ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the two combatants and outlines the course and consequences of the war. The Revolutionary War was long and hard. Many Americans remained loyal to England; others remained neutral. During the French and Indian War, much of the English army's supplies were obtained from the colonies rather than from the mother country. Obviously, this was much more difficult if not impossible during the Revolutionary War. The most famous naval exploits of the war were performed by John Paul Jones, particularly the defeat of the Serapis by his ship the Bonhomme Richard. During the Revolutionary War slaves in Massachusetts and New Hampshire petitioned for their freedom, claiming that they deserved their liberty for the same reasons that other Americans were fighting for their independence.
