Executive Summary: The Victory Of The American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War was not supposed to be won by the revolutionaries. No one of the time would have thought that the greatest empire in history would lose a war to their sister country made up of farmers and merchants, but they did. The Americans revolutionaries were able to pull of this feat by having morality on their side. Loyalists and British citizens towards the end of the war realized they had no protections from their rebel neighbors in the states and realized how costly the war was. On top of this, the inclusion of Spain and France in the war greatly benefitted the rebels by stretching British supplies and troops, effectively creating a world war. Lastly, Great Britain lost because of their strict adherence to the European

A major victory for the Americans was when General Washington crossed the Delaware twice to take a Hessian fort in New Jersey. The capture of this fort disrupted British supply lines and gave American forces an edge in the north. The turning point in the war was when American forces forced General Burgoyne to surrender at Saratoga. This victory for the Americans earned them foreign help from France and Spain. With the help of Spain, they opened a two front war, one in the colonies and one in the West Indies. Making the Revolutionary War a difficult task to keep morale in. Sending troops to Jamaica had a devastating effect on the morale of British forces since most were aware that it was practically a death sentence because of diseases like malaria and yellow fever. The British, now needing to recruit more troops, moved the war effort to southern states like North Carolina, where there appeared to be an abundance of loyalists. To their dismay,

The fight over control for Saratoga is an example of this. The Saratoga campaign was a struggle for control of the Hudson river, an important geographic vantage point. The plan, if executed, would have had General John Burgoyne going south from Canada and General William Howe going north from New York City to surround American forces at Saratoga. General Burgoyne did what was expected and marched south from Canada. General Howe, however, went to Philadelphia, to try and take the nations capitol. This left Burgoyne weaker than he had anticipated and ultimately led to his surrender at Saratoga. Howe’s siege was successful, he took Philadelphia but congress fled, leaving his siege not a huge factor. The reason why he abandoned his fellow General is not know, but historians believe his motivations were to gain a place in history by taking the capitol, what would have amounted to a victory in classic European warfare, and gaining his glory. This folly was costly, after Saratoga the rebels gained support from Spain and France, which lead to the demise of Great Britain’s