War for Independence

Here are the high points in the battles of the American Revolution: John Paul Jones on the sea, the Battle of Saratoga, the Battle of Monmouth, the hit-and-run fighting of Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and the Battle of Yorktown. But this book also highlights the role women and blacks played in George Washington’s military campaigns against the British. This funny, colorful graphic novel will excite reluctant readers, prepare students for standardized tests in history and help homeschooling parents!

Comic sample page #1: Where did the colonists stop Burgoyne?
Comic sample page #2: Why did the British get stuck?
Topics covered in this comic book
View the Teacher’s Guide for this comic

Where did American colonists stop British General Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga?

How did the French trap the British in the Chesapeake Bay before the Battle of Yorktown?

Chapter 1: John Paul Jones

Things get confusing when the shooting at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, starts the American Revolution in 1775. Who is on whose side? Many Americans want to fight for their rights, but many other Americans still support the English king. And many people from the British Isles argue against their own king and in favor of the American colonists in this civil war over rights and taxes. One of those people is a Scotsman who sneaks into the colonies just before war begins . . .

John Paul Jones includes the following topics:

How did Jones sneak into America?
How did John Paul Jones hurt the British?
How long did John Paul Jones fight?

Chapter 2: Revolutionary Women

The American Revolution is fought in the front yards of America. Many men fight for George Washington only when the battles come near their own farms. In other families, the women are left by themselves to defend the food that will keep the two armies moving. The fact that the war is so close to home is one of the colonists’ advantages – and their greatest danger . . .

Revolutionary Women includes the following topics:

Who defended the colonial homefront?
What girl took a midnight ride?
Did colonial women go undercover?
Who fed and fired on the battlefields?

Chapter 3: The Battle Of Saratoga (Grade 5)

The war for independence is looking like a war for survival. General George Washington has so far escaped any crushing defeats. There have been no big victories either. As Washington carefully guides his army between the big cities of New York and Philadelphia, a British army in Canada makes a bold push toward him through the New York woods. If the British can take the Hudson River valley, they can cut Washington off from all his New England supporters . . .

Battle of Saratoga includes the following topics:

What began the Battle of Saratoga?
Why did Americans leave Ticonderoga?
Who won the Battle of Bennington?
Where did colonists stop Burgoyne?
When did France help America?

Chapter 4: South To Yorktown

The British decide the war will end if they destroy the southern crop that pays for the colonists’ gunpowder: tobacco. Lord Cornwallis leads the redcoats on a campaign across the Carolinas. A few ragtag colonials led by Francis Marion, “The Swamp Fox,” nip at his supply lines. Cornwallis turns north to Virginia and settles at a small port town called Yorktown . . .

Battle of Yorktown includes the following topics:

Why were the British at Yorktown?
Why did Washington attack Yorktown?
Who fired at his Yorktown house?
Why did the British get stuck?
When did the world turn upside down?

War for Independence

View the Teacher Guide of this comic