Overview of the American Revolutionary War

Holy smokes! Christopher Columbus, that is no way to address the King and Queen of Spain. What is wrong with you? Okay, okay, so you know how we're looking for a new trade route to India, right? Right. And the Earth is round, right? Right. So I'm thinking we can just sail the other way around the planet, right? Yeah. So I set sail, right? Mm-hmm. And I reach India, right? Right. Wrong! Wrong! I did not reach India. I did not. Alright, alright, get to the point. Did you know? There's a whole nother freaking continent out there. Okay, and you think I should care about this why? Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention there's gold everywhere! Gold? After a couple centuries of warring with the natives and each other, the European powers had claimed quite a lot of land, including this area, which both the English and the French claimed as theirs. One day, the French said, I'm going to build some forts along here. And the English were like, could you not? And the French said, sorry, but no, I could not not. And they went ahead and built their forts. So they sent an up-and-coming British lieutenant colonel by the name of George Washington with a combined force of British troops and Native Americans. After a short battle, the French commander said, all right, all right, we surrender. Okay, boys, pack it up. Their surrender... Oh, sorry, was I not meant to split his head open with a tomahawk? Don't worry, it's not like this will start a seven year long major global conflict. And what happened next was a seven year long major global conflict. Which Great Britain won. At the peace negotiations, Spain gave up Florida, while France gave up all of its territories in North America. But Britain's victory came at a cost. A 60 million pound cost. They were now broke, in a lot of debt, and had to come up with some way to repay it. So they went to the colonies and said, Okay, listen up. So a huge part of the war was spent protecting you from the French, and now we have no money because of it. So... I'm not sure what you're saying here. Okay, so we spent a lot of money protecting you from the French, right? Right. And now we're broke. That certainly is a pickle. Listen to me. We spent all of our money protecting you, and now we need money. Can you please pay us back some money? No. Okay, we're just going to go ahead and tax you. In 1764, Britain introduced the Sugar Act, forcing the colonists to import sugar and molasses exclusively from the British and to pay duties on them. Then a year later, they introduced the extremely controversial Stamp Act, and it worked a little something like this. Hello, shopkeep. Hello, Mr. Bungleberry. Here's the deed for your new shack. Stamp. That'll be three pence, please. Wait, what was that? It's the new tax. I get a stamp on any paper or documentation I make, and you have to pay for it. Would you like to see this pamphlet that explains everything? Yes, please. Okay. Stamp. Two pence, please. This is awful! You know what? Just give me a deck of cards so I can go gamble my pain away. Okay. No. Don't do it. Stamp. Obviously the colonists were like, Hey my dudes, this new tax legislation right here, this is BS. Until now they had enjoyed relative freedom to rule themselves, and now suddenly Britain was asserting its control. They were especially unhappy because they didn't have any representatives in the parliament that was levying taxes on them. So they protested, orators gave fiery speeches, British goods were boycotted, and anyone loyal to the British found themselves increasingly harassed. The whole thing actually began to take quite a toll on British business, and after just a couple years the British were forced to repeal the Stamp Act. But we still desperately need money. What should we do? We could try taxing the colonies. Great idea! Wait, didn't we literally just try that and it failed miserably? Man, look at me. I look fabulous. Have you ever seen such a handsome boy? No siree, Georgie. No way. You're the handsomest, smartest, most popular king that ever lived, and everybody likes you. You're doing such a good job. Your Majesty? Oh, you're still here. So in 1766, the British made a declaration saying, we can do what we want because we're in charge. Then they levied a whole bunch of new taxes on the Americans via import duties. Glass? There's a tax for that. Lead? There's a tax for that. Paper? Tea? Oil? There's a tax for that. And once again, the Americans boycotted British goods, British business felt the pinch, and the British had to back down. All right, this is ridiculous. They're my colonies, and I have to be able to assert my control. Repeal all the new taxes except for the one on tea. Also send 1,000 troops to Boston to take control. Oh. and make the colonists pay for them. And as British troops arrived, the tension in Boston was palpable. You could cut it with a knife, and it was all about to come to a head. On March 5th, a band of local patriots began heckling a British guard at the Customs House. More and more Americans joined in the heckling, while more British troops turned up in support of their comrade. Snowballs were thrown at the British. The snowballs turned to rocks, the rocks to oyster shells. The soldiers outnumbered, panicked. One thing leads to another, and you can see where this is going. Five civilians were killed. The Patriot press throughout the colonies declared the Boston Massacre an unwarranted crime committed against the people of Boston by the cruel British, and the anger continued to grow. A British revenue schooner that ran aground in Rhode Island was burned by the locals. When it came to light that the governor of Massachusetts supported the suppression of the colonists, his house was burned by the locals. And next, the colonists would set their sights on the remaining tax on tea. On December 16th, 1773, a band of patriots known as the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Native Americans marched down to Boston Harbor, boarded a British merchant ship loaded with tea, and in front of thousands of spectators threw nearly 10,000 pounds worth of tea overboard. The British were disgusted, and they punished Massachusetts with a vengeance. They dissolved its General Assembly, revoked their charter, and sent 3,000 more troops to occupy the city, meaning Boston and Massachusetts were now essentially under the direct rule of Great Britain. The other colonies saw what was happening and worried they might be next, so they called up Braintrust to decide what to do. 56 delegates from 12 colonies gathered and met in Philadelphia at the first Continental Congress, and the roll call read like a who's who of America's finest thinkers. I'm talking lawyers extraordinaire Johnny A and Johnny J, experienced military commander George Washington, businessman and future alcoholic beverage Samuel Adams, fiery orator Paddy H, guy who married a rich lady, Big Jay Dickinson. And while they weren't present at the first Congress, soon names like James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and much later Alexander Hamilton would all serve time in the Continental Congress. The question now though was what to do about the British. After much bitter debate and disagreement, they eventually agreed on an amazing solution. They would simply ask the British to stop. Can you stop? No. It didn't work. Okay. Then tell the local militias to start arming and be ready at a minute's notice. And across the colonies, these Minutemen stood ready for the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Now having your colonies in open rebellion is one thing. Once they start arming themselves, that's when it really hits the fan. So British General Thomas Gage ordered 700 troops from Boston out into the rebel-controlled Massachusetts countryside to destroy stores of arms and ammunition held by the rebels in Concord. The British set out in the middle of the night. Patriots including Paul Revere rode ahead to warn that the British were coming, giving the rebels time to be ready. prepare. The two sides met in Lexington as the sun began to rise. They faced off against each other, and in the confusion, somebody shot first. The shot heard around the world marked the beginning of the American War of Independence. The rebels were outnumbered and had to fall back to Concord, as the British split up to search for rebel supplies. However, more and more patriot rebels kept showing up. And this time it was the British who were outnumbered as more fighting kicked off in Concord. The most professional army in the world was forced to flee back to Boston at the hands of local, poorly trained militiamen. And all along the British were back to Boston, Patriot rebels continued to gather and open fire on the retreating British. When the British reached Boston, the rebel militias surrounded them. Boston and the British were now under siege as small landed naval skirmishes continued around the city. And the British would suffer another embarrassing blow, this time in off-state New York. Colonel Benedict Arnold concocted a plan to take the British stronghold Fort Ticonderoga, which held a large amount of guns and ammunition. He set off towards the fort alone, hoping to recruit men along the way, when he came across the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen, who, as it turned out, had the exact same plan he did. So they decided to work together. But I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. This went on for some time, until the Green Mountain Boys threatened to go home, and Arnold had to concede. The group raided the fort at night while the Redcoats were asleep. And they caught them completely by surprise, taking the fort and all of its munitions with almost no resistance. Wow, great job Ethan! Very impressive! By the way, what happened to that other guy we sent to take the fort? Who? Benedict Arnold. Never heard of him. Ouch. What. The. Fu-Nobody knew what was going on. The colonies were in open rebellion, and for now, they even seem to be winning. So King George fired General Gage, replaced him with General William Howe, and ordered their rebellion to be put down immediately. Okay, the British are definitely going to retaliate for all of this, so we should probably put together a proper army. First, we need to pick a commander-in-chief, and I think we can all agree that that job should go to the man, the myth, the legend, George Washington. My friends, I am humbled and honored that you would consider me for such an important role. I did not expect for this-Alright, you've been showing up in a military uniform every day for the last ten months. We all know you wanted this, so cut the crap, George. Dude, uncool. So Washington began his journey up to Boston to take command of the newly established Continental Army, just as the British made their first major attempt to break the siege. They made plans to take the high ground on Bunker Hill, but spies warned the Continentals of the British plans, so they fortified Bunker Hill and set up defensive positions on nearby Breed's Hill. The day of the battle came, and as the British advanced, a barrage of Continental gunfire was opened up on them. Twice they tried to climb the hill, twice they were pushed back. The battle lasted three hours until the Continentals finally ran out of ammunition and had to retreat, allowing the British to take the hill. While technically a British victory, they suffered nearly 1,000 casualties to the Continentals'400. The colonists showed the British that this wasn't just a rebellion, it was war, and they were ready for it. But one thing they weren't sure about was why they were fighting. While some radicals were starting to throw around the I-word, most hoped to eventually repair their relationship with Great Britain. So they sent a letter to King George saying, Hey man, looks like things aren't going your way. Remove the taxes and let's be friends. I'm gonna kick your... Send that to the colonies. Your majesty, your handwriting is terrible. Are you sure? Just do it. What does it say? He's gonna... Gross. So for the remainder of the year, small engagements continued to occur around the colonies. The British burned down the towns of Falmouth, Massachusetts and Norfolk, Virginia as revenge for earlier anti-British incidents. These actions played right into the hands of Patriot propaganda. Overseas, the British were seen as brutes, and the French and Spanish would soon begin sending supplies to the rebel cause. During this time, there was also minor fighting going on between Patriot and Loyalist militias in the southern colonies. Benedict Arnold was still on a mission to win some personal glory for himself, so he headed up an attempt to invade Canada in a two-pronged attack. The Continentals managed to capture some British forts and the city of Montreal, but a harsh snowstorm with some smallpox on the side saw them defeated and pushed back at Quebec City, and they were forced to retreat all the way to Fort Ticonderoga. Speaking of which, remember all those guns and ammunition? Well, this guy's got a plan for what to do with them. He used his oxen to drag 120,000 pounds of artillery for two months through the harsh winter, 300 miles all the way to Washington and his Continental army surrounding Boston. Boom. Washington's got himself some big guns. Which is fortunate, because up until now his army had been suffering through the cold winter, not knowing when the siege would end. Now, they could make a move. Washington wanted to launch a full assault on the city, but his junior officers felt the British were too fortified, and to his credit, Washington was great at hearing and taking on board the ideas of others. Instead, the Continentals worked through the night, setting the guns up on Dorchester Heights, overlooking the city, and when dawn broke, and the British saw the guns, they knew they were toast. Their positions were completely exposed. It was checkmate. They had no choice but to abandon the city. 120 ships carried 9,000 redcoats and 2,000 loyalists away to an unknown fate, and Washington had his first victory of the war. Washington then moved his army to New York, knowing that when the British returned, they would probably land there. In the meantime, a friendly-looking old man by the name of Thomas Paine had written and published a pamphlet called Common Sense, in which he advocated for total independence from Great Britain. Britain. It spread across the colonies like wildfire and to this day remains the best-selling title in America. It was read aloud in taverns and meeting halls and brought the idea of independence into the mainstream. Congress began to seriously consider the idea. Thomas Jefferson was selected to write up an official declaration of independence and he went hard writing that all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On the 2nd of July, Congress voted unanimously in favor of independence and John Adams declared that the 2nd of July would go down as the most remembered day in American history. Then a couple days later, independence actually came into effect. The United States of America was born. There was no turning back now. The Americans tore down a statue of King George in New York and melted him down into 42,000 musket balls. To the British, it was treason. And if the King had his way, Washington and all of Congress would be hung. Speaking of the British, guess who's back? The King sent an intimidating force of 130 warships and 25,000 men to New York. Washington knew that taking on the most powerful military in the world wouldn't be easy. The British set up camp on Staten Island. as the Americans dug into defensive positions around Brooklyn Heights, waiting for an attack to come. But the British just waited, wearing down their opponent's nerve while building their own strength. At one point, they launched a big scary artillery barrage, and then said, You know, if I was you right now, I'd probably sue for peace. But Washington told them to shove it. The Americans kept holding out for what was coming, and when they finally hit, they hit hard. 15,000 British troops approached the American position, and the two sides fired on each other in massive rows. But what the Americans didn't realize was they were only fighting a decoy. The main British force was going around to flank the Americans from behind, and when they arrived, they inflicted heavy casualties. The Americans panicked and retreated back to Brooklyn Heights, where they then found themselves trapped between the British army and the river. It looked as though the war was already lost, but luckily, instead of attacking, the British decided to dig in for a siege, and then a thick fog set in, allowing Washington's army to escape across the river unimpeded. The British continued to chase and engage the Americans out Manhattan, and the Americans suffered defeat after defeat after defeat. It was a disaster. Washington's leadership was called into question, as thousands of American POWs were left to rot as traitors. Washington's army fled through New Jersey all the way down to Pennsylvania. Rarely had an army been so badly beaten, yet survived to fight another day. Washington's butt was sufficiently kicked. Winter was here. His troops'morale was low, some just up and left. Washington needed to do something, anything to restore faith in the revolution. The British had spread throughout New Jersey and settled in for a winter of drinking cider and partying hard. Nobody expected an attack in the winter, so Washington started making plans for an attack in the winter. The British had hired a large force of Hessian mercenaries from the German states of Hesse Castle and Hesse Hanau to fight the rebels. It was these mercenaries that were stationed across the Delaware River from Washington and his army. And there were more Hessian reinforcements incoming, but they made an unscheduled stop because their commander got thirsty. No, not that kind of thirsty. That kind of thirsty. It was Christmas Eve with a blizzard outside when Washington heard the Hessian defenses were down, and he decided to attack. He made a perilous crossing of the icy Delaware River with 2,400 men and marched nine miles to Trenton where he caught the Hessian forces completely off guard. After a short but fierce battle, the Hessians surrendered in droves. It was a much-needed victory that sent a clear message, not only to the British, but to Americans across the colonies. The war? was far from lost. General Cornwallis led the British forces south to counterattack the Americans, but in a series of battles Washington's defensive positioning and flanking maneuvers defeated the British three times in 10 days, and the British decided to abandon southern New Jersey for the rest of the winter. Washington finally set up a winter camp in Morristown, but for the Americans there was much less partying than the British. Elsewhere, the British had taken Newport, Rhode Island, because it was a good naval base. In the South, they failed to take Charleston, South Carolina, which left British loyalists unsupported and vulnerable to more harassment and even mass expulsion. Congress sent Benjamin Franklin to France on a mission to convince them to join the war. And while the French generally loved any opportunity to hoodwink the Brits, they didn't want to join unless it was a sure win. So for now, Franklin spent his days chilling out and chasing tail. The British Parliament couldn't believe the war wasn't over yet, and the pressure was on to end it. So the British came up with a plan. General Burgoyne in Montreal and General William Howe in New York would advance through the Hudson Valley and meet in the middle, splitting the colonies in two, and thus screwing over the American communication lines. Burgoyne began his movement south, and after taking Fort Ticonderoga quite easily, he then came across heavy American resistance, so he sent Howe a dingle dongle, asking if he'd be showing up any time soon. Meanwhile, Howe had completely abandoned the plan and gone for all-out personal glory by capturing the American capital, Philadelphia. He defeated Washington and his army at Brandywine Creek by using the old hit-em-with-a-decoy-and-flank-em-from-behind tactic. and Philadelphia was now in British hands, forcing Congress to escape to York. But Burgoyne was left on his own to face the ever-increasing American force in Saratoga. American General Horatio Gates teamed up with our old friend Benedict Arnold to deal one final blow to Burgoyne's army. Arnold wanted to take the fight to the British, but Gates wanted to wait for the British to come to them. After a heated debate, Gates, the senior officer, told Arnold to go to his room. But Arnold defied his orders, and at the Battle of Bemis Heights, he charged at the British and obliterated them. Great job, Horatio. By the way, what happened to that other guy who was in Saratoga? Who? Benedict Arnold. Never heard of him. Ouch. Hey, George, didn't I do a great job taking Philadelphia and all? Hmm? Didn't I? You're fired. Both Burgoyne and Howe returned to Great Britain, leaving British General Henry Clinton to take charge of the war. And the war was about to take a nasty turn, because with the victory at Saratoga, the French were finally ready to join the Americans. All right, Benny, we're in. Hey, isn't this kind of funny? You know, because you're a republic trying to overthrow an absolute monarchy, and I'm an absolute monarchy helping you? Like... Like, could you imagine if your revolution inspired my people to revolt against me, and then they imprisoned me and all my family, and they chopped all of our heads off? Could you imagine? That's called foreshadowing. For now in America, winter was here once again, which meant yet more disease, more starvation, and even a little mutiny. After losing Philadelphia, Washington's job was again on the line. But suddenly, a Persian guy with a very fancy name, hired by Benjamin Franklin, showed up out of nowhere and said, Hey, I'm here to give your men a European military training. And train them he did. They learned how to shoot accurately, how to march in formation, where to poop and where not to, and strict punishments were handed out to any who didn't comply. Washington's army came out of the winter in 1778 a new and improved force, ready to take Philadelphia back from the British. In the end, though, they didn't have to. With the French entry into the war, the British ordered General Clinton to evacuate Philadelphia and consolidate all of the British forces in New York. So Washington sent Benedict Arnold to reoccupy and secure the city, as he pursued the British through New Jersey on land, eventually finding a good opportunity to attack at Monmouth Courthouse. The battle took place on a sweltering hot summer's day, and as many soldiers died from heatstroke as they did from battle. In the end, after some incompetence-slash-borderline treason from Washington's second-in-command, it was a draw, and in this war, a draw is kind of a victory for the Americans. Next up. Let's talk about this guy. This is John Paul Jones. John Paul Jones is handsome, Scottish, and absolutely insane. When the war first broke out, everyone was like, How did the colonies expect to stand up to the might of the British Navy with their meager fleet of converted merchantmen? Yeah, try telling that to John Paul Jones. This guy sailed to the British Isles, somehow captured a British ship off the coast of Ireland, and brought it back to France. Then he returned, attacking more ships, raiding towns, and evading capture the entire time. These are basically pirate tactics, but hey, if it works, it works. In one incident, he captured a British ship and returned to a Dutch port without an official ensign because his was lost during the battle. That's a big no-no and can have you arrested as a pirate. The Dutch helped him out by quickly creating a design based on Benjamin Franklin's description of what the American flag should look like, and they entered it into their records as an official US flag. What they came up with looks pretty cool. The whole campaign probably played heavily on British morale and brought into question their ability to win the war. And fun fact, he was so cool that one of the towns he raided in 1778 gave him an official honorary pardon in 1999. Keep ripping in heaven, John Paul Jones. You're an angel now. What the Continental Navy was lacking in resources though, the French entry into the war made up for. The French began with naval skirmishes in the English Channel, and they sent a large fleet to America, although it sustained a lot of damage in a storm off Rhode Island. The Americans were hoping for a bigger commitment from the French. So John Adams went to France to help Benjamin Franklin continue negotiations. Oh good, you're finally here. Check this out. Hey ladies. Isn't this great? Is this? Is this what you've been doing? Yeah, why? We were sent here on a diplomatic mission to secure military support from France, not to philander with the locals. Wait, no, ladies, come back. Worst wingman ever. But the Americans would get some more help. The Dutch provided aid, although they never formed an official alliance. More significantly, though, the Spanish, who had already been providing aid, officially joined the war in June 1779. They would provide support in the Midwest and the Gulf Coast, campaigns that heavily impacted the Native American tribes in those areas. Both sides actually enlisted the help of Native American tribes throughout the war, sometimes even pitting those tribes against each other. In the summer of 1779, after a series of raids against the Americans by the Iroquois, Washington organized an expedition that burned down more than 40 villages, forcing the tribes to relocate to Canada for British protection. And another group that shouldn't go unmentioned were African Americans, both free and enslaved. They joined both sides of the war, hoping to gain their freedom. But afterwards, many were simply returned. to slavery. However, even those that left with the British after the war suffered mistreatment and discrimination in their new lives outside of America. Our good friend Benedict Arnold is now in charge of Philadelphia, having a good time, partying down with and even marrying a member of the Philadelphia elite, the same elite that had partied down with the British when they controlled the city. And suddenly, the people of Philadelphia, including the state governor, started accusing Arnold of having pro-British sentiments. To keep the people happy, Washington wrote a letter rebuking Arnold. calling his conduct imprudent and improper, and that was too many ouchies for Benedict Arnold to handle. He asked Washington to put him in charge of the fort at West Point. Then he contacted the British, offering to hand the plans of the fort over to them and join their side. Our good friend Benedict Arnold is our good friend no more. Luckily, the treasonous plans were discovered on a captured British officer, but Arnold managed to escape before he was arrested. As a British brigadier general, he would go on to lead raids against American cities, most notably his raid of Richmond, Virginia in 1781. His betrayal shook George Washington. who had once again set up camp at Morristown. His leadership somehow held the Continental Army together through the harshest winter of the war. We're entering 1780, and Parliament was hopping mad that the war still wasn't over. The British debt was soaring, and despite taking parts of Massachusetts in late 1779, the North was in a stalemate. So the British decided to make a major shift in strategy to the South, an economically rich area with a higher level of support for the British. Or so the British thought. A year earlier, they had captured the under-defended city of Savannah, Georgia easily, and a joint American-French counter-siege failed. Now, they laid siege to Charleston, South Carolina. It fell within months, with thousands of American troops surrendering to the British. A costly defeat. The British quickly moved to take control, and they sent stereotypical Hollywood villain with a British accent, Bannister the Butcher Tarleton, into the backcountry, where he hunted down rebels and destroyed them with ruthless brutality. The British presence also inspired local loyalist militias in the backcountry to rise up against their persecutors. The British really seemed to be onto something with their new strategy, and the ball was very much in Washington's court. I'm going to send my most loyal general. Nathaniel Green to the south to stop the British. Gonna have to overrule you there, George. We're sending Hero of Saratoga and your biggest rival, Horatio Gates. Watch this, George. I'm gonna save the day again. Everybody will love me, and I'm gonna get your job. Here I go! And he got into one battle with Cornwallis, got annihilated, and ran away. Alrighty, let's go with your guy. Nathaniel Green knew the British outnumbered his own forces and wouldn't be defeated with conventional tactics, so he had to think outside the box. He split his army into two, said, Hey, big boy, look at me, and then they went running in two different directions. Cornwallis sent Tarleton after Morgan, and he caught up with him at Cowpens, where Morgan proceeded to kick Tarleton's butt. Then the two led Cornwallis on a wild chase through North Carolina, his bigger and better equipped army much heavier and slower than Green's quick and mobile troops. Green led Cornwallis further and further from his supply line, then crossed the Dan River into Virginia, picked up some reinforcements, and turned back to face the now exhausted British. At the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, the two sides engaged in vicious close combat. Cornwallis, fearing loss, fired his big guns into the chaotic fighting, cutting down many of his own men. Greene retreated, giving Cornwallis the victory, but Cornwallis lost a quarter of his men in the fighting, so it felt much more like a British defeat. At this point, both sides desperately needed something to happen soon to end the fighting. The British were running out of money, while the Americans were again facing mutinies as the men went without pay, or even basic living needs. Fortunately, the French were now showing up in greater numbers, and were ready to fight. After his encounter with Greene, Cornwallis decided the only way to win the South was to first prevent the Southern Continental Army from using Virginia as a supply base So he abandoned the Carolinas moving to Wilmington and on to Yorktown a position the British believed would be easy to supply and support On his March to Yorktown he rated many farms stealing horses and supplies from the locals But also freeing thousands of slaves many of whom joined him the French saw Cornwallis his new position as an opportunity to land a decisive Blow on the British Washington wanted to attack Clinton in New York, but the French said it was a really dumb idea and to be fair, it was. Instead, Washington sent out fake dispatches to make it look like they would attack Clinton, but secretly their combined force marched all the way down to Virginia. A large French fleet under the command of Comte de Grasse arrived and successfully cleared the British Navy out of the Chesapeake Bay. The combined land and naval forces then laid siege to Cornwallis'army in Yorktown. The American and French forces tightened in around the city, raining artillery down on Cornwallis, who desperately appealed to Clinton for aid, but Clinton was unusually- He chilled out about the whole thing. Cornwallis held out for nearly a month before he had no choice but to surrender. Over 7,000 British troops were captured, a crushing defeat. And with that, Parliament had reached the end of its rope. The war just wasn't worth it, and it needed to end now. The British still held New York, Charleston, and Savannah. but fighting between the two sides mostly ceased as peace negotiations opened up in Paris. The resulting treaty in 1783 saw Great Britain remove its troops from American soil, recognize US independence, and cede territory up to the Mississippi River. In return, the Americans agreed to pay any debts to load to Britain, and gave fair treatment to any colonists who had remained loyal to the crown. The Spanish got Florida, while the French got an economic crisis that led to its own revolution a decade later. Washington retired to his home in Mount Vernon, wishing his men farewell by saying, I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable. He hoped to live out the rest of his days in peace. But unfortunately for him, a number of people wanted him to be the first leader of the new country. And by a number of people, I mean literally everyone. The first election campaign in American history was basically a grassroots effort to convince Washington to accept the office. He was sworn in on April 30th, 1789, and he himself established many of the standards and limitations of what the American leader should be. First of all, there was debate on what he should be called. Is he a king? Is he our glorious leader? In the end, they went for a word that at the time, was pretty modest. President, like the president of your local bowling club or office bake sale committee. He set up a cabinet of expert advisors knowing that no president could know everything, no matter how much of a stable genius they claimed to be. He proposed major legislation to Congress and gave an annual State of the Union address to keep his own power in check. He stated that the U.S. should remain neutral in foreign conflicts. And in the end, he voluntarily gave up his power after just two terms. He could have made the presidency anything he wanted, but his careful and cautious actions helped set the precedent. of an office that is powerful in its limitations, decisive through its diplomacy, and respected in its humility. And so the United States was born, and everything was perfect. It had no problems, not a single one. Certainly nothing that would, I don't know, cause such an extreme divide that it would lead to a civil war.

Holy smokes! Christopher Columbus, that is no way to address the King and Queen of Spain. What is wrong with you?

Okay, okay, so you know how we're looking for a new trade route to India, right? Right. And the Earth is round, right?

Right. So I'm thinking we can just sail the other way around the planet, right? Yeah.

So I set sail, right? Mm-hmm. And I reach India, right? Right.

Wrong! Wrong! I did not reach India. I did not.

Alright, alright, get to the point. Did you know? There's a whole nother freaking continent out there.

Okay, and you think I should care about this why? Oh, I'm sorry, did I forget to mention there's gold everywhere! Gold? After a couple centuries of warring with the natives and each other, the European powers had claimed quite a lot of land, including this area, which both the English and the French claimed as theirs.

One day, the French said, I'm going to build some forts along here. And the English were like, could you not? And the French said, sorry, but no, I could not not.

And they went ahead and built their forts. So they sent an up-and-coming British lieutenant colonel by the name of George Washington with a combined force of British troops and Native Americans. After a short battle, the French commander said, all right, all right, we surrender. Okay, boys, pack it up. Their surrender...

Oh, sorry, was I not meant to split his head open with a tomahawk? Don't worry, it's not like this will start a seven year long major global conflict. And what happened next was a seven year long major global conflict.

Which Great Britain won. At the peace negotiations, Spain gave up Florida, while France gave up all of its territories in North America. But Britain's victory came at a cost.

A 60 million pound cost. They were now broke, in a lot of debt, and had to come up with some way to repay it. So they went to the colonies and said, Okay, listen up.

So a huge part of the war was spent protecting you from the French, and now we have no money because of it. So... I'm not sure what you're saying here.

Okay, so we spent a lot of money protecting you from the French, right? Right. And now we're broke.

That certainly is a pickle. Listen to me. We spent all of our money protecting you, and now we need money.

Can you please pay us back some money? No. Okay, we're just going to go ahead and tax you. In 1764, Britain introduced the Sugar Act, forcing the colonists to import sugar and molasses exclusively from the British and to pay duties on them. Then a year later, they introduced the extremely controversial Stamp Act, and it worked a little something like this.

Hello, shopkeep. Hello, Mr. Bungleberry. Here's the deed for your new shack.

Stamp. That'll be three pence, please. Wait, what was that? It's the new tax.

I get a stamp on any paper or documentation I make, and you have to pay for it. Would you like to see this pamphlet that explains everything? Yes, please. Okay. Stamp.

Two pence, please. This is awful! You know what? Just give me a deck of cards so I can go gamble my pain away.

Okay. No. Don't do it.

Stamp. Obviously the colonists were like, Hey my dudes, this new tax legislation right here, this is BS. Until now they had enjoyed relative freedom to rule themselves, and now suddenly Britain was asserting its control.

They were especially unhappy because they didn't have any representatives in the parliament that was levying taxes on them. So they protested, orators gave fiery speeches, British goods were boycotted, and anyone loyal to the British found themselves increasingly harassed. The whole thing actually began to take quite a toll on British business, and after just a couple years the British were forced to repeal the Stamp Act. But we still desperately need money.

What should we do? We could try taxing the colonies. Great idea!

Wait, didn't we literally just try that and it failed miserably? Man, look at me. I look fabulous.

Have you ever seen such a handsome boy? No siree, Georgie. No way. You're the handsomest, smartest, most popular king that ever lived, and everybody likes you. You're doing such a good job.

Your Majesty? Oh, you're still here. So in 1766, the British made a declaration saying, we can do what we want because we're in charge.

Then they levied a whole bunch of new taxes on the Americans via import duties. Glass? There's a tax for that.

Lead? There's a tax for that. Paper? Tea? Oil?

There's a tax for that. And once again, the Americans boycotted British goods, British business felt the pinch, and the British had to back down. All right, this is ridiculous.

They're my colonies, and I have to be able to assert my control. Repeal all the new taxes except for the one on tea. Also send 1,000 troops to Boston to take control.

Oh. and make the colonists pay for them. And as British troops arrived, the tension in Boston was palpable.

You could cut it with a knife, and it was all about to come to a head. On March 5th, a band of local patriots began heckling a British guard at the Customs House. More and more Americans joined in the heckling, while more British troops turned up in support of their comrade. Snowballs were thrown at the British. The snowballs turned to rocks, the rocks to oyster shells.

The soldiers outnumbered, panicked. One thing leads to another, and you can see where this is going. Five civilians were killed.

The Patriot press throughout the colonies declared the Boston Massacre an unwarranted crime committed against the people of Boston by the cruel British, and the anger continued to grow. A British revenue schooner that ran aground in Rhode Island was burned by the locals. When it came to light that the governor of Massachusetts supported the suppression of the colonists, his house was burned by the locals. And next, the colonists would set their sights on the remaining tax on tea. On December 16th, 1773, a band of patriots known as the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Native Americans marched down to Boston Harbor, boarded a British merchant ship loaded with tea, and in front of thousands of spectators threw nearly 10,000 pounds worth of tea overboard.

The British were disgusted, and they punished Massachusetts with a vengeance. They dissolved its General Assembly, revoked their charter, and sent 3,000 more troops to occupy the city, meaning Boston and Massachusetts were now essentially under the direct rule of Great Britain. The other colonies saw what was happening and worried they might be next, so they called up Braintrust to decide what to do. 56 delegates from 12 colonies gathered and met in Philadelphia at the first Continental Congress, and the roll call read like a who's who of America's finest thinkers. I'm talking lawyers extraordinaire Johnny A and Johnny J, experienced military commander George Washington, businessman and future alcoholic beverage Samuel Adams, fiery orator Paddy H, guy who married a rich lady, Big Jay Dickinson.

And while they weren't present at the first Congress, soon names like James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and much later Alexander Hamilton would all serve time in the Continental Congress. The question now though was what to do about the British. After much bitter debate and disagreement, they eventually agreed on an amazing solution. They would simply ask the British to stop.

Can you stop? No. It didn't work. Okay.

Then tell the local militias to start arming and be ready at a minute's notice. And across the colonies, these Minutemen stood ready for the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. Now having your colonies in open rebellion is one thing. Once they start arming themselves, that's when it really hits the fan. So British General Thomas Gage ordered 700 troops from Boston out into the rebel-controlled Massachusetts countryside to destroy stores of arms and ammunition held by the rebels in Concord.

The British set out in the middle of the night. Patriots including Paul Revere rode ahead to warn that the British were coming, giving the rebels time to be ready. prepare. The two sides met in Lexington as the sun began to rise.

They faced off against each other, and in the confusion, somebody shot first. The shot heard around the world marked the beginning of the American War of Independence. The rebels were outnumbered and had to fall back to Concord, as the British split up to search for rebel supplies. However, more and more patriot rebels kept showing up. And this time it was the British who were outnumbered as more fighting kicked off in Concord.

The most professional army in the world was forced to flee back to Boston at the hands of local, poorly trained militiamen. And all along the British were back to Boston, Patriot rebels continued to gather and open fire on the retreating British. When the British reached Boston, the rebel militias surrounded them. Boston and the British were now under siege as small landed naval skirmishes continued around the city. And the British would suffer another embarrassing blow, this time in off-state New York.

Colonel Benedict Arnold concocted a plan to take the British stronghold Fort Ticonderoga, which held a large amount of guns and ammunition. He set off towards the fort alone, hoping to recruit men along the way, when he came across the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen, who, as it turned out, had the exact same plan he did. So they decided to work together.

But I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge.

No, I'm in charge. No, I'm in charge. This went on for some time, until the Green Mountain Boys threatened to go home, and Arnold had to concede. The group raided the fort at night while the Redcoats were asleep. And they caught them completely by surprise, taking the fort and all of its munitions with almost no resistance.

Wow, great job Ethan! Very impressive! By the way, what happened to that other guy we sent to take the fort? Who? Benedict Arnold.

Never heard of him. Ouch. What. The.

Fu-Nobody knew what was going on. The colonies were in open rebellion, and for now, they even seem to be winning. So King George fired General Gage, replaced him with General William Howe, and ordered their rebellion to be put down immediately.

Okay, the British are definitely going to retaliate for all of this, so we should probably put together a proper army. First, we need to pick a commander-in-chief, and I think we can all agree that that job should go to the man, the myth, the legend, George Washington. My friends, I am humbled and honored that you would consider me for such an important role.

I did not expect for this-Alright, you've been showing up in a military uniform every day for the last ten months. We all know you wanted this, so cut the crap, George. Dude, uncool. So Washington began his journey up to Boston to take command of the newly established Continental Army, just as the British made their first major attempt to break the siege. They made plans to take the high ground on Bunker Hill, but spies warned the Continentals of the British plans, so they fortified Bunker Hill and set up defensive positions on nearby Breed's Hill.

The day of the battle came, and as the British advanced, a barrage of Continental gunfire was opened up on them. Twice they tried to climb the hill, twice they were pushed back. The battle lasted three hours until the Continentals finally ran out of ammunition and had to retreat, allowing the British to take the hill. While technically a British victory, they suffered nearly 1,000 casualties to the Continentals'400. The colonists showed the British that this wasn't just a rebellion, it was war, and they were ready for it.

But one thing they weren't sure about was why they were fighting. While some radicals were starting to throw around the I-word, most hoped to eventually repair their relationship with Great Britain. So they sent a letter to King George saying, Hey man, looks like things aren't going your way. Remove the taxes and let's be friends. I'm gonna kick your...

Send that to the colonies. Your majesty, your handwriting is terrible. Are you sure?

Just do it. What does it say? He's gonna... Gross.

So for the remainder of the year, small engagements continued to occur around the colonies. The British burned down the towns of Falmouth, Massachusetts and Norfolk, Virginia as revenge for earlier anti-British incidents. These actions played right into the hands of Patriot propaganda. Overseas, the British were seen as brutes, and the French and Spanish would soon begin sending supplies to the rebel cause.

During this time, there was also minor fighting going on between Patriot and Loyalist militias in the southern colonies. Benedict Arnold was still on a mission to win some personal glory for himself, so he headed up an attempt to invade Canada in a two-pronged attack. The Continentals managed to capture some British forts and the city of Montreal, but a harsh snowstorm with some smallpox on the side saw them defeated and pushed back at Quebec City, and they were forced to retreat all the way to Fort Ticonderoga.

Speaking of which, remember all those guns and ammunition? Well, this guy's got a plan for what to do with them. He used his oxen to drag 120,000 pounds of artillery for two months through the harsh winter, 300 miles all the way to Washington and his Continental army surrounding Boston.

Boom. Washington's got himself some big guns. Which is fortunate, because up until now his army had been suffering through the cold winter, not knowing when the siege would end.

Now, they could make a move. Washington wanted to launch a full assault on the city, but his junior officers felt the British were too fortified, and to his credit, Washington was great at hearing and taking on board the ideas of others. Instead, the Continentals worked through the night, setting the guns up on Dorchester Heights, overlooking the city, and when dawn broke, and the British saw the guns, they knew they were toast.

Their positions were completely exposed. It was checkmate. They had no choice but to abandon the city.

120 ships carried 9,000 redcoats and 2,000 loyalists away to an unknown fate, and Washington had his first victory of the war. Washington then moved his army to New York, knowing that when the British returned, they would probably land there. In the meantime, a friendly-looking old man by the name of Thomas Paine had written and published a pamphlet called Common Sense, in which he advocated for total independence from Great Britain. Britain.

It spread across the colonies like wildfire and to this day remains the best-selling title in America. It was read aloud in taverns and meeting halls and brought the idea of independence into the mainstream. Congress began to seriously consider the idea.

Thomas Jefferson was selected to write up an official declaration of independence and he went hard writing that all men are created equal with certain inalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. On the 2nd of July, Congress voted unanimously in favor of independence and John Adams declared that the 2nd of July would go down as the most remembered day in American history. Then a couple days later, independence actually came into effect.

The United States of America was born. There was no turning back now. The Americans tore down a statue of King George in New York and melted him down into 42,000 musket balls. To the British, it was treason.

And if the King had his way, Washington and all of Congress would be hung. Speaking of the British, guess who's back? The King sent an intimidating force of 130 warships and 25,000 men to New York. Washington knew that taking on the most powerful military in the world wouldn't be easy. The British set up camp on Staten Island.

as the Americans dug into defensive positions around Brooklyn Heights, waiting for an attack to come. But the British just waited, wearing down their opponent's nerve while building their own strength. At one point, they launched a big scary artillery barrage, and then said, You know, if I was you right now, I'd probably sue for peace.

But Washington told them to shove it. The Americans kept holding out for what was coming, and when they finally hit, they hit hard. 15,000 British troops approached the American position, and the two sides fired on each other in massive rows.

But what the Americans didn't realize was they were only fighting a decoy. The main British force was going around to flank the Americans from behind, and when they arrived, they inflicted heavy casualties. The Americans panicked and retreated back to Brooklyn Heights, where they then found themselves trapped between the British army and the river. It looked as though the war was already lost, but luckily, instead of attacking, the British decided to dig in for a siege, and then a thick fog set in, allowing Washington's army to escape across the river unimpeded. The British continued to chase and engage the Americans out Manhattan, and the Americans suffered defeat after defeat after defeat.

It was a disaster. Washington's leadership was called into question, as thousands of American POWs were left to rot as traitors. Washington's army fled through New Jersey all the way down to Pennsylvania. Rarely had an army been so badly beaten, yet survived to fight another day. Washington's butt was sufficiently kicked.

Winter was here. His troops'morale was low, some just up and left. Washington needed to do something, anything to restore faith in the revolution. The British had spread throughout New Jersey and settled in for a winter of drinking cider and partying hard.

Nobody expected an attack in the winter, so Washington started making plans for an attack in the winter. The British had hired a large force of Hessian mercenaries from the German states of Hesse Castle and Hesse Hanau to fight the rebels. It was these mercenaries that were stationed across the Delaware River from Washington and his army.

And there were more Hessian reinforcements incoming, but they made an unscheduled stop because their commander got thirsty. No, not that kind of thirsty. That kind of thirsty.

It was Christmas Eve with a blizzard outside when Washington heard the Hessian defenses were down, and he decided to attack. He made a perilous crossing of the icy Delaware River with 2,400 men and marched nine miles to Trenton where he caught the Hessian forces completely off guard. After a short but fierce battle, the Hessians surrendered in droves.

It was a much-needed victory that sent a clear message, not only to the British, but to Americans across the colonies. The war? was far from lost.

General Cornwallis led the British forces south to counterattack the Americans, but in a series of battles Washington's defensive positioning and flanking maneuvers defeated the British three times in 10 days, and the British decided to abandon southern New Jersey for the rest of the winter. Washington finally set up a winter camp in Morristown, but for the Americans there was much less partying than the British. Elsewhere, the British had taken Newport, Rhode Island, because it was a good naval base.

In the South, they failed to take Charleston, South Carolina, which left British loyalists unsupported and vulnerable to more harassment and even mass expulsion. Congress sent Benjamin Franklin to France on a mission to convince them to join the war. And while the French generally loved any opportunity to hoodwink the Brits, they didn't want to join unless it was a sure win.

So for now, Franklin spent his days chilling out and chasing tail. The British Parliament couldn't believe the war wasn't over yet, and the pressure was on to end it. So the British came up with a plan.

General Burgoyne in Montreal and General William Howe in New York would advance through the Hudson Valley and meet in the middle, splitting the colonies in two, and thus screwing over the American communication lines. Burgoyne began his movement south, and after taking Fort Ticonderoga quite easily, he then came across heavy American resistance, so he sent Howe a dingle dongle, asking if he'd be showing up any time soon. Meanwhile, Howe had completely abandoned the plan and gone for all-out personal glory by capturing the American capital, Philadelphia. He defeated Washington and his army at Brandywine Creek by using the old hit-em-with-a-decoy-and-flank-em-from-behind tactic. and Philadelphia was now in British hands, forcing Congress to escape to York.

But Burgoyne was left on his own to face the ever-increasing American force in Saratoga. American General Horatio Gates teamed up with our old friend Benedict Arnold to deal one final blow to Burgoyne's army. Arnold wanted to take the fight to the British, but Gates wanted to wait for the British to come to them.

After a heated debate, Gates, the senior officer, told Arnold to go to his room. But Arnold defied his orders, and at the Battle of Bemis Heights, he charged at the British and obliterated them. Great job, Horatio.

By the way, what happened to that other guy who was in Saratoga? Who? Benedict Arnold.

Never heard of him. Ouch. Hey, George, didn't I do a great job taking Philadelphia and all? Hmm?

Didn't I? You're fired. Both Burgoyne and Howe returned to Great Britain, leaving British General Henry Clinton to take charge of the war. And the war was about to take a nasty turn, because with the victory at Saratoga, the French were finally ready to join the Americans.

All right, Benny, we're in. Hey, isn't this kind of funny? You know, because you're a republic trying to overthrow an absolute monarchy, and I'm an absolute monarchy helping you?

Like... Like, could you imagine if your revolution inspired my people to revolt against me, and then they imprisoned me and all my family, and they chopped all of our heads off? Could you imagine? That's called foreshadowing. For now in America, winter was here once again, which meant yet more disease, more starvation, and even a little mutiny.

After losing Philadelphia, Washington's job was again on the line. But suddenly, a Persian guy with a very fancy name, hired by Benjamin Franklin, showed up out of nowhere and said, Hey, I'm here to give your men a European military training. And train them he did.

They learned how to shoot accurately, how to march in formation, where to poop and where not to, and strict punishments were handed out to any who didn't comply. Washington's army came out of the winter in 1778 a new and improved force, ready to take Philadelphia back from the British. In the end, though, they didn't have to.

With the French entry into the war, the British ordered General Clinton to evacuate Philadelphia and consolidate all of the British forces in New York. So Washington sent Benedict Arnold to reoccupy and secure the city, as he pursued the British through New Jersey on land, eventually finding a good opportunity to attack at Monmouth Courthouse. The battle took place on a sweltering hot summer's day, and as many soldiers died from heatstroke as they did from battle. In the end, after some incompetence-slash-borderline treason from Washington's second-in-command, it was a draw, and in this war, a draw is kind of a victory for the Americans.

Next up. Let's talk about this guy. This is John Paul Jones.

John Paul Jones is handsome, Scottish, and absolutely insane. When the war first broke out, everyone was like, How did the colonies expect to stand up to the might of the British Navy with their meager fleet of converted merchantmen? Yeah, try telling that to John Paul Jones.

This guy sailed to the British Isles, somehow captured a British ship off the coast of Ireland, and brought it back to France. Then he returned, attacking more ships, raiding towns, and evading capture the entire time. These are basically pirate tactics, but hey, if it works, it works.

In one incident, he captured a British ship and returned to a Dutch port without an official ensign because his was lost during the battle. That's a big no-no and can have you arrested as a pirate. The Dutch helped him out by quickly creating a design based on Benjamin Franklin's description of what the American flag should look like, and they entered it into their records as an official US flag. What they came up with looks pretty cool.

The whole campaign probably played heavily on British morale and brought into question their ability to win the war. And fun fact, he was so cool that one of the towns he raided in 1778 gave him an official honorary pardon in 1999. Keep ripping in heaven, John Paul Jones. You're an angel now. What the Continental Navy was lacking in resources though, the French entry into the war made up for.

The French began with naval skirmishes in the English Channel, and they sent a large fleet to America, although it sustained a lot of damage in a storm off Rhode Island. The Americans were hoping for a bigger commitment from the French. So John Adams went to France to help Benjamin Franklin continue negotiations. Oh good, you're finally here. Check this out.

Hey ladies. Isn't this great? Is this?

Is this what you've been doing? Yeah, why? We were sent here on a diplomatic mission to secure military support from France, not to philander with the locals.

Wait, no, ladies, come back. Worst wingman ever. But the Americans would get some more help. The Dutch provided aid, although they never formed an official alliance. More significantly, though, the Spanish, who had already been providing aid, officially joined the war in June 1779. They would provide support in the Midwest and the Gulf Coast, campaigns that heavily impacted the Native American tribes in those areas.

Both sides actually enlisted the help of Native American tribes throughout the war, sometimes even pitting those tribes against each other. In the summer of 1779, after a series of raids against the Americans by the Iroquois, Washington organized an expedition that burned down more than 40 villages, forcing the tribes to relocate to Canada for British protection. And another group that shouldn't go unmentioned were African Americans, both free and enslaved.

They joined both sides of the war, hoping to gain their freedom. But afterwards, many were simply returned. to slavery. However, even those that left with the British after the war suffered mistreatment and discrimination in their new lives outside of America. Our good friend Benedict Arnold is now in charge of Philadelphia, having a good time, partying down with and even marrying a member of the Philadelphia elite, the same elite that had partied down with the British when they controlled the city.

And suddenly, the people of Philadelphia, including the state governor, started accusing Arnold of having pro-British sentiments. To keep the people happy, Washington wrote a letter rebuking Arnold. calling his conduct imprudent and improper, and that was too many ouchies for Benedict Arnold to handle.

He asked Washington to put him in charge of the fort at West Point. Then he contacted the British, offering to hand the plans of the fort over to them and join their side. Our good friend Benedict Arnold is our good friend no more.

Luckily, the treasonous plans were discovered on a captured British officer, but Arnold managed to escape before he was arrested. As a British brigadier general, he would go on to lead raids against American cities, most notably his raid of Richmond, Virginia in 1781. His betrayal shook George Washington. who had once again set up camp at Morristown.

His leadership somehow held the Continental Army together through the harshest winter of the war. We're entering 1780, and Parliament was hopping mad that the war still wasn't over. The British debt was soaring, and despite taking parts of Massachusetts in late 1779, the North was in a stalemate. So the British decided to make a major shift in strategy to the South, an economically rich area with a higher level of support for the British.

Or so the British thought. A year earlier, they had captured the under-defended city of Savannah, Georgia easily, and a joint American-French counter-siege failed. Now, they laid siege to Charleston, South Carolina.

It fell within months, with thousands of American troops surrendering to the British. A costly defeat. The British quickly moved to take control, and they sent stereotypical Hollywood villain with a British accent, Bannister the Butcher Tarleton, into the backcountry, where he hunted down rebels and destroyed them with ruthless brutality. The British presence also inspired local loyalist militias in the backcountry to rise up against their persecutors. The British really seemed to be onto something with their new strategy, and the ball was very much in Washington's court.

I'm going to send my most loyal general. Nathaniel Green to the south to stop the British. Gonna have to overrule you there, George.

We're sending Hero of Saratoga and your biggest rival, Horatio Gates. Watch this, George. I'm gonna save the day again. Everybody will love me, and I'm gonna get your job. Here I go!

And he got into one battle with Cornwallis, got annihilated, and ran away. Alrighty, let's go with your guy. Nathaniel Green knew the British outnumbered his own forces and wouldn't be defeated with conventional tactics, so he had to think outside the box. He split his army into two, said, Hey, big boy, look at me, and then they went running in two different directions.

Cornwallis sent Tarleton after Morgan, and he caught up with him at Cowpens, where Morgan proceeded to kick Tarleton's butt. Then the two led Cornwallis on a wild chase through North Carolina, his bigger and better equipped army much heavier and slower than Green's quick and mobile troops. Green led Cornwallis further and further from his supply line, then crossed the Dan River into Virginia, picked up some reinforcements, and turned back to face the now exhausted British.

At the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, the two sides engaged in vicious close combat. Cornwallis, fearing loss, fired his big guns into the chaotic fighting, cutting down many of his own men. Greene retreated, giving Cornwallis the victory, but Cornwallis lost a quarter of his men in the fighting, so it felt much more like a British defeat.

At this point, both sides desperately needed something to happen soon to end the fighting. The British were running out of money, while the Americans were again facing mutinies as the men went without pay, or even basic living needs. Fortunately, the French were now showing up in greater numbers, and were ready to fight.

After his encounter with Greene, Cornwallis decided the only way to win the South was to first prevent the Southern Continental Army from using Virginia as a supply base So he abandoned the Carolinas moving to Wilmington and on to Yorktown a position the British believed would be easy to supply and support On his March to Yorktown he rated many farms stealing horses and supplies from the locals But also freeing thousands of slaves many of whom joined him the French saw Cornwallis his new position as an opportunity to land a decisive Blow on the British Washington wanted to attack Clinton in New York, but the French said it was a really dumb idea and to be fair, it was. Instead, Washington sent out fake dispatches to make it look like they would attack Clinton, but secretly their combined force marched all the way down to Virginia. A large French fleet under the command of Comte de Grasse arrived and successfully cleared the British Navy out of the Chesapeake Bay. The combined land and naval forces then laid siege to Cornwallis'army in Yorktown. The American and French forces tightened in around the city, raining artillery down on Cornwallis, who desperately appealed to Clinton for aid, but Clinton was unusually- He chilled out about the whole thing.

Cornwallis held out for nearly a month before he had no choice but to surrender. Over 7,000 British troops were captured, a crushing defeat. And with that, Parliament had reached the end of its rope.

The war just wasn't worth it, and it needed to end now. The British still held New York, Charleston, and Savannah. but fighting between the two sides mostly ceased as peace negotiations opened up in Paris. The resulting treaty in 1783 saw Great Britain remove its troops from American soil, recognize US independence, and cede territory up to the Mississippi River. In return, the Americans agreed to pay any debts to load to Britain, and gave fair treatment to any colonists who had remained loyal to the crown.

The Spanish got Florida, while the French got an economic crisis that led to its own revolution a decade later. Washington retired to his home in Mount Vernon, wishing his men farewell by saying, I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable. He hoped to live out the rest of his days in peace.

But unfortunately for him, a number of people wanted him to be the first leader of the new country. And by a number of people, I mean literally everyone. The first election campaign in American history was basically a grassroots effort to convince Washington to accept the office.

He was sworn in on April 30th, 1789, and he himself established many of the standards and limitations of what the American leader should be. First of all, there was debate on what he should be called. Is he a king? Is he our glorious leader? In the end, they went for a word that at the time, was pretty modest.

President, like the president of your local bowling club or office bake sale committee. He set up a cabinet of expert advisors knowing that no president could know everything, no matter how much of a stable genius they claimed to be. He proposed major legislation to Congress and gave an annual State of the Union address to keep his own power in check.

He stated that the U.S. should remain neutral in foreign conflicts. And in the end, he voluntarily gave up his power after just two terms. He could have made the presidency anything he wanted, but his careful and cautious actions helped set the precedent. of an office that is powerful in its limitations, decisive through its diplomacy, and respected in its humility.

And so the United States was born, and everything was perfect. It had no problems, not a single one. Certainly nothing that would, I don't know, cause such an extreme divide that it would lead to a civil war.

Transcript for:Overview of the American Revolutionary War

Transcript for:
Overview of the American Revolutionary War