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The Minute Men
Armed colonist prepared to warn and defend for an impending British attack. Minute men were posted all across the colonies and were prepared to warn others at a minutes notice hence the name. Paul Revere was one of these minute men and famously spotted the British at Lexington. He rode on his horse yelling "The British are coming! The British are coming!" -
The Shot Heard Around The World
British forces moved up to Concord and were confronted by colonial rebels. As arguing on both sided erupted in the confusion someone shot. This would be known as "The shot heard around the world" and would be the start of the revolutionary war. -
Battle of Lexington and Concord
British forces fought the rebels and pushed them back to Concord. At Concord more rebels amassed and soon the British were retreating. The British fled back to Boston and along the way rebels opened fire upon them as they retreated. -
Benedict Arnold meets the Green Mountain Boys
Benedict Arnold planned to take the British Fort Ticonderoga for the mass of guns and ammunition there. Benedict Arnold set of to the fort and tried to recruit men along the way. He then met the Green Mountain Boys a small group of rebels led by Ethan Allen. Benedict realized the Green Mountain Boys and him had the same plan. They decided to work together and attacked the fort at night. They ended up capturing it without any problems. -
Common Sense is released to the public
Thomas Paine released the book Common Sense to the colonies and at the time was the most sold book ever. It was a book about independence of great Britain. -
Battle of Bunker Hill
The British army was trapped in Boston and need to get out of there. They decided to attack the high ground of Bunker Hill. Colonist spies were informed of this and warned the colonial rebels. They fortified Bunker Hill and stopped the British twice before they ran out of ammunition and had to retreat. Even though technically Bunker Hill was a British victory Britain faced 1000 casualties against the colonies 400. -
Washington made Commander In Chief
The colonists needed a proper army to be able to fight against the British. The delegates of the colonies decided that George Washington should be the Commander In Chief. This was because of his earlier military training and his good leadership. -
William Howe made General
King George was astonished that the colonies at this point in time were winning. So King George fired Thomas Gage and made William Howe general. -
Britain surrenders Boston to Washington's Army
Washington's army had surrounded the British in Boston and were planning for an attack. Washington was planning on attacking them head on but a young lieutenant advised against it. So they set up artillery that they had gotten from Fort Ticonderoga on Dorchester Heights. When the morning came the British saw the guns and retreated. This would be Washington's first victory in the American Revolution. -
Rebels receive supplies from France and Spain
The British armies retaliated against the attacks of the colonists by burning down the towns of Falmouth and Norfolk. These attacks were perfect story material and countries overseas thought of Britain as jerks. French and Spain soon started sending the colonist supplies. -
The Declaration of Independence goes into effect
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, truly uniting the colonist for their independence from Britain. On July 2nd Congress unanimously voted for independence from Great Britain. Two days later it came into effect. Britain thought of this as a direct act of treason. -
Hessians arrive in America
The British hired German mercenaries to fight against rebel colonists. These men were ruthless and were paid handsomely to do as they were ordered (which consisted of burning towns and killing rebels.) -
Battle of Brooklynn Heights
Britain set up their camp at Staten Island while the colonist waited at Brooklynn heights. The British waited for a long time unsettling the colonists. When the attack came the British were fierce. 15,000 troops opened fire on the colonists. What the colonists did not realize was they were fighting a decoy. Soon the main British forces flanked them from behind. The colonist retreated and were trapped between the British and the East River. -
Washington crosses the Delaware
The British and some Hessians had set up in New Jersey and were not prepared for an attack in the winter. When Washington heard that Hessian defenses were low he planned an attack. He took 2400 men across the icy Delaware on Christmas Eve and attacked the Hessians at Trenton. The Hessian's were caught completely off guard and Washington secured a swift victory. -
The Saratoga campaign
General Howe and Burgoyne decided to split up the colonies in two. With Burgoyne in Montreal and Howe in New York, they would attack through the Hudson valley and meet in the middle. Burgoyne advanced and took Fort Ticonderoga but was stopped by resistance during the Battle of Bennington. Burgoyne tried to contact Howe for reinforcements, but Howe had abandoned the General and captured Philadelphia. Burgoyne was soon pushed back in the Battle of Bemis Heights. -
The French enter the revolutionary war.
With the Victory of Saratoga the French were confident in the colonist and declared war on Great Britain. The French would send its naval power to help the colonist and be major in its true victory against Britain. -
Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben trains Washington's army
Washington's army was at a low with the harsh winter. Starvation, disease, and some mutiny started getting worse and worse. Then Friedrich Wilhelm Von Steuben showed up out of nowhere. He was hired by Benjamin Franklin to give the colonist proper European military training. He trained them to shoot accurately and march in formation making the colonist a bigger force to be reckoned with. -
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John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones sailed to the British Isles stole a British ship off the coast of Ireland and brought it back to France. He raided towns and stole ships from Britain over and over without getting captured once. He was essentially a pirate, stealing boats and supplies from the British. These attacks made the British question if they could even win the war. -
Spain join the war
Spain even though was providing aid had officially joined the war in the fight against the British. They provided support in the Midwest and the British would have to deal with two different sides of America fighting them. -
Betrayal of Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold was in charge of Philadelphia and was partying all the time. He married a Philadelphia Elite Peggy Shippen who had partied with the British when they controlled Philadelphia. The people were mad at Arnold and said he was pro British. This angered Arnold so he asked if he could put in charge of fort West Point. He then contacted the British saying he would surrender the fort and join them. His message was soon found but Arnold had escaped to New York evading his arrest. -
The Treaty of Paris
Washington and the French attacked Virginia and British General Cornwallis was forced to surrender. This was a massive defeat for the British and soon they realized that the war was not worth it. So peace negotiations opened up in France known as the Treaty of Paris. This made Britain remove its troops, acknowledge U.S independence, and give territory up to the Mississippi river. The U.S decided to pay back Britain. The U.S had won the war and their rights.
