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Revolutionary War Study Guide
The French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years War) was expensive. King George decided to tax the colonies.
1765 Stamp Tax taxed paper and no one liked it so it was repealed.
The colonist’s responded negatively to these taxes. They cried "No taxation without representation!"
The Boston Massacre was a riot that ended in 5 dead and Paul Revere used it to stir up bad feeling towards the British. The Boston Tea Party was where colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. In response King George closed the harbor.
Patriots wanted independence.
Loyalists or Tories were loyal to King George.
Know about these battles/events:
Colonists began talking of independence and storing up guns and ammunition in Concord, Massachusetts.
The British, also called Lobsterbacks or redcoats, marched to Lexington, fired on the colonists, then moved on to Concord where the local militia fought with them and turned them back. The minutemen (they could be ready in a minute) were ready because Paul Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott warned the people that the British were coming. This battle was where "the shot heard ‘round the world" was fired.
At Breeds and Bunker Hill the British stormed the hill, but the colonists didn’t fire until they saw the
"whites of their eyes."
During Christmas in Trenton, NJ, Washington crossed the Delaware River and captured over 900 soldiers
– Hessian mercenaries (soldiers for hire)
At Saratoga British General Burgoyne surrendered to American General Gates. This victory was used by
Ben Franklin to convince the French to join the war.
At Valley Forge no battles were fought, but colonial soldiers were trained by Von Steuben and were made
into a better army.
At Yorktown the British were trapped by Washington and the French fleet. Cornwallis surrendered and
the war was over.
Know each of these individuals:
Sam Adams and John Adams were part of the Sons of Liberty and were outspoken in favor of
independence.
Paul Revere, a patriot, engraved the Boston Massacre and rode to Lexington to warn the folks that the
British were coming along with William Dawes and Samuel Prescott (to Concord).
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
Ben Franklin, a firebrand for independence and Ambassador to French.
John Paul Jones, a first navel officer for the colonists, when almost beaten cried out "I have not yet begun
to fight!"
George Washington, a patriot and the General of the Continental Army, led us to victory over the British
Redcoats.
Benedict Arnold was a Patriot that turned Tory, sold secrets to the British, and committed treason
John Hancock, a patriot and president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign the
Declaration of Independence.
Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man to fight for independence
Mary Hayes, known as Molly Pitcher, carried water to soldiers and fought for independence
Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown.
Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson wrote the declaration beginning "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among theses are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
Freedom for all men including slaves was included in Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration, but the
southern states would not agree and so it was removed.
Signing the declaration was a dangerous thing because it was an act of treason.
The Declaration was signed on July 4th, 1776.