2. Battles of Lexington and Concord The Revolutionary War in
America led to the birth of a new nation. The war, also known as
the American Revolution, began on April 19, 1775 with the Battles
of Lexington and Concord.
3. Growing Tension in the Colonies For about a decade, tension
had been mounting between Great Britain and the American Colonies.
The colonists had grown used to a self-government.
4. The Stamp Act The British government began passing a series
of laws to increase its control over the colonies. These laws, such
as the Stamp Act, ordered the colonists to pay taxes without their
consent.
5. Taxation Without Representation The colonists became angry
because they had no representatives in the British government to
vote on these unfair laws.
6. The Boston Tea Party The colonists began to protest. In 1773
a group of men dressed up as Native Americans, climbed aboard tea
ships in Boston Harbor, split open hundreds of boxes and dumped
90,000 pounds of loose tea into the harbor.
7. April 19, 1775 Soon after, The American Revolution began as
open conflict between the United Thirteen Colonies and Great
Britain. The Continentals were like a small man about to do battle
with a giant. How could the colonies defeat such a large army?
8. The Continental Army When the war began, there was no
American army. Instead, the colonies had their own militias. The
militias were part-time soldiers made up of farmers and
merchants.
9. The British Army The British Army was one of the strongest
armed forces in the world. They were large and professional.
10. Motivation to Win The Continental soldiers had a special
advantage over the British. They had a stronger motivation to win.
They were defending their rights as described in the Declaration of
Independence.
11. The Battle of Yorktown In the summer of 1781, the
Continentals and their French allies trapped British supply ships
in the port of Yorktown. After a week of heavy cannon fire, the
British surrendered.
12. The Treaty of Paris In September 1783, the war finally
ended with a set of agreements called the Treaty of Paris. Britain
agreed to recognize the United States as an independent
nation.
13. Citations and Sources
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.britishbattles.com/images/
yorktown/yorktown-french.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.britishbattles.com/military-
prints/american-
revolution.htm&usg=__IaAqyKTdoXzLpmiflo1fJ5fShZI=&h=281&w=460&sz=33
&hl=en&start=5&sig2=LqfAhKHunnJGEibC5DOnrA&um=1&tbnid=5zSibqAoGF
H8IM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=128&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbattle%2Bof%2Byorktown
%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4DMUS_enUS307%26um%3D1&ei=5MwrSrCcOYn
KMq-RwNgJ Bower, Bert, and Lobdell, Jim. History Alive! Americas
Past. Teachers Curriculum Institute, 2003
http://americanhistory.about.com/od/revolutionarywar/a/amer_revolution.htm
http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/more/weisgerber.htm
http://www.42explore2.com/revolt.htm Google.com for images