Transcript Chapter 1, Section 2

SPONGE
Chapter 6, Section 5
3. At which battle did General
Morgan used clever tactics to
defeat the British? (p.192)
4. What played the most
important role in the American
victory over the British?
(p.194)
Winning
the War
in the
South
Chapter 6,
Section 5
The War Moves South (1779)
• In 1778, a new British
Commander was chosen:
General Henry Clinton.
• Clinton moved the war to the
South, where the British
hoped loyalists would join
with his troops to defeat the
revolutionaries.
• Clinton’s plan worked at
first; the British captured
Charlestown and Savannah
in the South.
The War Moves South (1779)
Things looked• so
Tobleak
makethat
things
General Washington
worse,wrote
in his journal, Benedict
Arnold, the
“I have almost
best American
field general,
ceased to betrayed
hope…”
his
countrymen
and joined the
British. Arnold
conquered
Richmond and
burned it to the
ground.
British Disadvantages
• The war turned especially
cruel in the South, and
included torture, burning
farms and killing civilians.
British attacks became so
nasty that many neutral
colonists turned against
England.
• Clinton also offered
freedom to any slave that
would join the British Army,
turning Southerners against
him.
Greene and Morgan Turn the Tide
• General Cornwallis led the main
British army in the South, where
Patriot Nathaniel Greene joined
Washington in commanding the
American army.
• Greene knew the South well,
and only fought the British when
he had the better ground.
• In 1781, General Daniel Morgan
used unconventional tactics to
win the Battle of Cowpens.
The Battle of Cowpens
• Morgan hid half of his soldiers far behind the front
line. He ordered the front line to retreat after firing.
• The British thought the Americans were retreating
and charged forward – right into another American
line.
• And here’s what
it may have
looked like if
the soldiers had
light sabers.
Hit and Run
• In South Carolina, Francis
Marion, the “Swamp Fox” led a
small band that slept by day
and traveled by night.
• His soldiers used guerilla
tactics (hit and run) to harass
the British, quickly disappearing
back into the swampland.
• In fact, the primary reason for
British defeat in the South was
the superiority of Patriot
Generals.
Victory at Yorktown
• By 1781 the war had turned in
favor of the Americans.
• General Cornwallis abandoned
plans to take the Carolinas and
marched back north toward
Virginia. He then waited along
the Yorktown Peninsula for
supplies.
• At that moment, Washington
received word that the French
Navy was sailing to help the
Americans.
Victory at Yorktown (1781)
• Washington rushed his army to Yorktown and
immediately laid siege to the English, pounding them
with cannon for weeks.
• The English built defenses, waiting for their navy to
save them. Instead, At the Battle of Yorktown (the
final conflict of the revolution) the French navy trapped
the British by sea while combined American and
French armies trapped the British by land.
• Completely surrounded, Cornwallis surrendered his
entire army to Washington.
• As they surrendered, the British band played the song,
“The world turned upside down.”
PA
INF
The Treaty of Paris (1782-3)
• Congress sent John Adams, Ben Franklin and
John Jay to work out a treaty to end the war.
• Under the Treaty of Paris, the United States
expanded from the Atlantic coast to the
Mississippi River. Canada stayed inThe
British
British
diplomats
at the
hands and Florida was given to Spain.
The
treaty signing were
treaty doubled the size of the United
States!
so embarrassed
that they left before
• After 8 years the war was finally over.
the artist could
finish the painting.
Why the Americans Won
• Geography played the most important role in
the American victory. Americans were familiar
with the land and used it to their advantage
often.
• Also, the British were fighting thousands of
miles from home over a huge area of land.
• Foreign help (training, supplies, soldiers.)
• A growing patriotic spirit throughout the war.
• Improved training throughout the war from
quality leadership.
Washington’s Farewell
• In 1783, with the war officially over,
General Washington stepped down
as leader of the Continental Army.
Crowds cheered him on his journey
home from New York to Virginia.
• This “indispensable man” had held
the nation together during the war.
Little did he know he would again
have to use all his power to hold his
new country together.