Impact of the Individual 

Thomas Paine, who arrived in America only 1 year before the hostilities of the revolution, became a major contributor to the fight for independence. When he came to the New World, he wrote the pamphlet Common Sense, which widely influenced colonists with ideas of independence and republicanism. In this pamphlet he argued that the colonies should become a democratice nation state and serve as an example for the rest of the world and a champion for the struggle for freedom and democracy. At this point in time, most colonists had still not been sold on the idea of independence and severing their ties from the mother country but, with the publication of Common Sense, and the spread of Thomas Paine's ideas, the proposal really ingrained the idea of freedom and independence into the colonists heads. (Megan M.)

George Washington: George Washington played a major role not just durring the revolution but before and after. Before the official beginning of the revoulution, George Washington, though unsuccessful, lead troops into the Ohio River Valley, durring the French and Indian War.  George Washinton was choosen as the general of the America War, durring the American revolution. He was choosen for this high rank position because of his strong character, patience, leadership, and sense of justice. Standing above everyone else, literally because he was a very tall, George Washington helped lead the colonies to freedom, and eventually would become the first president of the United States of America. (Rachel L)

Benedict Arnold had both a positive and a negative impact on the Patriots' attempt of independence. He was a great General for the colonial army and helped to keep Fort Ticonderoga from British control. In addition, he captured gunpowder and artillery for the Patriots. However, in 1778 turned on the colonial army and tried to help the British take West Point and the Hudson River. He is now seen as one of the biggest traitors in American history; although his accomplishments for the colonial army should not be overlooked. (Keara T.) 

John Burgoyne: Burgoyne is best known for his impacts on the American Revoultion. As a British General, he was commanded to capture Albany, which would end the rebellion. However,  he advanced to Canada, where he was surrounded and out numbered. General Burgoyne and his troops fought 2 battles at Saratoga, however on October 17, 1777 he surrendered his army of 5000. When he returned to Britian he faced criticism and was never allowed to command again. The impact of General Burgoyne greatly helpled the Americans reach independence, because the Battle of Saratoga was the tunring point of the American Revoultion (1777). (Rachel L)

Joseph Brant- Brant, a Mohawk Chief converted to the Anglican religion by the British, was a major ally to the Redcoats in the American Revolution. "Monster Brant" allied with the British, and convinced most of his Iroquois allies to, for he believed that a victorious Britain in the war would check American encroachment on Native land. The Pro-British Iroquois under Brant did a number on the colonists. The horror stories of Brant and his atrocities greatly weakened American-Native relations for years to come even after the Revolution. However, Brant's forces eventually fell to the American soldiers, and in 1784 The British siding Iroquois signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix. (Garrett B.)

Global Interaction  

One important global interaction during the Revolutionary war was the British hiring German soldiers. These soldiers were known as Hessians and numbered about 30,000 out of the 162,000 soldiers in the British army. However, the Hessians were usually not of great help because they were "more interested in booty than in duty." Many left the British army to become an American colonist; because of this they were referred to as "Hessian flies." (Keara T.)

The Battle of Saratoga, the 1777 turning point of the Revolution, introduced much foreign aid to the colonists' cause, leading to their ultimate victory in the war as multiple continents untied for one cause. After the colonists won the Battle of Saratoga, the French saw promise in their cause and, to thwart the British, began sending them supplies. Spain and Holland eventually joined in the fight. Catherine the Great of Russia also joined the fight in Europe, giving Britain yet another front to fight on and spreading out their resources. This also contributed to the colonists' victory. (Sarah E.)

By creating a huge North American empire, Britian managed to alienate itself from just about every other European power. The French sought revenge for the French and Indian War, the Spanish had suffered from English privateers like Sir Francis Drake, while other European powers, such as Russia, sought to demonstrate their power and prestige to other Europeans. The result is that, once the Revolutionary war turned in the colonists favor at the Battle of Saratoga, other European powers were quick to support America to further their own agendas. The result was a huge world war against Britian, which stretched its rescouces thin, and allowed the colonists, with massive french support, to win the revolutionary war. The chaos also allowed the U.S. to gain incredibly favorable terms in the peace negoiations. (Matt M.)

Influence of Technology - American riflemen helped to turn the tide of the war with their specialized weapons. Spiralling grooves on the inside of the barrel spun the shot as it left the gun to make it spiral through the air like a football. This greatly increased the accuracy of these weapons and allowed the woodsmen to hide in the forests and take out British officers from a safe distance. (Lucas A)

The differences of technology in the west versus the east led to differences in how the Revolutionary war played out in those locations. In the east, the colonists were up against a superior amount and quality of British weapons, leading to the deaths of many. A decisive colonial victory did not come until the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. In the west, however, the colonists were up against mainly Native American tomahawks (from the Senecas, Mohawks, Cayugas, and Onondagas). Consequently, George Rogers Clark was able, with only 175 men, to capture British forts in "quick succession." (Sarah E.)

Conflict and Cooperation 

On April 19, 1774 a war broke out between the american colonists and the British emipre at Lexington and Concord. With the first shots fired by the British and then followed by colonial resistance, the american revolution broke out. Following this first skirmish, the colonists were greatly loosing until they changed their battle plan. They started to use gurilla warfare buy picking off the officers leaving the soldiers with no command. Following the battle of saratoga, the turning point in the war, the French decided to help the americans. General Cornwallis suredderd at Yorktown on october 19, 1781, this was the beginning of the end. Fighting continued but eventually, the British and Americans finally stopped fighting and signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783. America abandoned its former allie France, was given more land from the British and agreed to not penilize the loyalists. However, they did not follow this part of the agreement. (Haley C)    

The Battle of Yorktown in 1781 was an important battle. It shows a definite conflict and a cooperation of the weaker side. At this battle, the French were going to attack the British General Charles Cornwallis and his army at the Chesapeake. The French went by sea route to head them off, and told the colonists to come along as well. Cornwallis and his men were surrounded: colonists by land, French by sea. Cornwallis was forced to surrender his 7,000 men. The conflict arose, and the English backed down and cooperated. (Marisa C.)

Geography and the Environment

The colonists did not have many advantages during the Revolutionary war; they were untrained, did not have much financial support, and did not have enough supplies. However, one huge advantage to them was the environment and their willingness to break the rules of traditional warfare. They knew the land better than the British who were accustomed to living 3,000miles away. In addition, they used the dense forests as cover for sharpshooters to fire at the unexpecting British troops, who were used to combat in an open field. however, the environment did not always aid the colonial army. Washington's troops spent the winter of 1777-1778 in Valley Forge, where many soldiers died of malnutrition, hypothermia, and smallpox. (Keara T.)

Political and Social Systems

Prior to the Revolution, the colonies began to develop ideas of democracy even though they were still ruled by the British monarchy. Slowly, they began to become more democratic, starting with the House of Burgesses in 1619 to town hall meetings to the first and the second continental congresses in 1774 and then from 1775 to 1781. Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, published in 1776, wanted a republican government, which gained popular support throughout the colonies. With the end of the war, the Articles of Confederation was draw up as a new and democratic system of government. This system failed and eventually, the current government with the Constitution was created. (Haley C) 

The British had a huge advantage over the colonists in the Revolutionary War because they had a preexisting army. Britain was an established nation with the money to pay their fully trained soldiers. In contrast, the colonial soldiers were often volunteers who lacked proper training and supplies. During the war most British soldiers had six times more training than a colonial soldier. This is why Baron Von Steuben's training was of such importance to the rebel army. (Keara T.)

From the Treaty in Paris of 178, The americans had announced their freedom from 'Mother England'. The consequences had home made a huge impast socially. After the war, woman had proved to show a big role in providing so much for the war cause. Thus, women earned more respect. Free blacks at this time had moved to many different places and/or became enslaved by different owners. Loyalists who supported Britian before were heavily scrutinized against. Also, after this time some parts of the colonies had took the idea of a Democratice Republic into account. (Kristine E)

Civil Rights and Liberties

Despite the fact that the colonists were fighting for freedom from Britain, some of the key civil rights and liberties, especially towards women and african americans changed very little. The Declaration of Independence says that all men are treated equal and are given the 3 natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, this apparently does not include women and African Americans. Slavery was not outlawed and was put aside as a question to figure out later. Women held the same status as before the war, housework. They could not own property or apply for a divorce and were under the complete control of their husbands. With they war however, both groups began to want these new rights that their men peers were fighting for. (Haley C)

John Locke wrote Second Treatise on Civil Government in 1690. It outlined how a government should be set up and what rights every subject should be entitled with. The ideas included the natural rights of life, liberty and property and the natural right to rebellion for when a government oversteps its proper function and becomes a tyranny. The idea is that rebellion can be avoided as long as the government respects the rights of its citizens. These ideas drastically influenced American political policy and were fundamental parts of the Declaration of Independence. (Brian P.)

Economic Development

In 1776, Adam Smith wrote Wealth of Nations. It demonstrated the perks of capitalism and formulated the idea of a free economy. This was a sharp difference from Mercantilism which was based on loyalty to the mothercountry and trade to benefit it, not trade to benefit each country for itself. Free competition would result in greater income for everyone, not just the rich. This became the cornerstone of America once it separated from Great Britain. (Brian P.)

Cultural Diversity

The war fought in the West during the American Revolution was very different from that fought along the eastern seaboard of North America. In the east, battles were, if not planned, not a complete surprise. At Lexington and Concord, the British had marched in anticipating a fight, and of course the colonists had been pre-warned by Paul Revere with his famous quote, "The British regulars are coming." The two sides were very well-defined, with the British in their proud red coats and straight lines and the colonists in their weathered and worn farmer gear. In the west, however, it was a different story. Life on the frontier was more rough and tumble, and European settlements were few and far apart. The western lifestyle was very different from the sometimes aristocratic lifestyles of large planters or wealthy merchants in the east. Western colonists were often poverty-stricken former indentured servants, like Nathaniel Bacon, who had learned to defend themselves against the ever-present Native American attacks and were unafraid to stir up a riot. The British regulars, not surprisingly, did not dare to venture very far westward, and so Loyalists and Native Americans loyal to the British crown took matters into their own hands. Rather than planned, almost gentlemanly, battles, there were scalpings of colonists (which "the bloody year" of 1777 refers to) and further terrorizing of colonists by Loyalist Native Americans like the Anglican convert Joseph Brant. On the other hand, colonists fought back with surprise attacks, one of the most notable being the 1778-79 surprise assault of three forts by Patriot George Rogers Clark. (Sarah E.)