American Revolutionary War - Timelines and Maps - Animated US History

This video presents the American Revolutionary War - a conflict between Britain and its colonies, which later became an international war.

Before the flare-up of the American Revolutionary War, there had been growing tensions and conflicts between the British crown and its thirteen colonies. To raise the revenue from colonies, the mother country took many measures, namely the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773. These acts provoked great anger among many colonists, and consequently, a rally was held behind the slogan “no taxation without representation”.

Tensions and skirmishes ran high through many events, namely the Boston Massacre, the Burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island, and especially the 1773 Boston Tea Party which provoked a crackdown by the British Parliament, including closing Boston harbor and passing some acts to restore order in Massachusetts.

In response to this, in September 1774, many colonial leaders including George Washington of Virginia, John and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, Patrick Henry of Virginia and John Jay of New York gathered in Philadelphia to discuss the colonies’ opposition to British rule, but this First Continental Congress’s attempt to demand independence from Britain did not go so far.
Tensions flared up on the night of April 18, 1775, when British troops marched to Concord, Massachusetts to seize an arms cache. It is the “shot heard ‘round the world” in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on the next day that kicked off the American Revolutionary War.

In June 1775, Continental Army, with General George Washington as its commander, was formed in the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. On June 17, American troops were defeated by the British at the Battle of Bunker Hill in Massachusetts. In late winter, the balance of the fight was shifted when British artillery was captured at Fort Ticonderoga in New York.

In March 1776, the British led by General William Howe retreated to Canada to prepare for a major invasion of New York. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a Declaration of Independence written mainly by Thomas Jefferson. That same month, a large British fleet was sent to New York with the aim to crush the rebellion. Two months later, routed by Howe’s Redcoats on Long Island, Washington’s troops were forced to evacuate from New York City. However, the surprise attack in Trenton and the battle near Princeton, New Jersey after that, marked another small victory for the colonials and revived the flagging hopes of the rebels.

In July, in an attempt to retake Fort Ticonderoga, General John Burgoyne’s troops suffered a devastating loss to the Americans while Howe troops moved southward from New York to confront Washington’s army near the Chesapeake Bay. On September 25, the British entered Philadelphia. On October 4, Washington struck back at Germantown (Maryland) but was compelled to withdraw to winter quarters at Valley Forge.

In the North, the story was different. After being defeated by American forces in the first battle at Freeman’s Farm (New York) and the second one at Bemis Heights (New York), General Burgoyne and his men were forced to surrender on October 17.

Following the American victory in Battle of Saratoga (New York), France and America signed treaties of alliance on February 6, 1778, in which France provided America with troops and warships.

On June 28, 1778, when withdrawing from Philadelphia, Henry Clinton, who replaced Howe to take over British forces, and his troops were attacked by Washington’s army near Monmouth, New Jersey. This battle ended in a draw, letting Clinton’s army get to New York safely. As the joint attack against British in late July failed, France and America besieged Newport, Rhode Island. The war was locked in a stalemate phase in the North.

In the South, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina were occupied by the British in early 1779 and May 1780 respectively. Later, on October 7, American troops led by Isaac Shelby and John Sevier defeated Major Patrick Ferguson and one-third of General Cornwallis's army at King's Mountain.

Following the Battle of Yorktown and Cornwallis’s surrender, the British still had its men stationed in some areas until the removal of their troops from Charleston and Savannah in late 1782.
The war officially ended with the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, by which Britain recognized American independence, marking the end of the colonial era in the US.

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