Defeat This Quiz on the American Revolution

Leading up to and during the American Revolution, the political heart of the colonies was in Philadelphia. Both the First and Second Continental Congresses convened in the Pennsylvania capital and the Declaration of Independence was drafted there. British general William Howe took the city in September 1777, but congress retreated in time, and Howe returned to New York eight months later.

Every cause has a rallying cry, and for the American Revolution that cry was Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense.” Even as battles broke out between Britain and the colonies during 1775, many Americans hoped to make amends with the crown. Then, in January 1776, Paine’s 47-page pamphlet detailed the myriad injustices of British rule in the colonies, and turned the tide of public opinion against the British.

After the end of the Revolutionary War’s, continental officers formed a fraternal hereditary group known as the Society of the Cincinnati. The group gets its name from Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, a statesman during the Roman Republic who, after serving as dictator during Rome’s most desperate hour, resigned peacefully and returned to farming. Cincinnatus was idealized for his republican ideals and noble spirit.

An intellectual movement spanning both the 17th and 18th centuries, the Enlightenment provided the philosophical underpinnings for the American colonies’ call to revolution. Founding fathers such as Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin embodied the ideals of the Enlightenment’s religious rationalism, which is found throughout the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

On August 21, 1776, British forces landed at Gravesend in Brooklyn, and in less than a month captured the port town of New York City by crossing the East River into Kips Bay. The British used the city as its base of operations, and stayed until the war’s end in 1783. The British also occupied Charleston, Boston, and Richmond for a time, but none nearly as long as New York.

Named in honor of Benjamin Franklin (whose pen name was Richard Saunders, or "Poor Richard"), the USS Bonhomme Richard was given to Captain John Paul Jones by the French King Louis XVI. On September 23, 1779, the ship engaged with the British frigate the HMS Serapis. When asked to surrender, Jones famously replied “I have not yet begun to fight!” After his stunning victory, Jones transferred his crew to the captured Serapis and the Bonhomme Richard sank the next day.

A soldier and frontiersman, Ethan Allen was the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, a patriot militia who famously captured Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York in May 1775 — more than a year before the Declaration of Independence. However, during the majority of the war, Allen toiled to secure the future of Vermont, a French portmanteau of “vert” (green) and “mont” (mountains).

At the beginning of the American Revolution, William Howe served as the commander-in-chief of British land forces in the colonies, but was eventually replaced by Henry Clinton. Charles Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans during a prolonged siege at Yorktown. However, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, was a pivotal commander during the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815).

Without the American victory at Saratoga, there would possibly be no United States today. The Battle of Saratoga began with a British victory under the command of General John Burgoyne. But when the Americans returned with a larger force, Burgoyne surrendered his entire army on October 17, 1777. The stunning victory convinced the U.S.’ biggest ally, France, to join the cause.

On March 26, 1777, 19-year-old French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette left France to either “conquer or perish” for the American cause. He arrived three months later in South Carolina, joined the Continental Army as a volunteer Major General, and saw his first battle in September that same year. After the war’s end, Lafayette sailed back to a country in the throes of its own revolution.

Boston patriot Paul Revere was the founder of the first American spy network, but he’s perhaps best known for his famous “midnight ride” on April 18, 1775, to warn fellow patriots about the coming British forces. His ride was immortalized in Henry Longfellow’s 1861 poem “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which, though containing some historical inaccuracies, secured Revere’s legacy for centuries to come.

Over 12,000 Continental soldiers spent the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. While the climate was harsh and supplies were limited — thousands didn’t even have shoes — the army’s time at Valley Forge molded a ragtag band into a disciplined unit, and effectively turned the tide of the war.

Alexander Hamilton, the nation’s first secretary of the treasury, was known more for his economic prowess than his military ability. In fact, he wasn’t the first pick for the command at Yorktown, one of the decisive battles of the Revolutionary War. Hamilton was eager to prove himself in battle and convinced General George Washington to give him the role, which proved instrumental in sealing the American victory.

Inquisitive from a young age, founding father Henry Knox opened a bookstore at age 21, devouring books on famous military battles, engineering, and mathematics in order to teach himself the art of war. He joined a local militia a year later in 1772, successfully leading troops in the American Revolution, and later ascending to the secretary of war position under President George Washington.

On Christmas Day in 1776, George Washington led troops across the icy Delaware River to march on the Hessians at Trenton. Thanks to the unexpected timing of the attack and Washington’s effective flanking strategy, the Continental Army decimated its opponent, capturing over 900 Hessians while suffering just two casualties.

Unlike Spain and France, both of which sided with the American colonists, Germany sent troops to support the British Army. The largest contribution came from the state of Hesse-Cassel, which is why the Germans who served with the British were known as “Hessians.” In total, around 30,000 Hessians fought for King George III.

On December 16, 1773, a group of patriots known as the Sons of Liberty dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor, an act that cost Britain nearly $1 million in today’s U.S. dollars. The covert operation, led by patriot Samuel Adams, served as a protest against British taxation, and inspired future acts of rebellion on the road to American independence.

This famous line was uttered by founding father Patrick Henry, a key figure in the American Revolution. In a speech at the second Virginia Convention in 1775, he presented resolutions for properly equipping the Virginia militia to take on the British troops. A staunch supporter of freedom, Henry delivered the now-iconic words.

King George III was crowned in 1760 and ruled as England's monarch for 59 years. It was during his reign that the British colonies in America rebelled against taxation without representation, one of many grievances that led to the American Revolution. Fighting began on April 19, 1775. Months later, in 1776, the Americans issued a Declaration of Independence to King George III.

On June 15, 1775, just two months after the first shots of the American Revolutionary War were fired, future President George Washington accepted a leadership role as head of the Continental Army. Before serving as general, Washington was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. He was selected to lead the Continental Army in part because of his leadership in the British army during the French and Indian War of 1754.

While Benedict Arnold’s name is now synonymous with betrayal, before he became a turncoat he led American forces to significant victories. He had been given command of West Point by General George Washington, but felt he was unfairly passed over for promotion. He planned to surrender West Point, but was found out and fled to the British, guiding their troops against his previous comrades.