APUSH Terms 6-8

King Louis XIV

After his coronation at just five years old, he would go on to reign over France for-seventy two years. Through his yearn for empirical expansion, the French would continue to seek establishments in the New World, and he would directly control the government of New France.

Samuel de Champlain

As this leader’s energy and military experience resulted in the early establishment of Quebec, he came to be referred to as the “Father of New France”. Quebec was additionally strengthened as a result of the mostly amicable relationship that he established with the Hurons.

Huron Indians

These tribes resided in close proximity to where the French would proceed to establish the settlement of Quebec. They allied themselves with the French, especially in order to fend off their enemies of the Iroquois.

Protestant Huguenots

This was a religious group of Protestants in France who faced violent persecution. This was exemplified on St. Bartholomew’s Day of 1572, when over ten thousand Huguenot men, women, and children were murdered. Though they were denied refuge in New France, they were eventually granted limited toleration in 1598 with the passage of the Edict of Nantes by the crown. 

Jesuits

Often in the New World, these French Catholic missionaries worked to convert Native Americans in order to save them for Christ. Though their efforts were minimally fruitful, and they were occasionally tortured by Natives, their work was essential in understanding the geography and nature of New France through their explorations.  

Antoine Cadillac

He is the French explorer who is credited with the founding of Detroit. Though he served as the Governor of Louisiana, he is best regarded for his work, through establishing the city, of securing empirical holdings for the French.   

Robert de La Salle

He was the French explorer who was tasked with traveling down the Mississippi River in order to observe Spanish expansion into the Gulf of Mexico region. He named the basin where the gulf and the river met Louisiana after King Louis XIV, but after returning to the Gulf of Mexico three years later with four ships and intentions to colonize the Mississippi Delta, but landed in Spanish Texas instead, and was murdered by his own men.

George Washington

He first began to gain military prominence when at twenty-one, he was urged by the Governor of Virginia to secure landholdings in Ohio County by leading militiamen as a lieutenant colonel. Though his men killed the leader of a French military detachment they encountered forty miles from Fort Duquesne, they were later forced to surrender the hastily constructed Fort Necessity with full honors of war. This event catalyzed the French-Indian War, where Washington would play an essential role in securing British victory under the leadership of General Braddock. 

William Pitt

This superlatively appointed leader, known as “The Great Commoner,” who after rising to a position of leadership in British Parliament, emphasized the necessity of focusing attacks on French Canada. Through launching attacks on Fort Louisbourg and Quebec, Britain eventually emerged as the dominant power in the New World. 

General Braddock

He served as the initial military leader for the British during the French-Indian War, but was disliked for his antiquated tactics and poor temperament. Due to poorly disciplined soldiers and a grueling pathway as a result of heavy artillery, he was lethally defeated by a French-Indian ambush on his path to Fort Duquesne. 

Ottawa Chief Pontiac

In order to obtain French favor and the resultant security for his tribes which it would provide, this chief decided to lead tribes and French traders in a violent campaign to drive the British out of Ohio country. Over the course of the campaign, Detroit was besieged along with all but three British outposts west of the Appalachian Mountains: causing the death of around two thousand soldiers and settlers. 

Daniel Boone

He was a pioneer who exemplified courage in exploring west of the Appalachians into Kenntucky and Tennessee. Through his actions, the foundation for westward expansion was laid.

Edict of Nantes

This was a proclamation granted by the French crown which granted limited toleration to the Protestants within the country. As a result of the measure taken in 1598, religious wars in France ceased, permitting the rise of the country to become one of the most powerful countries in Europe.  

Join or Die

 This was a cartoon published by Benjamin Franklin in the Pennsylvania Gazette which depicted the separate colonies as parts of a disjointed snake. Through this cartoon, especially with the gathering of the Albany Congress shortly after, he intended to depict that the colonists were stronger together and better contenders against the French when they unified.

Buckskins

These were undisciplined militiamen who served under General Braddock in the French-Indian War. They earned the contempt of the General, especially as they failed to overcome the guerilla warfare tactics of their French and indigenous peoples opponents.    

Treaty of Paris 1763

After this agreement to ceasefire in the French-Indian War was signed, many interior tribes of North America were disadvantaged. They were deprived of their weapon of feeding off European rivalries and would have to exclusively negotiate with the British, as Spain and France had withdrawn entirely from North America. Additionally, this treaty caused the French in Canada to become a minority, the French to cede trans-Mississippi-Louisiana lands to the Spanish, and for the Spanish to exchange the British with Florida for Cuba.

Proclamation of 1763

This was an initiative passed by the British to prevent colonists from partaking in further westward expansion. Settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains were expressly prohibited, with the additional intent of preventing any further uprisings between Native Americans in the British like that of Pontiac's.

Quebec

 This was the first permanent colony established in North America in 1608. Through Samuel de Champlain’s leadership and friendly relationships with the nearby Hurons, this settlement was the first in France’s empirical expansion of New France in the New World.

New France

France’s colonial landholdings in North America consisted of the Canadian settlements of Montreal and Quebec, along with the extensive territory from the St. Lawrence River, along the Mississippi, until the eventual basin of the Gulf of Mexico. Though they found economic success through the fur trade and hunting beavers, the French were eventually driven out of North America by the 1763 Treaty of Paris as they succumbed to the English in the French-Indian War.

Detroit

This settlement was founded by the French explorer named Antoine Cadillac in 1701. Known as the “City of Straits,” it was eventually besieged by the British and the Ottawa Pontiac chief in 1763.

Louisiana

After the Quebecois French were forced to relocate, many found a tight-knit community in Louisiana, which would come to be known as a place belonging to the Cajuns. Though Louisiana would pass through the claims of the Spanish, French, and American, the culture remains isolated to this day.  

Louisbourg

 This was a French fortress that was located on Cape Breton Island, and controlled the approach of travelers from the St. Lawrence River. After being seized by the British, returned to the French in 1748, it eventually fell to the English after a 1758 attack that was orchestrated by William Pitt.

Ohio Valley

This area of land, located in close proximity to the Great Lakes, was immensely contentious for the English and French. Due to both powers desiring the land for their colonial pursuits, tensions heightened to the point of the eruption of the French-Indian War in 1754.   

Fort Duquesne

This was a French military fortress which was positioned at the point of intersection of the Monongahela and Allegheny Rivers. The French-Indian War began over the fortress as the English sought to capture the landholding, but were forced to surrender, catalyzing the conflict. 

St. Bartholomew’s Day

This day saw the culmination of the clash between Roman Catholics and Protestant French Huguenots. In 1572, over ten thousand men, women, and Huguenot children were violently massacred as a result of their religious beliefs.

King William’s War

This was one of the primitive conflicts between European powers for land in North America, which took place from 1689-1697.

Queen Anne’s War

This war took place from 1702-1713, which was fought between the British colonists, French "coureur de bois,” and any Native American allies which either side could obtain. Though the French torched the British frontier through guerilla warfare, the British thoroughly defeated the French and their Spanish allies which was signified with the exchange of Acadia, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay to the hands of the British. The war ended when peace terms were signed at Utrecht in 1713.

War of Jenkin’s Ear

Friction between the Spanish and English over smuggling erupted when Captain Jenkins had an ear detached at the hands of a Spanish sword. This small conflict fought primarily in the Caribbean Sea and the colony of Georgia eventually merged with the larger effort of King George’s War as it was known in America. 

King George’s War

This war, known as the War of Austrian Succession in Europe, was fought between the united sides of France and Spain against the British. With the assistance of a British fleet, New Englanders contributed to the effort by capturing Fort Louisbourg. 

Seven Years’ War

This war was fought between the French and their Native allies against the British in the colonies. It was additionally carried out in the Philippines, West Indies, Africa, in Europe, and at sea. In Europe, Britain and Prussia fought against the French, Spanish, Austrians, and Russians, where the actions taken by Frederick the Great of Germany led to Britain's eventual victory and dominance of North America. 

Battle of Quebec

This battle between the British and the French was one of the most significant in America’s history. After the conflict in 1759, Montreal eventually fell, and French authority was officially and permanently removed from North America.   

Plains of Abraham

As William Pitt appointed James Wolfe to lead the ambush on Quebec, his troops scaled the surrounding fortresses, and faced off against the French on these landholdings. Though both the British leader and French leader of Marquis de Montcalm were fatally wounded, it was at these grounds that the French eventually surrendered to the British. 

George Greenville

He was the Prime Minister of England who amassed immense disdain from the colonists. His first action which angered the colonists was ordering the Royal Navy to strictly enforce Navigation Laws in 1763. His initiative in 1764 also resulted in Parliament’s passage of the Sugar Act: the first colonial act to levy taxes for the Crown. Many were outraged that violators of his Stamp and Sugar Acts would be tried in admiralty courts with no jury. His most drastic act was the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765. He argued through “virtual representation,” that the British Parliament represented all British subjects, ignoring the cries of colonists over his seemingly unjust aggression.

Sons and Daughters of Liberty

They were groups composed of men and women who took to verbally protesting the taxation measures which were taken by the British government. They would chant adages such as “Life, Property, and No Stamps,” as they punished disobeyers of the nonimportation agreements. The mobs of patriots took to tar and feathering dissenters, robbing the houses of widely disliked officials, confiscating their finances, and hanging effigies of stamp officials on liberty poles.

John Adams

 Following the Boston Massacre in 1770, John Adams defended the accused British soldiers. Under his defense, only two soldiers were accused of manslaughter, and the rest were released after being branded on the hand. He would go on to be a member of the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began to persuade his fellow representatives to take revolutionary action.

Samuel Adams

He was considered to be a masterful propagandist and leader of rebellion against the British. Though he was considered to be unremarkable in his appearance, this man appealed to what people regarded as his "collective mob.” One of his greatest contributions was his establishment of committees of correspondence within Massachusetts. He would become of the the candidates of the first Continental Congress and would be sought after for capture after a troop of British soldiers was dispatched to Lexington, Massachusetts in April of 1775.

Marquis de Lafayette

 He was a wealthy French nobleman who left France in the spirit of adventure and was made a major general in the Continental Army. Though his commission was likely a result of recognition of his family’s influence and wealth, his services in securing further aid from France were undoubtedly vital.

Republicanism

This political ideology looked to the influence of Ancient Rome and Greece. It supported giving up all selfish and private interests for the benefit of the greater common good, resulting in a dependency for the society members and the government to depend on the courage, selflessness, self-sufficiency of the citizens. This idealism for civic involvement therefore opposed hierarchical and authoritarian establishments, such as hierarchies and aristocracies as modeled by Britain. One part of the Political Thesis.

Radical Whigs

This was the ideology that was inspired by the collective fear of liberty being threatened by the British king and his ministers in comparison to elected officials in Parliament. They saw the elite’s use of bribery and patronage as “corruption,” and would warn citizens to be on guard against it. There was an inspiration amongst citizens to be on guard against threats against their liberty and to remain vigilant in order to preserve them. This can be seen in the perpetual suspicion that was harbored against authority of the Crown and wealthy elite. One part political thesis.

Mercantilism

This was a theory that was embraced by the British in order to preserve and justify economic and social control over the colonies. The British believed, under this philosophy, that wealth is power and can be measured in the amount of silver and gold a country possesses. In order to export more than they import to achieve wealth, the British forced the colonists to provide raw goods such as sugar, tobacco, and ships’ masts, so that there would be an automatic market for finished goods exports in the colonies. Self-sufficiency and self-government hopes were thwarted as they were limited to purchase manufactured goods from the British.

Navigation Laws

This series of laws, though initially only loosely enforced, limited commerce in the American colonies. English ships were solely allowed to bring imports into England, commodities such as tobacco and sugar were only to be exported to England by the colonies, and trade with other European countries was prohibited. - 1650s

Sugar Act 1764

This act which was encouraged by Prime Minister George Grenville was the first act passed which levied taxes in the colonies for the funds of the Crown. It caused effects such as increases in the colonies such as the increased duty on sugar imported from the West Indies, and though it was eventually reduced in harshness, still outraged the colonists: especially as violators were tried in admiralty courts.

Quartering Act

This act of 1765 required colonists in certain colonies to provide food and shelter to British soldiers. In actions of protest, some colonists refused to comply or voted to only provide a fraction of the supplies which this act called for, but eventual punishment would ensue for New York’s noncompliance in 1767 with the passing of the Townshend Acts.

Stamp Act

This measure was imposed by George Grenville in 1765, and it would mandate the use of stamped paper or affixed stamps on bills of sale for about fifty trade items, from legal documents to leisure items such as playing cards. After the colonial commotion of the Stamps Act Congress, Parliament was forced to repeal the act a year later after cries for no taxation without representation had become too rowdily disturbing.

Stamp Act Congress

This assemblage was held in New York in 1765 between 27 delegates from nine different colonies. After cordial and thorough debate, the colonists drafted a list of grievances to be sent to the King of England in regards to their rights, and for Parliament to repeal the act. Though it was relatively ineffectual in the end, it was a step towards political unity in the colonies who harbored many diverse beliefs.

“taxation without representation”:

This phrase was popularized in the colonies after the passage of the Stamp Act. Though slightly ironic as many backcountry pioneers had been denied representation within the colonies, strict adherence to the principle was held as the colonists sought repeal of the acts which financially impaired them while padding the pockets of British authority.

“virtual representation”

: This was the idea expressed by George Grenville in response to the protests of taxation without representation by the colonists. He argued that the power of Parliament was undivided and supreme, and that all British subjects, including the Americans, were as a result represented in Parliament in actuality. Though colonists did not truly want representation for then they could not have reasoning to protest against disagreeable measures, they continued to express that they disagreed with the idea that they had any representation at all.

Townshend Acts

These acts which were encouraged by the British politician Charlie Townshend placed light import duties on goods such as glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. This was an indirect tax payable only at American ports, but angered colonists quickly revived nonimportation agreements. Due to the adoption of smuggling, these acts scarcely accumulated profit as less than 300 pounds were accumulated. Though they were eventually repealed in 1770, the duty on tea remained.

Non-Importation Agreements

These informal agreements reached by colonists protested against British duties by encouraging production of handmade goods instead of purchase of those manufactured in England after the passage of the Stamp Act. Violators were often punished through actions such as tar and feathering, and the agreement was revived, though less intensely, following the passage of the Townshend Acts. As a result, many English laborers lost their jobs and profits for the British reduced significantly.

Committees of Correspondence

After one was first organized by Samuel Adams in 1770 in Massachusetts, over 80 intercolonial communication organizations were established throughout the colonies. They exchanged letters expressing their discontent with the Crown, and eventually led to the establishment of central committees for each colony to exchange their ideas and grievances with each other. 

British East Indian Company

After facing near bankruptcy due to an overstock of tea and having potential detrimental effects for the British economy, they were granted a complete monopoly over tea sales in the American colonies. In protest, several colonies refused to accept the shipment of tea, but the most notable protest was in Boston where in 1773, Bostonians dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

Intolerable Acts

These were a series of acts passed by England in 1774, primarily intended to punish Boston for their rebellious actions with the Boston Tea Party. The most drastic act that was passed was the Boston Port Act which closed the harbor until damages could be paid and order guaranteed. Though they were nicknamed intolerable by American colonists, they were very limiting, as seen with limitations on town meetings, the allocation of trials to Britain as accused colonists could be tried overseas, and further alarmed many already concerned colonists.

Quebec Act

Though viewed as negative by the colonists, this law passed in 1774 was solely meant to benefit Canadians, not harm Americans. Through this law, the French within the region were permitted to practice Catholicism, retain customs and institutions, and their boundaries were expanded southward to the Ohio River. It gained American protest as they feared the expansion of land they had claimed, they disliked the demarcation of land from Protestant control to be converted to Catholic jurisdiction, and they were fearful of a lack of trials with jury and popular assembly

First Continental Congress

The first of these meetings was summoned in 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss colonial grievances. Candidates included George Washington, John and Samuel Adams, and Patrick Henry, with representatives from every colony except for Georgia. For the first deliberation period of seven weeks, discussions about revolution and compositions of papers such as the Declaration of Rights and appeals to other British American colonies as well as the King took place. The most significant action was the creation of The Association which called for a complete boycott of British goods. If colonial grievances were not addressed, the congress would reconvene in May of 1775.

Lexington and Concord

In April of 1775, a British detachment of troops was sent from Boston to Lexington and Concord to seize colonial gunpowder and the rebel leads of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Lexington militia men refused to disperse rapidly enough, and eight were killed by the British. When the British continued onto Concord, they were eventually forced to retreat after encountering too strong of resistance. In total, about seventy were killed and around 300 were wounded.

Boston Massacre

On March 5, 1770, a group of around sixty Bostonians approached a group of ten British soldiers: one was knocked down and one clubbed. Acting without orders, the soldiers opened fire and killed or wounded eleven citizens: Crispus Attucks the first. In the subsequent trial, the soldiers were defended by John Adams, and only two were proven of manslaughter. 

Benedict Arnold

He was a military leader who was first regarded for his victory alongside Ethan Allen as they captured the British garrisons at Ticonderoga and Crown’s Point in New York. He later accompanied General Richard Montgomery in their failed assault on Quebec, but he was shot in the leg. Though he thwarted the British scheme to capture the Hudson River Valley in 1777, he sold out the Continental Army for 6,300 pounds, though his intentions were exposed just in time.

Hessians

In September of 1775, in order to crush the rebellion he observed in America, King George III hired around thirty-thousand German soldiers to suppress the disorderly subjects. They were aptly named as most of them came from the region of Hess. Much like the greedy princes from which they were lent, though decent soldiers, many Hessians lacked wartime initiative and were intrigued by wealth instead. Some even abandoned the British and settled in America once they had landed overseas. This can be observed in the Battle of Trenton as the Hessians, tired by their exorbitant Christmas celebrations the previous day, were swiftly defeated. 

Thomas Paine

He came to the United States in 1775, and published the pamphlet titled Common Sense which simply worded the necessity of independence from the British Crown so that it could be widely read and received. His popularization of the idea of republicanism led to the sale of 120,000 copies.

Thomas Jefferson

After Richard Henry Lee put forth the motion in declaring independence, the task of drafting a written document containing the principles fell to this lawyer from Virginia. He included eloquent language, discussion about “natural rights,” and explained the extensive list of grievances as to why the colonists were separating from Britain. 

George Washington

He was selected by the Second Continental Congress to head the improvised colonial army which was composed of many local militias. Despite his wealth by birth and marriage, he was widely trusted by a majority of the American people. Despite initial losses at Brandywine and Germantown, his military leadership as exemplified by renewed spirits and trained men during harsh winters at Valley Forge, eventually led to the surrender of the British at the Battle of Yorktown.

Richard Henry Lee

He was a Congressional delegate from Virginia who set forth the motion on June 7, 1776, that the colonies should indefinitely become free and independent states. His motion was passed just under a month later, and his definitive action led to the formal declaration of independence of the United States of America.

General William Howe

He was a leader in the British military who was regarded for his hesitant nature, especially after the slaughter that ensued at Bunker Hill. During a British attempt to claim the Hudson River Valley, he was tasked with leading a troop through New York to meet General Burgoyne if needed. In actuality, rather than assisting Burgoyne, he embarked with the main army to attack Philadelphia and relished in leisure following victory, rather than providing necessary reinforcements. As a result, Burgoyne was eventually forced to surrender to Horatio Gates at Saratoga. 

Gen. Cornwallis

As he was forced to retreat to the Chesapeake Bay, he was forced to await reinforcements and supplies by sea. Unfortunately at the time, the French had blockaded the coast in a defensive position over the French West Indies. This general fell back to Yorktown where he completely surrendered on October 19, 1781, as he was completely surrounded by impenetrable enemy forces.  

Gen Burgoyne

He was in charge of the main force that was deployed with the British’s plan to invade and capture the Hudson River Valley. He was to lead a force down Lake Champlain, into New York from Canada. Eventually, he was forced to surrender his entire elite command to General Horatio Gates in Saratoga, New York.

Baron Van Steuben

After the Continental Army’s defeat at Germantown, this Prussian drillmaster was brought into Valley Forge to formally train the amateur soldiers. After gaining heroic status for his contributions during the war, he authored the outline for the national army regulations that would be upheld by the newly formed United States. 

General Greene

He was a Quaker tactician who became distinguishable for his strategy of advancing and retreating in order to force British delays. Due to the strategy he employed, he was eventually able to exhaust General Charles Cornwallis and drive most of the British soldiers out of Georgia and South Carolina.

Lord North

He was the prime minister of England, notoriously known for his exasperation with the conclusion of the Revolutionary War following his country’s loss at the Battle of Yorktown. Though King George III declared that his country would continue to fight, and which it did for nearly a year more, North’s ministry collapsed in March of 1782 which concluded the King’s personal Tory ruling regime.

John Jay

He was one of three American peace negotiators in France who was responsible for constructing the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1783. From New York and impulsive in nature, this man was suspicious of France’s willingness within the negotiation process, and in order to avoid France from providing the Spanish with the trans-Allegheny territory, secretly made a proposal to London, despite instructions from Congress, so that a preliminary agreement of peace was speedily drafted in 1782.

Second Continental Congress

This session of Congress convened on May 10, 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Representatives from all thirteen colonies were present and strong sentiments to reconvene with the British were harbored. They drafted new appeals to the King though measures such as raising money for military forces were also taken in anticipation of a rejection. Significant actions during this session were taken such as appointing George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army, declaring independence from England after passing the motion in June, and then finally drafting the Declaration of Independence to express the individuality of the United States. 

Declaration of Independence

This document was drafted by Thomas Jefferson in order to express the motion of declaring independence from England to the common people. The eloquently-worded announcement was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776. He appealed to the people by expressing how their natural rights were violated, grievances against the British government, and inspired unity within the now independent United States of America. 

Loyalists

These were colonists who continued to remain loyal to the British government and did not align themselves with the Patriot colonists who sought to gain independence from England. Oftentimes referred to as “Tories” for their alliance with conservative British ideals, they were older in age and wealthy in status. Though they were persecuted after the war in forms of arrest, exile, and even confiscation of property, many were able to recover their businesses and social standings after the passage of time.

Patriots

These were American colonists who encouraged the idea of separation from the authority of England. Heavily concentrated in New England but present throughout the entirety of the colonies, these “radical Whig” sympathizers were considered to be rebels by the Crown.

Armed Neutrality

This was a declaration issued by the Russian Empress Catherine the Great which loosely created a naval alliance between Russia and other European countries such as Denmark-Norway, Prussia, the Holy Roman Empire, Portugal, Two Sicilies, and Sweden, which sought to protect neutral trading rights, despite Britain’s infringements during the Revolutionary War against the Americans.

Treaty of Paris 1783

This document was negotiated by the American diplomats of John Adams, Ben Franklin, and John Jay. With the ratification of this treaty in France, the British formally granted America its independence, generous boundaries extended to the Great Lakes, Mississippi, and Spanish Florida, and provided American access to fisheries in Newfoundland. In exchange, Americans were to no longer persecute Loyalists and were to recommend to Congress to return their confiscated properties.

Treaty of Fort Stanwix

Though the Oneidas and the Tuscacaroras of the Iroquois Confederacy sided with the Americans, the remaining members allied themselves with the British. Though the British allies were continuously ushered on by Mohawk leader and Anglican convert Joseph Brant, they were eventually checked by an American force in 1779 and forced to sign this treaty to cede most of their lands in 1784.

Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill)

In June of 1775, the colonists seized what was then known as Breed’s Hill. The British floundered with their deployment of a strategy of a frontal attack, especially as militia marksmen were lethally accurate sharpshooters. Despite their eventual retreat due to a lack of gun powder, the British had substantial losses at the hands of the Americans for the first time.

Failed Invasion of Canada (1775)

In autumn of 1775, the Americans erroneously believed that they could invade Canada as the French citizens would be grateful for relief from the British oppression. This invasion of thousands of troops was considered to be one of the first offensive actions by the rebels in a previously defensive war. Generals Richard Montgomery and Benedict Arnold attempted to assault Quebec, but their attempts were thwarted as Montogomery was killed and Benedict was shot in the leg. Additionally, the Canadians did not want to become a fourteenth state like the Americans had thought as the Quebec Act of 1774 supported them rather than undermining their rights.

Battle of Saratoga

As General Burgoyne began to advance on Fort Ticonderoga once more from Montreal in 1777, he was left helpless north of Albany as General Howe had failed to provide the necessary reinforcements for the plan to have success. As Burgoyne was unable to surrender or advance, he was forced to surrender his elite command to American General Horatio Gates. As a result of American victory at the Battle of Saratoga, the French were convinced to provide what would become invaluable aid in helping the Patriots to achieve victory.

Yorktown

This was the final major battle of the Revolutionary War as General Cornwallis would proceed to surrender. As a French naval blockade rendered his troops who had fallen back to the Chesapeake Bay to be unable to receive reinforcements or supplies, Cornwallis surrendered, and though King George III would urge his subjects to continue fighting for the next year, major warfare between the British and the Americans began to slow from this battle’s end and forward.