Chapter 6: The Trials of War and Path to Victory (1776–1783)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key military engagements, political leaders, financial policies, and diplomatic treaties of the American Revolutionary War.

Hessian Soldiers

German mercenaries hired by Great Britain to supplement its standing army during the American Revolutionary War.

General William Howe

British commander who captured New York City and Philadelphia but maintained restrained military tactics in hopes of political compromise, allowing the Continental army to survive.

Battle of Long Island (August 1776)

Military engagement in which British forces under General Howe defeated the Continental army, forcing Washington's troops to retreat to Manhattan and later across New Jersey into Pennsylvania.

Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776)

Surprise Christmas night attack led by George Washington across the Delaware River, forcing the surrender of 1,000 German Hessian troops.

Camp Followers

Women who accompanied the Continental army to care for soldiers, cook, and wash despite enduring severe shortages and hardship.

Radical Whig Patriots

American political figures who harbored deep suspicion of standing armies, viewing a permanent professional military force as a direct threat to republican liberty.

General John Burgoyne

British general nicknamed 'Gentleman Johnny' who led an invasion south from Quebec toward Albany but was trapped and forced to surrender at Saratoga.

Battle of Saratoga (October 1777)

Military turning point of the Revolutionary War in New York where Patriot forces under General Horatio Gates captured over 5,000 British troops and secured a military alliance with France.

Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea)

Mohawk chief and devout Church of England member who persuaded four Iroquois nations to ally with Great Britain and led devastating raids on Patriot settlements.

Robert Morris

Philadelphia merchant who served as the Continental Congress's chief treasury official and attempted to finance the war through state requisitions, foreign loans, and Continental certificates.

Currency Tax

The hidden cost paid by ordinary citizens through the rapid depreciation of paper Continental bills, which effectively financed the American war effort.

Valley Forge

Pennsylvania winter encampment (1777–1778) where 12,000 Continental soldiers suffered severe hunger, cold, and disease, resulting in over 3,000 deaths.

Baron von Steuben

Former Prussian military officer appointed as inspector general of the Continental army who instituted a strict drill system and professionalized American troops at Valley Forge.

Comte de Vergennes

French foreign minister who persuaded King Louis XVI to provide secret loans and negotiate a formal alliance with the American rebels to avenge the loss of Canada to Britain.

Treaty of Alliance (February 1778)

Formal pact specifying that neither France nor the United States would sign a separate peace without American independence, in exchange for US recognition of French West Indian conquests.

Philipsburg Proclamation (1779)

British declaration promising protection, freedom, and land to any enslaved person who deserted a rebel master.

General Nathanael Greene

Patriot commander dispatched by Washington to the South who used local militiamen and mobile tactics to wear down British forces in a war of attrition.

Francis Marion

Patriot guerrilla leader known as the 'Swamp Fox' who commanded an irregular militia brigade in successful surprise attacks against British forces in South Carolina.

Siege of Yorktown (October 1781)

Decisive victory in Virginia where combined Franco-American land forces and French naval ships under Admiral de Grasse trapped Cornwallis, forcing his surrender.

Treaty of Paris (September 1783)

Peace agreement in which Great Britain formally recognized American independence and relinquished claims to lands south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi River.