# American Revolutionary War

The original Thirteen Colonies were controlled by the British Empire
The **American Revolutionary War** was fought between Great Britain and the original Thirteen Colonies from 1775 to 1783. Most (but not all) of the fighting happened in North America. The Continental Army (the rebel army) was led by George Washington and helped by France and Spain. Together they defeated the British Army after the British moved their attention to other matters.

After the war ended, the Thirteen Colonies became independent, which meant that they were no longer owned or ruled by the British Empire. They became the first 13 states of a new country, which was called the United States.

## Background

### French and Indian War

Before the American Revolutionary War, another war had occurred, called the French and Indian War. It was part of the Seven Years' War between France and Great Britain from 1754 to 1763. Britain had lost a lot of money from the fighting, so it began taxing Americans to gain it back.

### Beginnings of the Revolution

The American Revolutionary War started after the French and Indian War. By then, there had been years of problems between the British Empire and the colonists of North America. People in the Thirteen Colonies disliked many actions of the British government, such as the Stamp Act and the Intolerable Acts. For many years, the British government decided which countries could trade with the colonies, instead of letting the colonies decide for themselves. Many of the colonists wanted free trade.

#### Stamp Act & Intolerable Acts

*Tea Sabotage in Boston Port* by Nathayel Corrier, depicting the Boston Tea Party
In 1765, the British Parliament thought that the colonists should pay some of the needed money to pay back the debt for the French and Indian War. It passed a law, the Stamp Act. This law said that colonists had to buy stamps for legal papers, newspapers, and even playing cards like other British people. The money from the stamps went to King George III.

The colonies did not follow the law and kept refusing to do what the King wanted. The Boston Tea Party and the Boston Massacre occurred, causing the colonists to be more angry about the situation. The British sent more soldiers, who were called "Redcoats" because of their red uniform, to keep control of the colonies. They sometimes had to fight the colonists.

In 1774, the British passed the Coercive Acts, which were rebelliously named the Intolerable Acts by Patriots. The laws’ goal was to punish the colonists in Boston for the Boston Tea Party.

### Loyalists vs. Patriots

Not all colonists wanted to leave the British Empire. The Loyalists, also called Tories, stayed loyal to Great Britain and King George III. They were not going to change their views. The Patriots, or Whigs, wanted American independence. Before the Revolutionary War, most people in America were Loyalists; but after it, most people were Patriots.

Many Patriots wrote letters showing how they felt. Thomas Paine wrote *Common Sense*, a famous pamphlet about independence from Britain. Other colonial leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson wrote about wanting independence.

| United States and allies | Great Britain and allies |
| --- | --- |
| George Washington | George Germain |
| Horatio Gates | Thomas Gage |
| Nathanael Greene | William Howe |
| Henry Knox | Sir Henry Clinton |
| John Sullivan | John Burgoyne |
| Benedict Arnold (1775-1780) | Charles Cornwallis |
| George Rogers Clark | Benedict Arnold (1780-1783) |
| Marquis de Lafayette | Henry Hamilton |
| Comte de Rochembeau | Banastre Tarleton |
| Bernardo de Galvez | Guy Carleton |
| Richard Montgomery | George Augustus Eliott |
| Francois Joseph de Paul Grasse | Richard Howe |
| Comte d'Estaing | Samuel Hood |
| Alexander Hamilton | Aurora LaJudice |

## Northern battles

Close-up of a musket that belonged to the personal guard of George Washington
### Massachusetts

The first battles of the American Revolutionary War were the Battles of Lexington and Concord. One of the first major battles was the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. The colonists lost this battle, and the British took control of Boston.

Soon, the Second Continental Congress sent an Olive Branch Petition to the King (which he rejected). It also named George Washington head of the army. Early in 1776, Washington's army drove the British out of Boston.

### New York & New Jersey

A few months later, the Continental Army and the British troops under William Howe fought the New York and New Jersey Campaign. During the New York battles, the British started using Hessian troops, who were from Germany and had been sent by their princes.

The colonists lost New York, and the British controlled it for the rest of the war. Nevertheless, Washington held onto most of his army. Over Christmas in 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River with his army. They defeated the Hessians at Trenton and the British at Princeton.

### Battle of Saratoga

The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 was one of the most important battles in the war. American soldiers under Horatio Gates forced a British surrender under John Burgoyne. That led to France and Spain joining the war on the side of Americans, who they thought would win. Both powerful countries fought the British around the world.

### Philadelphia

In 1777, the British attacked Philadelphia, which was the American capital city. Two battles were fought over Philadelphia: the Battle of Brandywine and the Battle of Germantown. Again, the Americans lost a major city, but Washington kept most of his army.

Around then, the Marquis de Lafayette joined the American Army from his native France. In 1778, the British left Philadelphia.

After the French joined the war on the side of the Patriots, the French Navy did most of the fighting at sea. However, the Scottish commerce raider John Paul Jones also won several naval battles for the Americans over the British. The Americans tried to capture Canada several times but failed.

### Inconclusive battles

From 1778 to 1780, there was fighting in the West. The Netherlands also attacked British colonies since the British military was busy elsewhere.

However, between 1778 and 1781, most battles between Washington and the British were inconclusive and had no major effect militarily.

## Southern battles

Revolutionary War artillery on display at Yorktown, where the British surrendered
In 1779, the main fighting shifted to Georgia and South Carolina. As the fighting spread northward, General Nathanael Greene led the rebels' campaign. He caused many people in the South to be Patriots, instead of Loyalists, and won several battles against the British.

### British surrender

In 1781, Washington and a French General led an offensive against British troops at Siege of Yorktown in Virginia. When their soldiers lost this battle, the British surrendered to the Americans. However, the British continued to fight the French and Spanish for two years and won in India, Gibraltar, and elsewhere.

## Peace treaty

The American Revolution came to an end in 1783 when a peace treaty was signed in Paris, France. At the Treaty of Paris, George III accepted the independence of the colonies and recognized the newly-created nation as the United States of America.

The treaty also gave all the land west of the Appalachians as far as the Mississippi River to the new United States. (The British had claimed they owned this land.) The land would eventually become part of the United States and lead to the creation of 35 new states. Some of them later rebelled as part of the Confederate States of America, but failed. These 35 new states, plus the original Thirteen Colonies, now make up the continental United States.

After the war ended, many Loyalists fled to Canada.

## Casualties

As is usual for 18th-century wars, casualty figures for the Revolutionary War are poorly known. (Casualties are people who are killed, wounded, missing, or captured during a war.)

Unlike American Civil War casualties, which were published in newspapers, the Revolutionary War's casualty reports are found in local town histories. Historians can only estimate how many casualties there were in the war.

## Other websites

* American Revolution, military history -Citizendium
* Rosters and Registers of the American Revolution
* Roll of New Hampshire Soldiers in the American Revolution