2. Land Transportation The American colonies in 1775 were sparsely settled and largely rural in character. Only a few centers of population were large enough to be classed as cities. On the eve of the Revolution main roads connected the principal port towns. All important places in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island were connected by stage wagons. Such conveyances provided transportation between Boston and New York as well. Indian trails across New Jersey had been improved to provide routes between Philadelphia and New York City via Burlington and Perth Amboy or by way of Bordentown and New Brunswick.
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8. Battle of Concord Forewarned by Paul Revere, American militiamen fought 800 British troops on April 19th, 1775. The battle broke out at Concord. Over 200 British soldiers were wounded and 73 killed. North Bridge
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10. The Battle of Bunker Hill On June 17, 1775 , American troops inflicting casualties on nearly half of the British troops dispatched to secure Breed's Hill (the actual site of the battle). African-American soldiers comprised approximately one-third of the rebel troops. A monument now stands to the minutemen of Boston
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13. Re-enactments 1st New Market Militia Reformed in 1972 for the US Bicentennial, the militia acts as the Foot Guard for the Governor of New Hampshire, and helps maintain Fort Constitution in New Castle, site of the colonies' first rebellion against the King of England.
16. Second battle of Trenton - 1777 On December 26th, 1777, Washington's Nearly defeated Army crossed the Delaware and surprised the British at Trenton. The main attack was made by 2,400 troops under Washington on the Hessian Garrison . Washington's troops achieved total surprise and defeated the British forces.
17. Valley Forge - 1777-1778 The site of the harsh winter camp of the Continental Army for the winter of 1777-1778, was a time of testing, formation, and training for Washington's Army. Prussian Baron Von Steuben volunteered to train General Washington’s Continental Army at Valley Forge.
18. Maj. General John “Gentleman Johnnie” Burgoyne The Battle(s) of Saratoga were considered by many historians to have been the turning point of the American Revolutionary War and one of the most decisive battles in history. The defeat and capture of a major British military force in the Saratoga campaign by American revolutionary forces resulted in securing the northern American colonies from attacks out of Canada Summer 1777
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20. Saratoga 1777 Historians consider the Battle of Saratoga to be the major turning point of the American Revolution. This battle proved to the world that the fledgling American army was an effective fighting force capable of defeating the highly trained British forces in a major confrontation. This map shows troop movements (British in red) culminating in Burgoyne’s defeat on Sept. 19, 1777. General Benedict Arnold led a charge against a British stronghold that changed the direction of battle and also caused him a serious leg injury.
23. Daniel Morgan’s riflemen The Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781, took place in the latter part of the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution and of the Revolution itself. It became known as the turning point of the war in the South, leading to Patriot victory at Yorktown. At the Cowpens General Daniel Morgan’s unusual tactics defeated a crack British regular army under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre “Bloody” Tarleton. The American long rifle was more accurate than the standard smoothbore musket. However, what the rifle gained in accuracy, it lost in the rate of fire. General Daniel Morgan
24. In a stunning reversal of fortune that signaled the end of fighting in the American colonies, Charles Lord Cornwallis signed orders surrendering his British Army to a combined French and American force outside the Virginia tobacco port of Yorktown. Yorktown - 1781 The World Turned Upside Down
25. Virginia From the Battle at Lexington in 1775 to the Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781, war raged in the American colonies. The alliance with France helped trap a major British army at Yorktown. These cannons shelled the British troops during the siege.
26. End of the Revolutionary War - 1783 When Benjamin West began painting the signing of the peace treaty (left), he started confidently with portraits (left to right) of John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and Franklin's grandson, William Temple Franklin. Unfortunately for West, the British commissioners refused to pose, and the picture was never finished. The Treaty of Paris signed on September 3, 1783, by Great Britain and the United States concluded the American Revolution. By its terms, Great Britain recognized its former 13 colonies as the free and sovereign United States of America.
27. The aftermath of the Revolution “ The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.” - Woodrow Wilson
28. Questions to consider: Was the Revolution really necessary? Did we need to go to war with Great Britain at that time, or could we have gradually gained all the freedoms we now have had we just given them time to see their error? Given that two-thirds of the colonists were tories, loyalists to the Crown, many of whom fought with the British against their countrymen, was this just a power grab by a Boston elite who simply didn’t want to be given rules to follow? Do you suppose slavery would have been abolished sooner had the British remained in control?
