Britain had the world's strongest navy, a professional army and far more money. The Continental Army (formed in 1775) was often short of food, pay and training. How did the Americans win?
Key idea
Key moments: Washington's victory at Trenton (December 26, 1776); the American win at Saratoga (October 1777) that brought the French alliance (February 1778); the hard winter at Valley Forge (1777 to 1778); and the British surrender at Yorktown (October 19, 1781).
Why it works
The Americans did not need to conquer Britain; they needed to survive until Britain gave up. Britain had to defeat a rebellion spread across a thousand miles of coast, supplied across an ocean. Washington's strategy was to keep his army in existence, avoid a fatal defeat, and strike when he could. Each year the war went on, it cost Britain more. Saratoga showed the world that Americans could beat a British army, and France, Britain's old rival, joined the war, later with Spain as France's ally. French money, soldiers and above all ships turned the balance.
Worked example: Why was Saratoga the turning point?
In October 1777 the British general John Burgoyne surrendered his army at Saratoga, New York. Why did it matter so much?
- Burgoyne had marched south from Canada to cut New England off; the plan failed.
- More than 6,000 British and German soldiers surrendered on October 17, 1777.
- The victory convinced France that the Americans could win; France signed the Treaty of Alliance on February 6, 1778.
Answer: It brought France into the war.
Worked example: Why did Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown?
In 1781 General Cornwallis's army was at Yorktown, Virginia, on the coast. What trapped it?
- A French fleet under Admiral de Grasse won control of Chesapeake Bay (September 5, 1781), so the British navy could not rescue or supply Cornwallis.
- About 16,000 American and French troops under Washington and Rochambeau besieged the town.
- Cornwallis surrendered on October 19, 1781.
Answer: Land siege plus French sea power: neither alone would have been enough.
At Valley Forge (December 1777 to June 1778), some 1,700 to 2,500 soldiers died, mostly of disease. There, the Prussian officer Baron von Steuben drilled the army into a more disciplined force.
Common mistake
The Americans did not win mainly by beating the British in great battles; they lost many, including New York (1776) and Charleston (1780). They won by keeping the army alive, winning key fights at the right time, and gaining French money, troops and ships. After Yorktown, Britain decided the war was not worth its cost.