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Battle of Trenton
Immediately following his famous crossing of the Delaware River, General George Washington marched the Continental Army to Trenton, New Jersey. The army's forces included horses, guns, wagons, and soldiers, stretching for nearly one mile. The weather was worse than it had been crossing the river, but the army continued to proceed as Washington rode up and down the column pressing his men to carry on. -
Creation of the Declaration of Independence
When armed conflict between bands of American colonists and British soldiers began in April 1775, the Americans were ostensibly fighting only for their rights as subjects of the British crown. By the following summer, with the Revolutionary War in full swing, the movement for independence from Britain had grown, a five-man committee including Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin was tasked with drafting a formal statement of the colonies’ intentions. . -
Battles of Lexington and Concord
In this first battle of the American Revolution, Massachusetts colonists defied British authority, outnumbered and outfought the Redcoats, and embarked on a lengthy war to earn their independence. American victory. The British marched into Lexington and Concord intending to suppress the possibility of rebellion by seizing weapons from the colonists. -
The battle of bunker hill
On June 17, 1775, New England soldiers faced the British army for the first time in a pitched battle. Popularly known as "The Battle of Bunker Hill," bloody fighting took place throughout a hilly landscape of fenced pastures that were situated across the Charles River from Boston. Some 1,000 colonial militiamen under Colonel William Prescott built earthen fortifications on top of Breed’s Hill, located on the Charlestown Peninsula overlooking Boston. -
Crossing of the Delaware River
General George Washington's commitment to cross the Delaware River on Christmas 1776 foreshadowed the many hardships faced as well as the eventual victory of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. At first glance, the decision to transport 2,400 Continental soldiers across an icy river in one night, directly into a severe winter storm of sleet and snow seems irrational. -
The Battle of Philadelphia
On September 3, 1777, British and Revolutionary forces clashed at Cooch’s Bridge in Delaware, the opening battle of what would be known as the Philadelphia Campaign. During this campaign of the American Revolutionary War, months of long marches and fierce fighting ended with Philadelphia occupied by the British and Washington’s army encamped at Valley Forge. -
The winter at valley forge.
On September 18, 1777, General Wilhelm von Knyphausen led British soldiers on a raid of Valley Forge, where American troops had built a handful of storage facilities. Defending the site were Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton and Captain Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee. -
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. American general Benedict Arnold was hailed as a hero for his bravery on the battlefield, a reputation lost with his later betrayal and defection to the Royalists. -
Thomas Paine’s writing of “The American Crisis”
Paine’s American Crisis extended no kind words to Loyalists (he used the term “Tories”). How did he criticize them? Were his criticisms fair and factual?
Paine wrote this first installment of American Crisis about a year after Common Sense. How are these two essays similar and how are they different? Are the differences best explained by changing circumstances, or did other factors prompt the differences? -
battle of yorktown
The Battle of Yorktown proved to be the decisive engagement of the American Revolution. The British surrender forecast the end of British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation—the United States of America. British troops surrendered to the Continental Army and their French allies. This last major land battle of the American Revolution led to negotiations for peace with the British and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. -
Treaty of Paris
American statesmen Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay negotiated the peace treaty with representatives of King George III of Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. Based on a 1782 preliminary treaty, the agreement recognized U.S. independence and granted the U.S. significant western territory.