Early Years of the War - Part 1

What advantages did the British have in the war? [There are TWO of these QUESTIONS!]

• They had the strongest navy in the world
• They were familiar with the area and the British soldiers believed in their cause
• They had the wealth of a worldwide empire
• They got most of their supplies and soldiers in America because almost all Americans were Loyalists.

What advantages did the British have in the war? [There are TWO of these QUESTIONS!]

• They had an experienced, well-trained army
• They had Hessian soldiers who volunteered because they believed in the British cause
• Britain also had a much larger population than the United States--over 8 million people in Britain compared to only 2.5 million in the United States.
• They had allies from all European countries include France and Spain

What disadvantages did colonists suffer? [There are THREE of these QUESTIONS!]

• They had too much money and they spent it partying

• They lacked a regular army

• Almost no Americans supported the war for independence

• American soldiers also lacked military experience

• Weapons and ammunition were in short supply

What disadvantages did colonists suffer? [There are THREE of these QUESTIONS!]

• They lacked natural resources

• Many Patriots belonged to militia groups--local forces--but were volunteer soldiers who fought for short periods of time before returning home

• Not all Americans supported the struggle for independence

• They lacked information about their own lands

• They lacked a strong navy

Where were the Loyalists strongest and where were the Loyalists weakest? [READ EACH OPTION CAREFULLY!]

• Loyalists were strongest in the Carolinas and Georgia and weakest in New England
• Loyalists were strongest in the Middle Colonies and weakest in Maryland and Virginia
• Loyalists were strongest in New England and weakest in the Carolinas and Georgia
• Loyalists were strongest in Maryland and Virginia and weakest in the Middle Colonies

Why did some African Americans side with the Loyalists/British? [Select TWO correct options!] [READ EACH OPTION VERY CAREFULLY!!!!!!!!!]

• At the start of the war, the British promised to make the Africans the masters and their old owners to be their Africans' slaves
• At the start of the war, the British appealed to enslaved Africans to join them.
• Lord Dunmore, said that he would take them to England and make them British nobles
• Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, announced that enslaved people who fought on the British side would be freed, and many answered his call
• At the start of the war, the African Americans thought that the British would be kinder masters than the Americans, even if they were not set free

Some of the African Americans who sided with the British eventually gained their freedom. What were TWO places where some of them eventually go? [SELECT the TWO CORRECT OPTIONS!]

• Some would end up in France
• Some would end up in Canada
• Some settled in Madagascar in Africa
• Some would end up in Brazil
• Some settled in Sierra Leone in Africa

How was the location of the war an advantage to the Americans?

• They fought far from home and had to import supplies
• They could take supplies from their neighbors
• If their homes were destroyed there was room enough to make them somewhere else
• They were fighting on their own ground and fought with great determination to protect it

How was the location of the war a disadvantage to the British? [Select TWO CORRECT options.]

• The British were forced to ship soldiers and supplies thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean.
• The British fought on their own ground and fought hard to protect it
• The British did not want to take supplies from strangers
• The British wouldn’t mind if the war took a long time because it wasn’t happening in Britain
• The British had to wage war in a faraway land

The American’s value of liberty and personal freedom for its citizens made it difficult to fight and win the war. After throwing off the rule of the British Parliament, what were the Americans unwilling to do?

• No American would join a militia or the Continental Army
• Americans stopped paying all taxes, even to their own state legislatures
• American state militias started fighting the Continental Army as well as the British
• The Americans were unwilling to transfer power to their own Continental Congress