The Revolutionary War
The first gun shots of the Revolutionary War were at the battles of Lexington and Concord. The English planned a surprise attack on the colonists, but their efforts failed and neither side won. Then, at the battle of Fort Ticonderoga, the colonists surprised England. They gained one-hundred cannons from the defeated English army. After these battles, the colonists organized the Second Continental Congress. They gave the King a chance to change all that he had done by writing the Olive Branch Petition, but he never responded. Then the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independance, declaring war on Britain.
During the battle of Bunker Hill, 1,200 colonial troops, led by Colonel William Prescott, made an area on Bunker Hill to keep any English forces inside Boston from leaving. Though the colonists lost that battle, they prepared for them. George Washington's army took the cities of Princeton and Trenton. They needed that win because they had lost many battles. The English thought of a plan to defeat the colonists for good. They would cut off New England from the rest of the colonies.
At the battle of Saratoga, the colonists beat the English. Then, many other countries sided with the colonies-France, Poland, Spain, and Russia. After the French joined the fight with the colonists, the English started to attack the Southern Colonies. They chose to do this because many Loyalists lived there. After many English victories, the colonists began to overpower the English and took over the war. Benedict Arnold commanded West Point and turned to the English, taking West Point with him. Colonial soldiers heard of his betrayal and saved West Point. The Battle of Yorktown ended the war from America's defeat of the English. General Cornwallis, head of the English army, surrendered to the Colonial army.