Alex Moon
Mr. Pecot
APUSH
10-18-14

Semester 1: Group 3 Identifications
1. Loyalists (Torries)- Colonists that were loyal to the king of England. Hated by the Patriots that would say, “A Tory is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched (hung).” The Loyalists were very common in the southern states, were the Anglican Church was common, made around16% of the total population in the Colonies, were made up of the demographic of being in the upper class during the time of the Revolutionary war, which happened in 1775-1783. (Kennedy 148-152) The Loyalists made their largest impact, because they fought against the colonists in battles such as Moore’s Creek Bridge, and they fought to convince to get the middle colonies, which were neutral on the situation believing in their cause. (Kennedy 148-152)
2. Olive Branch Petition- This petition was a result of the Second Continental Congress, which happened in July of 1775, where the delegates that were present tried to say that they would be loyal to the British crown, if the British stopped fighting. After the Battle of Bunker Hill, where about a thousand British troops perished, king George III decided that there would be no hope for reconciliation. (Kennedy 142-143) This showed once again that the Patriots didn’t want to fight, but valued their actual independence more than the fighting, which showed even more because previous attempts were made in the First Continental Congress. (Kennedy 142-143)
3. Bunker Hill- Second main battle of the American Revolution, which took place in June of 1775 on Breeds Hill. This battle started with the British launching an all out assault on the hill to the colonists that were stationed on top of it. Even though the British won the battle, due to the colonists having extremely limited ammunition, they took out about 1000 British troops, compared to the few hundred that they lost. (Kennedy 142-143) This battle was the turning point in terms of negotiations to end the war, and just give the colonists independence, due to the massive amount of British troops that were lost in this skirmish. (Kennedy 142-143)
4. Saratoga- This was an attempt for the British to take the Hudson River Valley in order to separate New England from the rest of the colonies in 1777. The British tried to do this, by sending Burgoyne, Howe’s, and St. Ledger’s armies to invade this area. In short, for a variety of reasons, Burgoyne’s army was the only one that actually made it to the area that they were supposed to meet, and he was promptly surrounded, and was forced to surrender in the battle. (Kennedy 153-155) This battle made a large difference, because this was a start of French/rest of foreign aid happening, when the colonists proved that they could actually win something. (Kennedy 155-156)
5. Hessians- They are actually German mercenaries that come from the province of Hesse, but the colonists gave the name to any European mercenary that the English hired. Most notably they failed to stop Washington at all in the battle of Trenton, which happened due to their being hung over after Christmas in 1776. (Kennedy 152) In this battle, the Hessians made the Americans make good out of a bad situation, which was the battle of Long Island, so they were able to have a moral victory, and not completely lose the faith of the Continental Army in the process. This was also the case to get the last remaining use from the soldiers in the Continental Army, due to their service time running out. (Kennedy 152)
6. Treaty of Paris (1783)- This was the peace treaty that ended the Revolutionary War in 1783. The treaty gave the Americans the independence that they wanted, as well as land around Spanish Florida as well as land around the Mississippi River. The Americans agreed not to persecute the Loyalists for their actions in the war and made the states repay some of the British debts is finally gave the Americans their freedom that they were