a powerpoint about the American revolution. 1763

1. The American Revolution
From Colonies to Liberty

2. Tensions Build between Colonies and
Britain.
• 1763- End of French and
Indian War
• England needs $, keeps
troops in colonies, and
wants more control over
colonial governments
• 1764- Sugar Act taxes
sugar and molasses
• England harasses traders
to catch smugglers

3. “No Taxation without Representation”
• Committees of Correspondence
gather to oppose new taxes
• Traders boycott taxed goods
• Stamp Act 1765- all documents,
newspapers, pamphlets, and books
are taxed
• Sons of Liberty organize to fight the
new tax- protest, boycott, violence
• 1766 stamp act repealed
• Angered, Parliament passes
Declaratory Acts and Townshend
Acts 1767

4. Tensions Rise
• The Boston Massacre 1770
• A fight turns into an angry mob- British
soldiers fire into the crowd
• 5 people die (Crispus Attucks)
• Sam Adams uses event to ignite hatred
against British, John Adams defends the
soldiers in court
• Boston Tea Party 1773
• Sons of Liberty dump English tea into
the harbor in protest of taxes
• Intolerable Acts 1774
• Close Boston Harbor
• Cancel Colony charter governments
• Force colonists to house British soldiers

5. 1st Continental Congress
• October 1774, Colonial delegates from all colonies
(except Georgia) meet to discuss tensions
• Met at Carpenters Hall, Philadelphia
• Write “Declaration of Rights” to King George III in hopes of
peace
• Told militia’s to prepare for war if needed

6. “The Shot Heard Round the World.”
• April 18th, 1775 General Gage
sends British troops to recover
colonist weapons at Concord
• Paul Revere, Dawes, and
Prescott warn the towns “The
Redcoats are Coming!”
• April 19th minutemen are waiting
for British at Lexington
• 8 colonists killed, 10 wounded
• More colonists are waiting at
Concord- force British to retreat

7. 2nd Continental Congress
• May 1775 meet again in
Philadelphia
• Appoint George Washington
Commander of Continental Army
• Sign “Olive Branch Petition” as
one last chance for peace
• Paine’s Common Sense rallies
the people for independence.
• July 4th 1776, after much
debate the Declaration of
Independence is signed!

8. Declaration of Independence
• “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights… life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to
secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever
any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the
right of the people to abolish it…”
• These words do not include women, natives, or slaves.

9. Early Battles
• Bunker Hill, June
1775
• Colonial Army digs in
on Breed’s Hill
• Kill many redcoats
but run out of
ammo- retreat
• Moral victory
• Dorchester Heights,
March 1776
• Washington uses
cannons to force
British to retreat
from Boston

10. Comparing British Vs. Colonial Army
• English
• Strengths
• Well trained,
very disciplined
• Better equipped
• The worlds best
Navy
• Weaknesses
• Have to cross
Atlantic Ocean
• Do not know
landscape
• Hire
Mercenaries
• Colonial Army
• Strengths
• Believe in
their cause
• Eventually
receive help
from France
and Spain
• Know the
landscape
• Weaknesses
• Untrained
• Poorly
equipped
• Small navy

11. Important Battles
• New York, June 1776
• General Howe arrives with 32,000
troops
• Washington barely escapes to New
Jersey
• Trenton, December 25, 1776
• Washington and 2,400 troops
surprise and take 900 Hessians
prisoner
• January 2, 1777
• Washington sneaks behind Cornwallis
and forced British out of Princeton
• Saratoga October, 1777
• Stop British attack from Canada-
force Gen. Burgoyne to surrender

12. Tough Winter at Valley Forge
• Washington’s 12,000 men settle for the winter
• Lack food, warm shelter, basic supplies
• 2000 died
• Receive basic training from Baron Von Steuben
• Meanwhile, the British are living in luxury in Philadelphia

13. A Little Help From Our Friends
• Marquis de Lafayette
• Sails from France with his own $ and
soldiers to fight the British
• Baron Friedrich Von Steuben
• Prussian soldier; trains colonial army in
basic military commands
• Women (Molly Pitcher) and some free
Africans join the fight for independence.
• France joins the fight May 1778
• Bring troops and Navy
• Spain joins 1779

14. A Traitor and loyalists
• Benedict Arnold
• One of the Continental Armies greatest generals
• Became angry with Congress- felt disrespected
• Planned to overturn West Point to the British
• Fled to England, lived rest of life in disgrace
• Loyalists (Tories)
• Not all colonists wanted independence, many
wanted to stay British subjects

15. Later Battles
• Fighting in the South
• England has more loyalists and offers
slaves freedom if they fight the
colonists
• Colonial army loses battles in Georgia,
South Carolina
• Marion’s Brigade uses Guerilla tactics
against the British
• Yorktown 1781
• Cornwallis is surrounded by
Washington and French forces- forced
to surrender

16. The Treaty of Paris
• 1783 America, France, Spain, and
England agree to peace terms
• Britain recognizes our independence.
• We have our Liberty… Now What?