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Desperate Days and New Hope: The Course of Revolution

(Lecture Notes from Mr. Kersey's 8th Grade U.S. History Class)

The Redcoats Arrive in Force

  • Even though the Continental Army had seen some success early on in the war, by mid-1776 the tide turned in favor of the British.
  • The Arrival of Gen. Howe's army in New York marked a turning point in the war.
  • The heavy fighting shifted to the middle states, where the Continental Army saw some seriously hard times.

New York, New Jersey, and Paine

  • Gen. Howe landed his troops on Long Island in August. Throughout the autumn of 1776, Washington fought a series of battles with Howe's army from New York into New Jersey.
  • After losing a string of battles, Washington retreated across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
  • Things were grim. By December, Washington's soldiers were sick, dirty, and hungry. Everyday, soldiers fled camp to go home.
  • To help inspire people to support the Continental Army, Thomas Paine wrote The Crisis.

New Hope

  • Washington knew it would take more than words to stay in the game. He decided to launch a surprise attack on Trenton, New Jersey.
  • On Christmas night he led his troops across the Delaware in secret. Washington took Trenton in less than an hour.
  • British General Cornwallis immediately moved to capture Washington at Trenton, but Washington out smarted the redcoats, and slipped behind British lines and attacked and took Princeton.

The Empire Strikes Back

  • After the British losses at Trenton and Princeton, they came up with a new strategy: capture Albany, New York.
  • The Continental Army suffered serious losses at Philadelphia, Brandywine, and Germantown in 1777.

Saratoga

  • The Continental Army won a major victory in October of 1777 by defeating Gen. Burgoyne at Saratoga while he was on his way to Albany.
  • Surrounded, Burgoyne surrendered his army.

Effects of Saratoga

  • The victory at Saratoga was a turning point in the war for the colonists. It had three major effects:
    • It ended the British threat to New England.
    • It boosted American morale when they desperately needed it.
    • Most importantly, it won the support of France and, later, Spain.
  • The French hated the British, but they were afraid to help the Americans unless they knew they could win. Saratoga was proof enough.
  • In February 1778, France became the first nation to sign a treaty with the United States.

Valley Forge

  • The French aid did not come soon enough to help the Continental Army in the winter of 1777-1778.
  • Washington's men set up winter camp at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where they suffered severe hardships.
  • After help from Americans and better training, the Continental Army got back on its feet and, by spring, was ready to face the British again.

The Battle of Yorktown

  • By 1781, the Patriots were still have a rough time of it. Washington was looking for a way to end the war.
  • Cornwallis moved his redcoats to Yorktown to tighten his already strong hold on the South.
  • With the help of a French naval force, who cut of the Chesapeake Bay from the British, the Continental Army was free to attack.
  • With the help of other Continental Army groups already in the area, Washington surrounded the British on the peninsula. The redcoats were trapped.
  • Washington kept Yorktown under siege for weeks.
  • Finally, in October 1781, Cornwallis surrendered.

The Treaty of Paris 1783

  • After more than two years of negotiations, the Americans and British finally signed a peace treaty.
  • The British agreed to formally recognize the United States as a country, and it defined the new nation's borders. (See page 215).
  • The war was over and Americans began moving west.