The American Revolution

British victory over French in French and Indian War in 1763
1. Eliminates France as a major player in North American affairs
2. Taxation
  1. Sugar Act (1764): Taxes placed on certain goods. Indirect taxation
  2. Stamp Act (1765): Direct tax on any paper goods
  3. Issues arise, not because of the taxes high price, because they lacked representation in Parliament
  4. Townshend Act (1767)
    1. British attempt to better regulate the tax and trade industry
    2. Boston Massacre (1770)
      1. Leaves 6 dead and becomes a perfect propaganda tool against the British.
      2. Boston Tea Party (1773)
        Direct result of the Tea Act.
        First Continental Congress (1774)
        All Colonies attend to question possibile collective action
        April 1775
        Battle of Lexington: British defeat the ill prepared American militias as they search for near by weapons
        Battle of Concord: Hours after Lexington, with more militias reaching Concord, a force of American militia men made contact with a small British force searching for hidden weapons. Poor tactical mistakes by the British lead to a tactical retreat that resulted in the entire force of British regulars coming under fire and taking causalities from thousands of colonials using guerrilla warfare tactics.
        The siege of Boston Begins with nearly 15,000 colonials surrounding the city
        Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)
        The British take heavy causalities as they try to break the colonials siege of Boston
        Instils more confidence in the Colonial cause
        March 1776
        With heavy artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga, Washington's forces are now considerably stronger despite their declining numbers
        By the 17th, the British forces leave Boston and sail out of the harbor
        Invasion of Quebec
        Two separate advances on Quebec by American forces end in defeat in 1775-1776 and again later in 1776
        The attacks do serve the purpose of delaying a British attack from Canada until 1777
        4th of July
        America Declares its Independence from the King
        Battle of Long Island (August 1776)
        Also know as the Battle of Brooklyn
        Largest battle of the entire war
        Ended in a terrible defeat for Washington and his army, New York falls to the British
        Battle of Trenton
        With the continental army hovering near defeat Washington takes the offensive
        A surprise attack takes 1,000 hessian soldiers prisoner and provides a major morale boost to the weak continental army
        More poor leadership by William Howe gives the Americans another victory in the following days over a much larger force.
        Battle of Saratoga
        General John Burgoyne's plan to take Albany with a march from Canada continually runs into problems, losing men and material
        With a much weaker force then he had weeks before, Burgoyne is defeated at Saratoga. When he realizes that General Howe wont be coming to his rescue, Burgoyne surrenders to the Americans
        With proof the colonials could win, the French throw their full support into the war against the British
        Failures of General Howe
        His cautious attitude is all attributed to losses he suffered at Bunker Hill
        After failing multiple times to press his advantage and destroy Washington's army after Boston, New York and Trenton, Howe resigns his position of British Commander in Chief
        Valley Forge
        Washington's defeated army continues to suffer losses as thousands die in the freezing cold winter
        Prussian advisors help train the continental army on their tactics for 6 months
        The North(1778-1783)
        With the threat of French Warships, The British abandon Philadelphia and fortify New York
        The Continental Army suffers additional losses due to harsh conditions and boarders on munity in 1780
        For the remainder of the war the North stays very quiet
        The South (1777-1780)
        After 3 years of fighting in the North the war moved down to the South for the remainder of the war.
        1778: General Henry Clinton's army takes Savanah Georgia and repulses counter attacks from colonials
        1780: Clinton then capitalized on his victory at Savanah with his conquest of Charleston, South Carolina, taking a large portion of the Southern colonial force as prisoners
        1781
        Believing Virginia is the key to the Sothern colonies General Cornwallis was ordered to fortify a major sea port to receive reinforcements, the location he choose was Yorktown
        At the same time that Cornwallis is preparing Yorktown, Washington began moving his army south as the French moved their fleet north to Yorktown from the Caribbean
        Yorktown
        With a much larger fleet than expected, the French routed the British fleet and cut off Cornwallis at Yorktown
        Washington and the French army soon connected to surround Cornwallis with nearly 19,000 soldiers, cutting off all escape
        After just over a month of siege warfare, Cornwallis surrendered to the American and French forces.
        Post Yorktown
        Upon hearing the loss of Cornwallis and Yorktown, the British parliament vows to continue the war against the colonies
        Fighting against the French and Spanish in the West Indies and Gibraltar draws British forces. British losses cause many to question continued action in the colonies
        February 1782: Faced with growing losses in other reaches of the world, the British seek peace
        Treaty of Paris
        September 3rd, 1783: US and Britain officially sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the conflict
        November 1783: the Last British soldiers leave New York
        The siege of Boston continues
        British forces are seriously bloodied by the militias leading to many, including British General William Howe to be much more cautious in future battles. Proving to be a serious advantage for the colonials
        Helps instil confidence that the colonials can stand against Britain
    3. Taxes set to replace the stamp act which was repealed in 1766

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	Created by Andrew Dazzo about 8 years ago