First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was held from September 5th to October 26th in 1774. It was located at Carpenters' Hall within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. What triggered this meeting to be commenced is the set of rules created by the British called the Intolerable Acts that weren't very liked among the colonists. Every delegate from every colony, except Georgia because they were too busy with the current issues they have with the native Americans. The reason why the held this meeting is to discuss their relationship with Britain and their rights interfering with the British government. They had three main intentions throughout the meeting; to form a conclusion on their colonial rights, to find the violation of those rights by the British and to form a plan that'll persuade Britain into fixing those rights. In the end, they all agree to withdraw from British goods and pass their own colonial rights. They did have a backup plan though in case the British refused their requests, they would have another meeting in 1775 on May 5th. This backup plan led up to the Second Continental Congress.
Concord and LexingtonThese two battles were the first military conflicts of the American Revolution and were both battled on April 19, in 1775. Before this battle, on April 18, 1775, British troops set out to Concord in the middle of the night. King George ordered them to march to Concord because he wanted their gun warehouse to be destroyed. Luckily, the plans for the British army leaked out, causing many men on horseback like Paul Revere, to warn the townspeople of Concord and many other towns, of the British's arrival. Before arriving at Concord, the soldiers were marching through Lexington, a town near Concord. Due to the early warnings by the horseback riding colonists, there were minutemen already armed and waiting for the British soldiers to make their next move. After having a wary standoff, someone fired a bullet that became The Shot Heard Around the World. To this day, no one knows who fired the first shot. The battle ended within minutes, the seventy minutemen were no match to a army of seven hundred soldiers. In the end, the gun warehouse was destroyed and the British soldiers retreated to Boston. The actions that led up to these two battles were events like the Boston Tea Party, Stamp Act and many more acts of resistance.
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Battle at Bunker HillThe Battle at Bunker Hill happened on June 17th, 1775. It took place a few months after the American Revolution. The reason why this battle took place is the same reason for Lexington and Concord, to either take over them or to destroy them. Originally, the British wanted to capture Bunker Hill so that they will have complete control over Boston Harbor. That night on June 16th 1775, as the British soldiers slept, the colonists worked. In the morning when the soldiers woke up, they were greeted by a six foot tall dirt wall, along the hillside. The leader of the British army, General Howe, was furious with what the colonists did, so he order his ships to fire their cannons at this structure. This attempted failed, so he and his soldiers marched up this man made hill, only to be greeted by the colonist's bullets. Due to their red coats and heavy gear, the British were picked off like flies. Even when the colonists had a good start, they also had a disadvantage. At the time, they were low on supplies and ammunition so the colonist's leader for this battle, William Prescott, said these famous words before the battle, "Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." Eventually, these soldiers retreat only to be told to go back up the hill by the General himself. It was the same result as last time, until the colonists ran out of ammunition. Immediately the British broke through the dirt fortress, forcing the colonists to retreat. In the end, the British won the battle, but the result was devastating. 226 british soldiers were killed while 828 were wounded. Colonists lost less than half of the British's losses.
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Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was held on May 5th, in 1775, once again at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, this event occurred after the battles in Concord and Lexington. They held this meeting due to Britain bringing havoc and refusing a more peaceful alternative. The delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies had a heated debated. They debated whether or not to go to war with Britain or to seek peace from them. In the end the ended up not making any dangerous decisions, instead they took it slowly and carefully by creating the Continental Army. They also appointed George Washington as the army's leader. Not only they made Massachusetts' military into the Continental Army, but they also made one last plea for peace. Their last request for peace was called The Olive Branch Petition, that contained other options for peace. When King George received the petition, he refused to read it at all.
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Advantages and Disadvantages for Both Armies
American Advantages:
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British Advantages:
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Early DefeatsThere were two main defeats during the American Revolution; A town called Quebec in Canada and New York City, in the state of New York. In the start of the American Revolution in 1775, some patriots thought that the British-controlled Canada back then, should be referred as the 14th colony. So they agreed to wait for a snow storm that will be within that area so that it'll cover them as they perform this risky move. Even when the colonists attacked from both sides of the city, they still lost the battle due to the opponent's large army and backup. As for New York, it happened at the end of June, of 1776. George Washington decided to move his troops here because he anticipated that the British will arrive here to take over this city. He was right about their goal though, the British knew there were more loyalists there to help support them, they needed all the help they could get after their humiliating defeat in Boston. By late June, a large group of vessels arrived at New York Bay. Since General Howe's British soldiers were more prepared than Washington's he was able to easily force the Continental Army off of Long Island. As General Howe pushed the patriots farther away, his soldiers also captured many American soldiers and their resources. Seven months pass in this battle and the British managed to push the Continental Army across Hudson river into New Jersey Howe finally got his revenge from the Boston battle.
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Battle of TrentonThe Battle of Trenton took place on December 25th, 1776, at New Jersey. George Washington knew that he needed a victory in order to keep his army from giving up. So, on Christmas night, Washington and his men, rowed silently across the freezing Delaware River. As the sun began to rise in the morning, he and his 2,400 soldiers, were already marching towards the Hessians' camp. At the time, the Hessians celebrated the holiday the night before, so they were nice and cozy, until the patriots used the element of surprise on them. They captured more than 900 prisoners.
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Battle of Saratoga/French Involvement
Due to their losses at New Jersey and Trenton, the British needed a victory. One of the British generals, John Burgoyne, compiled a plan to push their army through New York, then conquer Hudson River valley and then proceed by cutting off New England from the 13 colonies. Burgoyne thought this risky action would be helpful to them because it'll discourage the Americans and their soon-to-be allies, they'll gain more power when the take control of the Hudson River and it'll make New England separated from the other 13 colonies. The original plan was that Burgoyne's British military would conquer from Canada, take back Fort Ticonderoga, then march south to Albany. He was able to take back Fort Ticonderoga within the beginning of July and then made his way towards Albany. As Burgoyne's men and cannons traveled through lush forests, the were greeted by many obstacles. The patriots wanted to protect their land, so they created diversions to slow down the British, like they chopped down gigantic trees, stationed American soldiers along the route and created rivers with dams in them. Eventually, Burgoyne was alone and outnumbered by these patriots when he neared Saratoga. When the fight did break out nearby Saratoga, the patriots were victorious because a general called Horatio Gates, was able to crush the British from advancing any further. October 17, 1777, is when he finally surrendered his army to another patriot General named Gates.
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Ever since their victory at Saratoga, they finally started to receive foreign help from Spain and France, even one of Britain's old allies joined the Americans, Holland. This victory allowed patriots to finally receive help from French, it made them think that colonists could win this war. A treaty of support was made and agreed with by the French in May, 1778. A french nobleman named, Marquis de Lafayette, was a tremendous help to American Revolution. Lafayette came into America in the summer of 1777. He joined the Continental Army out of free will, even without pay. Even though he wasn't even twenty, had no experiences in battles and knew very little English, he became a major general. Over many battle encounters, Lafayette became very skilled. To sugarcoat his dedication, he even donated $200,000 to help the Revolution, this also allowed France to send in more backup for the Americans. In February 1778, Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived. He had much experience from serving the military back in the country of Prussia.Congress immediately made him start training the American troops. His teaching turned the Continental Army into a war machine.
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Battle of YorktownThe Battle of Yorktown took place on September twentyeight, 1781, in Virginia. After we gained foreign help from other countries after the Battle of Saratoga, George Washington was leading a group of 17,000 Frenchmen and Americans towards Yorktown. General Lord Charles Cornwallis's 9,000 British troops were no match against the Continental Army. Coincidentally, Francois Count de Grasse and his men left from St.Domingue towards Chesapeake, where Cornwallis established his base at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Realizing this, George Washington commanded Marquis de Lafayette, plus 5,000 American soldiers, to barricade the British on both land and sea. This prevented any of the British from escaping. After completely surrounding Cornwallis and his army, a fierce battle went on throughout the day and night for three weeks straight. Eventually Cornwallis surrendered on October seventeen, 1781, finally ending the chapter for independence.
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The Treaty of ParisThe treaty of Paris was a agreement between the Britian and America that made Britian recognize America's independence and ended the revolutionary war once and for all in 1783. Originally, the Continental Congress wanted to send Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, john Jay and John Adams. Except, Thomas Jefferson didn't leave the U.S. soon enough to go to Britian for negotiatation and Henry Laurens was held captive by the British.
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