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Battle of Lexington and Concord
The British were sent to seize the weapons and gunpowder that the colonists had been secretly collecting and hiding. However, Paul Revere warned the colonists that the British were coming, and many small militias grabbed their guns and prepared to fight. When the British arrived, the colonists were ready, and they successfully drove the British out. As they traveled the 16 miles back to Boston, the British were getting shot at the entire way by angry colonists: the American revolution had begun. -
Bunker Hill
Israel Putnam led a few hundred militiamen up Breed’s Hill. In four hours they had a crude fort. William Howe then ordered his newly arrived troops to launch an immediate attack. As the British drew closer, the militiamen waited until they were nearly on top of them to fire. The sudden shots made the redcoats fall back in confusion. It took until the third attack for the British to finally reach the top of the hill, but this was because the Americans had run out of gunpowder. Many British died. -
Declaration of Independence
Shortly after the British flee from Boston, the Continental Congress created a committee to write a declaration of independence. Thomas Jefferson, the youngest of the committee, was put in charge of drafting the document. Jefferson’s simple explanation argued that everyone was born equal in the eyes of god, and therefore had the same rights. He also argued that King George III was “unfit to be the ruler of a free people” because he had committed so many acts of tyranny. -
Battle of Long Island
On August 27, 1776, the Americans battled the British in Brooklyn. The Americans began fighting with high spirits, but that was soon put to a stop as the superiorly trained British killed 1,407 of them. It was then that Howe ordered a halt on the attack because he believed Washington would retreat, However Washington did not want to give up. In the end, an officer named Thomas Mifflin deemed the situation hopeless, and they retreated. -
Battle of Saratoga
When Burgoyne’s army finally reached Saratoga Springs on the Hudson River, it was packed with Militia that easily outnumbered the small British army. Even so, Burgoyne ordered an attack, and after taking quite a beating, he surrendered on October17, 1777. This gave the patriots new confidence about the war. -
Articles of Confederation
Continental Congress needed to create a document that would serve as the law of the 13 free states.They put John Dickinson to the task. He proposed a strong central government, but their experience with Britain’s central government swayed them to give the states more independence.The Articles limited the functions of the federal government and took away the power to enforce requests for troops or money. However, it took several years to get ratification because of small disputes within states.
