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Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775, the famous 'shot heard 'round the world', marked the start of the American War of Independence -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peripherally involved.This was important as it stated that there was no way America and Britain could reconcile after this -
Creation of the Declaration of Independence
By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. This is important as it shows that America was seeking its own independence from Britain -
Thomas Paine’s writing of “The American Crisis”
Paine encourages the colonists to value victory and its consequent freedom because “the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph”—“what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly,” he notes -
Crossing of the Delaware River
Washington ordered his troops to gather near McKonkey's Ferry on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. From here a contingent of boats successfully transported troops and artillery equipment over the ice-filled river to New Jersey. It was there that he secured the Continental Army's first major military victory of the war. Without the determination, resiliency, and leadership exhibited by Washington while crossing the Delaware River the victory at Trenton would not have been possible. -
Battle of Trenton
Washington led the main body of the Continental Army at Trenton. After a brief battle, two-thirds of the Hessian force were captured, with negligible losses to the Americans. The battle significantly boosted the Continental Army's waning morale, and inspired re-enlistments.The Battle of Trenton is significant because it was the first victory the colonials had for a long time. This helped Washington convince his soldiers to keep fighting when they were ready to give up and go home. -
The Battle of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia campaign was a British military campaign during the American Revolutionary War designed to gain control of Philadelphia, the Revolutionary-era capital where the Second Continental Congress convened and formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, This is important as it shows the strategy Great Britain used to try to gain access to the nations capital -
Battles of Saratoga
The Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. The American defeat of the superior British army lifted patriot morale, furthered the hope for independence, and helped to secure the foreign support needed to win the war. -
The Winter at Valley Forge
It was here, over the winter of 1777 and 1778, that 11,000 of Washington's Continental Army faced one of its most trying episodes. While rain, snow, and cold temperatures afflicted the army, the situation was made far worse by the lack of shelter, blankets, winter coats, and even shoes. Valley Forge was significant not only for the reshaping Washington's army, but for the dedication, endurance, and resilience demonstrated by the Americans in their cause for Independence -
Battle of Yorktown
Washington's forces defeated Lord Charles Cornwallis' veteran army dug in at Yorktown, Virginia. Victory at Yorktown led directly to the peace negotiations that ended the war in 1783 and gave America its independence -
Treaty of Paris
Signed on September 3, 1783, between the American colonies and Great Britain, ended the American Revolution and formally recognized the United States as an independent nation. This is important as it finally ended the American Revolution -
Paul Revere’s Ride
A 1860 poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that commemorates the actions of American patriot Paul Revere on April 18, 1775, although with significant inaccuracies. It was first published in the January 1861 issue of The Atlantic Monthly