The American Revolution social studies lesson for kids

The American Revolution social studies lesson for kids -  social studies skills studied in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th grades.

You may know it as the American War of Independence, but the American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 until 1783. It was a war between the 13 British colonies located on the North American continent, and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
In 1775 a group of revolutionaries seized control of the colonies and created the 2nd Continental Congress, as well as the Continental Army. In 1776, they declared independence, as the United States of America. From the year 1778, other European nations fought on the side of the Americans.
The British relied on their naval superiority throughout the war, to capture coastal cities and occupy those areas, but 90% of the population lived in the countryside and it was those areas the British were unable to infiltrate. This was because the British land army was incredibly small. It was early in 1778 that France entered the war, joining to fight with America, and over the next two years the Netherlands and Spain also joined to fight with America and France.
France’s involvement was a big factor in America’s victory, with their naval might leading to a massive victory in Chesapeake, resulting in the British Army surrendering. In 1783 The Treaty of Paris brought an end to the war, and recognized the US as a sovereign land.

A fun game on the American Revolution

It was essentially a civil war, because even though there were two sides and other countries involved- many Americans chose to fight on the side of the British. In fact, many families were torn apart by the fight (just like during the American Civil War). Without the assistance of the French, it is safe to say that Britain would have overpowered the American soldiers.
The British did have disadvantages to their military. There was a great distance between home supplies, troops, and the battleground- with both having to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This created logistical problems for fighting in cities without ports, which allowed Americans to use their local manpower and local sources, as well as a deeper understanding of the territory. The British communications were also out of date, taking 2 months to travel by ocean. So, by the time the generals were receiving their orders from Britain, the situation had already changed vastly. Continue reading below>>>

It was also a challenge to suppress rebellions, as the colonies encompassed a large area. Because of this expanse, there was no specific area which held a strategic importance. So, in previous wars when a capital was captured, the war was over. In this case, because the fight was across such a large space- a big city could be captured, but the fight continued elsewhere. It was the size of the colonies that also prevented the British from exerting control by force, as they lacked the manpower. Once they had captured an area, they had to keep their troops there to occupy the land- otherwise, the Revolutionaries would take control back. With troops being stuck in one place, they couldn’t fight elsewhere.
So, the British may have had enough troops to win on a battlefield, but they couldn’t fight on a battlefield and occupy the colonies at the same time. This was especially important once the French and Spanish armies entered the war, because it spread the British troops even thinner.