Lesson 23 (2 days) Do Now: Think about the following questions

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Lesson 23 (2 days)
Do Now: Think about the following questions:

  1. What happened at the battle at Lexington & Concord? Did the Americans give up after these battles?

  2. What happed to the British by the time they reached Boston?

  3. Who were the Green Mountain Boys? Who was their leader? What did they do at Fort Ticonderoga?

  4. What happened at the Second Continental Congress, what did the Americans ask of the British? What did the delegates decide to do just in case the British did not agree to be peace? Who was chosen to lead the American Army?

  5. After Lexington and Concord where did the Colonists force the British to stay? What did the British decide to do?

  6. What happened at the battle of Bunker Hill? Who did the Colonists feel after the battle of Bunker Hill?

  7. What was the King’s response to the Second Continental Congress?

  8. What did Americans decide to ask Great Britain for?

  9. What important job was given to Thomas Jefferson? What was in the declaration? What was left out of the Declaration of Independence? When was the declaration signed?


The Minutemen were defeated. The British left and went to Concord. The British (Red Coats) destroyed American guns and supplies. The Americans did not give up; the Minutemen raced across the North Bridge and chased the Redcoats back to Boston. On the way, more Minutemen joined the fight. On the way, the Minutemen hid behind trees and fired at the Redcoats. By the time the British reached Boston, the Americans had killed many British! After the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Americans needed guns and ammunition. Ethan Allen gathered a group of colonists who wore green coats, (Green Mountain Boys). They planned to attack Fort Ticonderoga and take guns and ammunition. The Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga and took cannons and ammunition for the Minutemen.

At the Second Continental Congress, the Colonists met again and again asked the British for equality and peace. While there, the Colonists prepared for war. They chose George Washington as their Army leader. After Lexington and Concord, the British were forced to stay in Boston. The British decided to escape. To do so, they would have to attack the American militia on Bunker Hill. It was a bloody battle and the British won Bunker Hill, but lost more men than the Americans did. Even though Americans lost the battle of Bunker Hill they felt as if they could win the war. The King’s response to the Second Continental Congress was to send 30,000 more troops to America. Americans asked for Independence. Jefferson, From Virginia was asked to write the Declaration of Independence. Americans believed in equality and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, ending slavery was left out.

Signed July 4, 1776. Sooo…were Americans now free? Let’s begin to explore the Revolutionary War and the major battles that took place.
CQ: What were the major battles of the Revolutionary War? Where and when did they take place? Who were the Key people involved in each battle? How would one describe each battle, and what was the significance of each battle?


  • Watch School House Rock and Brain POP to introduce the Revolutionary War battles…

  • Direct student to School wires where they will find the Google Doc. Presentation.

  • Follow directions on the Google Doc. Presentation.

    • Break Students into Groups of 2.

    • Assign each group a battle

    • Allow time for students to become SME (Subject Matter Experts) as they use the sites provided to research their assigned battle.

      • Perambulate room and provide assistance

  • Day 2 – Combine classes and watch the Presentation that the students created. Have each SME discuss their slide and explain why their battle was significant.

HW: Finish slide if not dine in class.

Summary: At the end of day 2, summarize the battles and arrive at the conclusion that with the help of the French & Spanish, we were able to win the Revolutionary War and become independent of Great Britain!
Battles of the Revolutionary War



Key People

Description of Battle

Significance of Battle


April 1775

British General Gage
John Hancock and Samuel Adams (Sons of Liberty)
Paul Revere and the Midnight Riders (William Dawes and Samuel Prescott)

British offensive battle.

General Gage wanted to seize weapons that were rumored to be stored in barns, empty buildings and private homes in Concord, MA. He was also told that John Hancock and Sam Adams were staying in Lexington (5 miles east of Concord) and he wanted to arrest them. Gage sent his men along Lexington Road to Concord where their goal was to seize and destroy all munitions they could find.

Colonial minutemen were watching and the colonists were prepared. Midnight Riders were alerted to spread the word to warn Adams and Hancock that the “British were coming”. The colonists were prepared for the battle (they were waiting for the Red Coats) and the Redcoats left for Concord.

The first “shot heard around the world” of the Revolution.

Battle lasted only 15 minutes and demonstrated that the colonists were prepared and organized and would fight. Many people thought the colonists would never be able to put up a fight as they colonists had an untrained militia.

700 British troops fought against 75 Colonial militiamen!


April 1775

British General Gage
Colonial Minutemen (militia fighters who pledged to be ready at a minute’s notice)

After the British defeat at Lexington, they marched to Concord where they found an empty arsenal. After a brief skirmish with minutemen, the British soldiers lined up to march back to Boston but the march quickly become a slaughter. Around 3,500 minutemen had fired on the British marching troops from behind stonewalls and trees.

The British were bloodied and humiliated and had to retreat. This demonstrated that the Colonists were not prepared and organized and stood a chance of potentially winning.

Bunker Hill

June 1775

American Colonel Prescott
British Generals Thomas Gage and General Howe

This was the first battle since the Revolution started in Lexington and Concord. It was fought on Breed’s Hill near Boston, MA. The British were on the offense. The British suffered many causalities and the colonial forces were not defeated easily. Famous quote from this battle said by American “don’t fire until you can see the whites of their eyes”

Even though the Americans were forced to retreat, the British lost many more men than the Americans. This was the bloodiest battle of the Revolution. To the colonists now, the British no longer seem invincible.


December 1776

George Washington


Washington crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night during a fierce storm. He led 2,400 men in small rowboats across ice-choked Delaware River. By the next morning, the men had marched nine miles through sleet and snow to the objective – Trenton (held by the Hessians).

Important American victory. Continental Army gained badly needed supplies, critics of Washington were quieted, moral increased, new enlistments were stimulated and many of the current soldiers reenlisted, it gave the Continental Army confidence to mount an attack on Princeton


January 1777

George Washington

Gen. Cornwallis

Washington’s army uses diversionary tactics and attacks Cornwallis’s army in Princeton.

This American victory secured NJ for the Americans. It pushed the British into a corner in NJ. It also increased American morale and convinced the French to provide the Americans with supplies


October 1777

Gen. Burgoyne

Gen. Gates

Following the British victory at Ticonderoga, Burgoyne traveled south through Canada and NY to link his army with another British army. Gates and Benedict Arnold attacked Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga and won

Turning point in the war because it convinced the French that the colonists may actually win the war. The French decided to enter the war on the side of the Americans. French aid becomes very important to the American’s ability to win the war


September 1781

(British) Cornwallis

(French) Rochamebeau and Lafayette

The French navy under the command of Admiral de Grasse defeated the British fleet at the Chesapeake Bay. The British are forced to surrender after being surrounded and besieged.

Battle ended the American Revolution

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