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Digital History>Teachers>Modules> The Revolutionary War
Learn About the
Revolutionary War
Fighting began on April 19,
1775 at Lexington, Massachusetts and nearby Concord. British strategy
called for crushing the rebellion in the North. Several times
the British nearly defeated the Continental Army. But victories
at Trenton and Princeton, N.J., in late 1776 and early 1777 restored
patriot hopes, and victory at Saratoga, N.Y., which halted a
British advance from Canada, led France to intervene on behalf
of the rebels.
In 1778, fighting shifted to
the South. Britain succeeded in capturing Georgia and Charleston,
S.C. and defeating an American army at Camden, S.C. But bands
of patriots harassed loyalists and disrupted supply lines, and
Britain failed to achieve control over the southern countryside
before advancing northward to Yorktown, Va. In 1781, an American
and French force defeated the British at Yorktown in the war's
last major battle.
CONSEQUENCES:
- About 7,200 Americans died
in battle during the Revolution. Another 10,000 died from disease
or exposure and about 8,500 died in British prisons.
- A quarter of the slaves in
South Carolina and Georgia escaped from bondage during the Revolution.
The Northern states outlawed slavery or adopted gradual emancipation
plans.
- The states adopted written
constitutions that guaranteed religious freedom, increased the
legislature's size and powers, made taxation more progressive,
and reformed inheritance laws.
Much more than a revolt against
British taxes and trade regulations, the American Revolution
was the first modern revolution. It marked the first time in
history that a people fought for their independence in the name
of certain universal principles such as rule of law, constitutional
rights, and popular sovereignty.
Learn more about the Revolution's causes, history, and signficance in our online textbook
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"I
hope you will not consider yourself as commander in chief of your
own house",
Lucy Knox to her husband General Henry Knox, August 23, 1777
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More documents
of the Revolutionary era
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Handouts and fact sheets:
Toward
Revolution
Impact
of the Revolution
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Recommended
lesson plan:
Declare
the Causes:The Declaration of Independence
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=282
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Quizzes:
Test your knowledge about the Revolutionary War
Quiz 1, Answers to Quiz 1
Quiz 2, Answers to Quiz 2
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Recommended books:
Ray Raphael, A People's
History of the American Revolution.
The Revolution-its origins, nature, and consequences-as
seen through the eyes of ordinary people, including 15-year-old
Joseph Plumb Martin, a soldier in George Washington's army; James
Forten, a 15-year-old African American powder handler; Sybil
Luddington, the female Paul Revere, as well as Tory loyalists,
Native Americans, and slaves.
Gordon S. Wood, The Radicalism
of the American Revolution.
Rejecting
the notion that the revolution was essentially a conservative
effort to defend American rights against British encroachments,
Wood argues that was the Revolution was truly revolutionary-transforming
a hierarchical, deferential society into one that was much more
democratic and commercial.
 Recommended
film:
 1776, a musical portraying the events surrounding
the Continental Congress and the signing of the Declaration
of Independence.
Comprehensive reviews of this movie from Rotten Tomatoes
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/movie-1000035/
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The first major film to deal
with the America Revolution, Robert Goldstein's Spirit of
'76, is a textbook example of a movie appearing at precisely
the wrong time. The film was completed in 1917, as the United
States was entering World War I as an ally of Britain. A federal
appeals court judge ruled that "the disposition and purpose
of the whole play…is to incite hatred of England and England's
soldiers." Goldstein served three years in jail for attempting
to distribute a picture "calculated to foment disloyalty
or insubordination" among American servicemen.
 Recommended
Website:
Liberty
The companion site to the PBS series Liberty! Chronicle of the Revolution
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty
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