5 5 the war for independence

Fascinating Facts
• After Dr. Joseph Warren died, Paul Revere identified him
by the two artificial teeth Revere had made for him.

• In January 1777, Mary Goddard, probably the first
woman postmaster in the United States, issued the first
copy of the Declaration of Independence to include
the signers’ names.

• During the Battle of Fort Washington in 1776,
Margaret Corbin took the place of her husband when
he was killed. She continued firing his cannon until she
was wounded.

Genre

Nonfiction

Text Features

• Time Line
• Maps
• Sidebars

Scott Foresman Social Studies

ISBN 0-328-17539-0

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In this book you will read about some of the
major battles of the American Revolution. In this
war the American colonies won their freedom
from Britain. You will read about some of the
important people in the Revolution.

Vocabulary

Write to It!
Choose one of the battles described in this book and
write a paragraph explaining why it was important
for either side to win the battle.
Write your paragraph on a separate sheet of paper.

activist
minutemen
retreat
morale
negotiate
turning point
siege

Maps
MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
ISBN: 0-328-17539-0

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.

Opener: (B) ©PoodlesRock/Corbis, (Bkgd) ©Stockbyte, (C) ©Getty Images
2 (T) ©Stockbyte, (B) ©Image
Inc. Needham, Massachusetts • Duluth, Georgia
SalesFarm,
Offices:
3 ©The Granger Collection, NY
Coppell,
Texas
• Sacramento, California • Mesa, Arizona
7 ©The Granger Collection, NY
8 ©Bettmann/Corbis
9 ©Corbis
11 ©The Granger Collection, NY
13 ©SuperStock
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Editorial Offices: Glenview, Illinois • Parsippany, New Jersey • New York, New York
• Glenview, Illinois

When the American Revolution began, the colonists were
not fighting for freedom from Britain. The colonists were upset
about taxes made by Parliament, Britain’s lawmaking body.
They did not think the taxes were fair because they could not
vote for members of Parliament.
Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, which said the
colonists had to buy stamps to put on important papers such as
letters, deeds, newspapers, and playing cards. Many colonists
refused to buy the stamps.
Parliament thought the taxes were fair. The French and
Indian War had cost a lot of money. British soldiers had
protected the colonists, so Parliament thought the colonists
should help pay for the war. Parliament also passed more acts
that taxed the colonists.

Patriots threw British tea into Boston Harbor.

The Boston Tea Party
Parliament finally took away all the taxes but the one on
tea. But the colonists were still not happy. Three ships full
of tea were sent to Boston Harbor, but the people of Boston
would not let them unload the tea. Britain refused to take the
tea back. A group of Patriots dressed as Mohawks climbed
onto the ships. They threw the tea overboard. This was known
as the Boston Tea Party. No one knows who the men were, but
some were probably members of a group of Patriot activists
called the Sons of Liberty. Britain closed the port of Boston.

Events of the American Revolution
1775
1779

The Battles of Lexington
and Concord and the
Battle of Bunker Hill

1775

1776

John Paul Jones wins
a naval battle.

1777

1776
The Declaration of
Independence is signed.
The Battle of Trenton

2

1778

1779

1780

1783

The British
take Charleston.

The Treaty of Paris is signed by
the United States and Britain.

1780

1781

1782

1777

1781

The Battle of
Saratoga

Cornwallis surrenders
after the Battle
of Yorktown.

1783

3

1784

The Battles of Lexington
and Concord

The Men Who Spread the Alarm

On the night of April 18, 1775, eight hundred British
soldiers marched from Boston to the town of Lexington. When
they reached Lexington there were about fifty soldiers waiting.
They called themselves minutemen because they were ready
to fight at a minute’s notice.
The British were on their way to Concord, where the
colonists stored their weapons. The night before, three
horseback riders had tried to warn people that the British were
coming.

It was late into the night of April 18, 1775. Three
men rode through the countryside in Massachusetts to
warn people the British were coming. Paul Revere is the
most famous of the three men, but William Dawes and
Dr. Samuel Prescott did just as much.
The British captured all three men that night. Prescott
escaped and made it to Concord, where he warned
the people. Revere was surrounded and taken prisoner.
Dawes got away as the British were capturing Revere.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord,
April 1775

Co

MASSACHUSETTS

British
retreat
begins.

Revere captured.
Prescott continues.

Lexington

Concord
Medford

Lexington
April 19

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Dawes
turns back.

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2
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4 Kilometers

Revere’s route

British retreat

Dawes’s route

Road

Prescott’s route

Bridge

British advance

Weston

Waltham

Battle

es
Ch a r l

Old North
Church

R.

Brookline

4

Charlestown

Cambridge

Boston
Neck

Boston
Harbor

Roxbury

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In Lexington a British officer yelled, “Disperse [Move away],
ye rebels, disperse!” A shot rang out. Nobody knows who
fired first, but the British did not wait for orders. They began
shooting. Eight minutemen were killed and ten others were
wounded.
The British troops marched on to Concord and took the
weapons in the storehouse. They searched houses and farms
but did not find the rest of the weapons because they had
been taken to other towns.
The British then returned to Boston. When the Second
Continental Congress in Philadelphia heard of the battles, it
chose George Washington to be in charge of the new army.

5


The Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775
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Boston Boston
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Causeway

American fort

Breed’s
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Other American
positions
Route of British
attack
Route of

American retreat
British
cannon fire

Charlestown

N

British ship
Hill

Boston
Harbor

C

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Boston

Two thousand British soldiers started up the hill. The

Americans did not shoot until the British were close. Colonel
William Prescott told his men, “Don’t fire until you see the
whites of their eyes.”
Finally, shots rang out and dozens of British soldiers fell.
Twice the British were forced to retreat, but the third time
they were able to take the hill.
Dr. Joseph Warren was the first American officer to die in
the war. He was a loyal Patriot and leader. Warren was an
officer but chose to fight with his troops.
The British won the Battle of Bunker Hill, but the Americans
proved they could fight well. More than one thousand British
were killed or wounded. The Americans lost about 145 men.

The Battle of Bunker Hill
The next major battle was the Battle of Bunker Hill. It
was fought on nearby Breed’s Hill. British ships were in
Boston Harbor, and the Americans heard the British were
going to attack.
The Americans took guns to the top of Breed’s Hill during the
night of June 16, 1775. They built a redoubt there. A redoubt
is a fort made by piling up mounds of dirt.
When the British woke up the next morning, they were
shocked to see the redoubt. They began firing from the ships,
but the fort was out of range.
6

Dr. Joseph Warren was a doctor
and an American officer.

7

The British army was taken completely by surprise. None of
Washington’s soldiers were killed and only four of them were
wounded. One of Washington’s officers wrote in his diary,
“We have taken nearly 1000 prisoners, six cannon, more than
1000 muskets, twelve drums . . . .”

George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River.

During the next year and a half, several battles were
fought. The Americans created a navy. France began helping
the colonies. The Continental Congress wrote and signed the
Declaration of Independence, which said the Thirteen Colonies
were a free country.

The Battle of Trenton
On December 25, 1776, the British army was camped in
Trenton, New Jersey. Most of the men were German soldiers,
paid to fight for the British. Washington knew they would
celebrate Christmas late into the night with dancing and
singing. He decided to surprise them with an attack the next
morning. During the night, 2,400 American soldiers crossed
the river.
8

Thomas Paine Gives
the Army Hope
The morale, or spirits, of the
American soldiers was low before

the Battle of Trenton. The soldiers
had been losing battles, were poorly
trained, and had only ragged
clothes.
Thomas Paine wrote the first of the
Thomas Paine
Crisis Papers. He hoped they would
keep up the morale of the Americans. On Christmas
evening, Washington ordered the paper read to his
troops. Many think Paine’s inspiring words gave the
soldiers the courage to continue fighting.

9


The Battle of Trenton gave the Americans supplies and
weapons they needed badly. It also helped their morale. A
few days later, the Americans beat the British at Princeton.
In July 1777, the British took Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
Marquis de Lafayette, a Frenchman, came to help and became
Washington’s trusted aide.

The Battle of Saratoga, 1777
Burgoyne’s route

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British General John Burgoyne planned to send three armies
into New York State. The armies would meet in Albany and cut
New England off from the rest of the colonies. The Americans
held the British off during the first Battle of Saratoga on
September 19, 1777. General Burgoyne was forced to retreat.
Three weeks later, the Americans beat the British at Bemis
Heights in the second Battle of Saratoga. This was a major
American victory. Major General Horatio Gates and Major
General Benedict Arnold led the American army. The two
sides negotiated and on October 17, 1777, Burgoyne
surrendered his entire army of five thousand men.

Battle site

r

e
iv

The Battle of Saratoga

(PART OF
MASSACHUSETTS)

Lake
Champlain
Fort
Ticonderoga

N

NEW
HAMPSHIRE

Lake
George

Benedict Arnold

Saratoga
Albany

MASSACHUSETTS

Hudson Ri ver

NEW YORK

RHODE ISLAND

CONNECTICUT

40˚N

New York
City

PENNSYLVANIA

NEW
JERSEY

13 Colonies

DELAWARE
MARYLAND

0
0

50
50

If Benedict Arnold had died from the
leg wound he got at Saratoga, he would
be remembered as a great American
hero. For three years, he had served the
Americans as a daring military leader.
In 1780, however, he sold the British
Benedict Arnold

information so they could capture West
Point. Arnold owed money and thought he should have
been promoted more quickly. The plan did not work
because his contact, British Major John Andre, was
caught with the information Arnold had provided.

100 Miles

100 Kilometers

10

11


Washington led
his troops at
Valley Forge.

The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the war,
and things began to change. The world now believed the
Americans could win the war. European countries gave their
support.
In the winter of 1777, Washington’s army stayed at Valley
Forge, Pennsylvania. The soldiers were cold, hungry, and often
sick. They did not have enough supplies.
In July France declared war on Britain. Now the British had
to worry about fighting two wars.
In 1779 the British asked American Indians to attack frontier
settlements. That September, the American navy, led by John

Paul Jones, fought a battle with a British ship. The British asked
him to surrender, but Jones answered, “I have not yet begun to
fight!”
The next spring the British captured Fort Moultrie in
Charleston, South Carolina. This was the worst American
defeat in the war. The Americans lost their entire Southern
Army.

British troops led by General Charles Cornwallis defeated
the Americans in battles in South Carolina. Cornwallis then
planned to invade North Carolina. He changed his plans after
the Americans won the Battle of Kings Mountain.
General Nathanael Greene and his army chased Cornwallis
through the backwoods of Virginia and the Carolinas.
Cornwallis then planned to invade North Carolina. He
changed his plans after the Americans won the Battle of Kings
Mountain.

12

13


The Battle of Yorktown
In a brilliant move, Washington planned to attack the British
on the Yorktown peninsula. French Admiral de Grasse brought
ships and troops to Chesapeake Bay to help.
De Grasse’s ships fought a major battle with the British
ships. The British lost and retreated to New York. De Grasse
kept Cornwallis from leaving the peninsula by sea.

De Grasse sent some ships up Chesapeake Bay to bring the
rest of Washington’s army to Yorktown. The American soldiers
then started a siege of Yorktown. They surrounded the British,
keeping them from retreating by land. British supplies ran low,
and the French ships shot cannons at the British day and night.
Finally, on October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered at
Yorktown. This was the last major battle of the war. Britain’s
Parliament voted in February to stop fighting the war.
The untrained and poorly outfitted group of American
Patriots had beaten the well-trained and well-supplied British
army and navy. The United States of America was free at last.

Washington meets with
his generals at Yorktown.

15


In this book you will read about some of the
major battles of the American Revolution. In this
Glossary
war the aAmerican
colonies
wonintheir
freedom
activist
person who
believes
or takes
part

from
Britain.
You
will
read
about
some
of
the
in a cause
important people in the Revolution.
minutemen colonial militia groups that could be
ready to fight at a minute’s notice

Vocabulary
morale the state of
a person’s or a group’s spirits
activist
negotiate to talk about something in order to come
to an agreement minutemen
retreat to pull back a retreat
military force that is in

Write to It!
Choose one of the battles described in this book and
write a paragraph explaining why it was important
for either side to win the battle.
Write your paragraph on a separate sheet of paper.

danger from an enemy

attack
morale
siege the surroundingnegotiate
of an army or a town to try to
make it surrenderturning point
turning point the point
at which a very important
siege
change takes place

Maps
MapQuest, Inc.
Photographs
Every effort has been made to secure permission and provide appropriate credit for photographic material. The publisher deeply
regrets any omission and pledges to correct errors called to its attention in subsequent editions.
Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photographs are the property of Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education.
ISBN: 0-328-17539-0

Photo locators denoted as follows: Top (T), Center (C), Bottom (B), Left (L), Right (R) Background (Bkgd)

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected
by Copyright, and permission should be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited
reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding
permission(s), write to: Permissions Department, Scott Foresman, 1900 East Lake Avenue,
Glenview, Illinois 60025.

Opener: (B) ©PoodlesRock/Corbis, (Bkgd) ©Stockbyte, (C) ©Getty Images
2 (T) ©Stockbyte, (B) ©Image Farm, Inc.

3 ©The Granger Collection, NY
7 ©The Granger Collection, NY
8 ©Bettmann/Corbis
9 ©Corbis
11 ©The Granger Collection, NY
13 ©SuperStock
14 ©Musée du Château de Versailles / Dagli Orti/The Art Archive

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 V0G1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 0516