed Redcoats because of what they wore.

13. 1767 - The Townshend Acts
This was another tax.
It taxed household items that were imported from Britain.
The items were paint, lead, glass, paper, and tea.

14. 1770 - The Boston Massacre
Colonists threw sticks and snowballs at British soldiers.
There was a small fight and 5 people were shot dead.

15. 1772 - Committees of Correspondence
This group was created to make news travel faster.
Messages were delivered by riders on horseback.

16. 1773 - The Boston Tea Party
The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Native Americans and dumped tea into the
Boston Harbor. They did this to raise the price of tea so that the colonists
wouldn’t break the boycott.

17. 1773 - The Intolerable Acts
The Intolerable Acts were a response to the Boston Tea Party. Three major things happened here. Massachusetts came under control
of a British General. The port of Boston was closed. The colonists in Boston had to let British soldiers eat and live in their homes.

18. 1774 - The First Continental Congress
This was a meeting with a representative from each colony present. They had this meeting because they were unhappy about the
Intolerable acts. They voted to stop all trade with Britain. The agreed each colony should begin training a militia. They decided that if
things didn’t improve they would meet again in one year.

19. Militias
Militias were small armies of volunteers. The people were not highly trained soldiers, but regular people who volunteered to fight for their
colony.

20. Minutemen
These volunteer soldiers were ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

21. Patrick Henry - March 23rd, 1775
Henry was a lawyer who gave many speeches. In 1775 he warned people that war was coming. His
famous line was, “Give me liberty or give me death!” Which meant he would rather be dead than
have to live under the rules of Britain.

22. 1775 - Paul Revere’s Ride
Paul Revere rode his horse through Lexington and Concord yelling, “The British
are coming the British are coming!”

23. 1775 - Battles of Lexington and Concord
The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British
General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the
town of Concord, just outside of Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two
of the key leaders of the patriot movement.
Colonial minutemen were given this order,”Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have war, let it
begin here.
No one knows who fired the first shot.

24. The Green Mountain Boys
They were led by Ethan Allen. They were from New Hampshire. They helped the
colonists capture Fort Ticonderoga.

25. May 10th, 1775 - Fort Ticonderoga
This Battle was won by the Patriots. They took important cannons from the Fort.

26. June 1775 - Battle of Bunker Hill
This Battle took place on nearby Breed’s Hill. The British won but, they lost
many troops.

27. “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”

28. 1775 - Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the
summer of 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that, soon after warfare, declared that the American Revolutionary War had
begun.

29. 1775 - George Washington
He was the leader of the Continental Army (Patriots) .

30. 1775 - Olive Branch Petition
This was the colonists last ditch effort to avoid war and gain their freedom from
Britain.

31. Lord Dunmore
Lord Dunmore announced that any slave that would join and fight for the British
army during the war would receive their freedom after the war was over.

32. January 1776 - Common Sense
Thomas Paine wrote this. It was a pamphlet that explained that America should
split from Great Britain.

33. 1776 - Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson was the author of this document. It declared America’s freedom
from British rule.
John Hancock had the biggest signature.

34. Declaration of Independence
Members of congress signed it.
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the unalienable rights listed in the
Declaration.
Unalienable means that those rights can not be taken away.
The Declaration says that all men are created equal.
It was adopted on July 4, 1776.

35. 1776 - The Battle of Trenton
This Battle took place in New Jersey after George Washington and his men
crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day.

36. 1777 - Saratoga
This was the Turning Point of the War. American troops win this battle.

37. 1777 - Valley Forge
Washington and his troops spent a cold winter here. They had very little food and
very little clothing.

38. Molly Pitcher
This Patriot woman was present at Valley Forge and other battles. She helped
deliver water to soldiers as well as maintain battle supplies.

39. 1778 - France joins against the British
After the victory at Saratoga France became allies with the colonists.
The French had a strong Navy.

40. December 1778 - Savannah
The British captured this city as a part of their new plan to control the south.

41. The Swamp Fox
Francis Marion was a daring militia leader from South Carolina. He became
famous for his surprise attacks against the British.
He would attack with small groups of men and disappear into the swamps and
forests.

42. Benedict Arnold
Arnold was a key commander for the Patriots throughout the war.
He was one of the main leaders at Saratoga.
In 1780 he switched over to the British side of the war.
For this act he is synonymous with the word traitor.

43. 1780 - Siege of Charleston
This Battle was at a trading port city. The British won and captured 5,000 soldiers.

44. 1781 - Yorktown
This was the final Battle of the war. With the help of the French the British are
surrounded by land and by sea.

45. 1781 - Articles of Confederation
The articles were written to give the colonies some sense of a unified government. Once the
thirteen colonies became the thirteen states, however, each one began to act alone in its own best
interest. A new governing document was needed in order for these new states to act together, to
become a nation. The Articles of Confederation became effective on March 1, 1781, after all
thirteen states had ratified them. The Articles made the states and legislature supreme. There was
no executive branch. Judicial functions were very limited.

46. 1783 - Treaty of Paris
This was signed at the end of the Revolutionary War. The United States was now
an independent nation.