AP®︎ US History: Topic 3.5 Flashcards

1775 proclamation offering freedom to some enslaved people who escaped Patriot owners and entered British service

About 30,000 soldiers hired by Britain from German states, especially Hesse-Cassel, to supplement British forces

Local, short-term citizen forces that mobilized quickly, gathered intelligence, harassed British forces, reinforced the army, and made occupation difficult

National army created by the Second Continental Congress in June 1775 whose soldiers enlisted for longer service and sustained conventional resistance

Continental Army commander who preserved the army through defeats, maintained political unity, restored morale, and coordinated the allied victory at Yorktown

Strategy of avoiding decisive battle on a stronger enemy’s terms, wearing the enemy down, and preserving one’s army for continued resistance

April 19, 1775 opening battles in which rapidly mobilized Massachusetts militia made a British expedition to seize supplies costly

June 1775 British capture of American fortifications on Breed’s Hill at the cost of more than 1,000 British casualties

British commander who captured New York and later campaigned against Philadelphia instead of supporting Burgoyne’s advance toward Albany

British general whose poorly supplied 1777 advance from Canada became isolated and ended with his surrender at Saratoga

1777 American victory and surrender of Burgoyne’s army that convinced France to recognize and ally with the United States

American general who held overall command of the Patriot forces that defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga

American officer whose aggressive battlefield leadership, especially at Bemis Heights, helped force Burgoyne’s defeat

1778 agreements by which France recognized the United States and entered the war, providing loans, weapons, troops, officers, and naval power

Continental Army’s winter 1777–1778 encampment, where it endured severe shortages and disease while becoming more disciplined and cohesive

Prussian officer who standardized drill and improved the Continental Army’s discipline and battlefield coordination at Valley Forge

French nobleman who served with Washington and helped strengthen military and political cooperation between France and the United States

Dutch credit and goods aided the Americans, and open war with Britain beginning in 1780 further stretched British military and naval resources

British plan beginning in 1778 to conquer Georgia and the Carolinas by capturing key positions and mobilizing presumed southern Loyalist support

May 1780 British capture of Charleston and more than 5,000 American troops, one of the Patriots’ worst defeats

August 1780 British victory over an American army that strengthened British control temporarily but failed to end southern resistance

October 1780 Patriot militia victory over Loyalist forces that weakened Britain’s southern campaign

January 1781 American victory in which Daniel Morgan used layered militia and Continental lines and a planned withdrawal to defeat a British force

Southern commander who used mobility and attrition to preserve American forces while exhausting British troops and supply lines

March 1781 battle in which Britain held the field but suffered heavy casualties it could not readily replace, weakening Cornwallis despite his tactical victory

British southern commander whose costly campaign ended when his army became trapped and surrendered at Yorktown

French commander who led French troops south with Washington and helped coordinate the allied siege of Yorktown

French admiral whose fleet controlled the Chesapeake and prevented the Royal Navy from rescuing Cornwallis at Yorktown

September 1781 French naval victory that blocked British relief of Cornwallis and allowed allied forces to trap him at Yorktown

1781 combined American-French siege, supported by French naval control, that forced Cornwallis to surrender about 8,000 troops and broke British support for the war

Peace treaty in which Britain recognized an independent United States with territory extending west to the Mississippi River

Colonists who supported resistance and independence, sustained by beliefs in liberty, natural rights, and self-government

Colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown and provided Britain with civilian support, intelligence, and military service

Patriot encirclement of British-held Boston that ended with the British evacuation in March 1776

Heights where artillery transported from Fort Ticonderoga threatened British forces and compelled their evacuation of Boston

1776 British campaign that captured New York City and drove Washington into retreat, though his army survived to continue the war

August 1776 British victory in which Washington’s defeated army escaped capture through a nighttime evacuation across the East River

December 1776 surprise attack after Washington crossed the Delaware that captured nearly 900 German soldiers and revived Patriot morale

January 1777 American victory following Trenton that further restored confidence and encouraged continuation of the war

Spanish governor whose Gulf Coast campaigns captured British positions at Baton Rouge, Mobile, and Pensacola

Spain’s war against Britain widened the conflict, weakened British power along the Gulf Coast, and divided British resources

Commitment to liberty, natural rights, and self-government encouraged soldiers and civilians to continue the war through defeats and shortages

Civilian production, transportation, labor, money, and management of farms and businesses helped sustain the army through eight years of war