This course is a 5-session look at the US Revolutionary War.  We will look at events that led up to the war and then the conflict itself.  The period covered will be 1754-1783 with particular focus on 1774-1781.

Session #1:  1754-1774, The French and Indian War, the Sugar Act/Currency Act/Stamp Act/Quartering Act, the Boston Massacre, the Tea Act, the Boston and Maryland "Tea Party" actions, and the First Continental Congress.

Session #2:  1775-1776, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere and William Dawes, Lexington and Concord, Ft. Ticonderoga, the Second Continental Congress, Bunker Hill, George Washington assumes command, Montreal, Common Sense, Ft. Moultrie, Declaration of Independence, Long Island, and Trenton.

Session #3:  1777-1778, Princeton, Betsy Ross and the flag, Lafayette, Brandywine, Saratoga, French intervention, Valley Forge, the role of Von Steuben, and Monmouth Court House.

Session #4:  1779-1780, John Paul Jones, Tappan Massacre, French troops arrive in America, John Andre and Benedict Arnold, Tories and the Revolution, Indians and their role,  Francis Marion, Franklin and negotiations in France.

Session #5:  1781-1783, Cowpens, Articles of Confederation, French fleet drives off the British Navy, Cornwallis and Yorktown, Savannah, preliminary Articles of Peace, Charleston,  Treaty of Paris, Washington resigns, US Constitution signed, the French and their role, and the new Nation.

My course content is very organized and very visual (lots of pictures I've taken of battlefields and re-enactors, paintings or sketches).  My courses are always very interactive.  I ask individuals students questions directly and I pose questions to the class for them to discuss.  I encourage students to offer their insights and opinions as we talk.  I try and emphasize the impact of particular events for the future.  I talk about locations worth visiting.

The prerequisite for this course would be a very basic understanding of the geography of the United States (because the events of the war jump around).  Learners should know where Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston are in relation to each other.