Defining a "home front" in the Revolutionary War is difficult because so much of the thirteen states became, at one time or another, an actual theater of war. Even so, the war profoudly affected the domestic scene, and the domestic scene, in turn, greatly influenced the conduct and course of the war.
George Washington Papers
Most Native American tribes east of the Mississippi were uncertain about which side, if either, to take during the Revolutionary War, and many remained neutral. A number of tribes, however, feared the Revolution would replace the British--who had worked hard to protect their lands from colonial encroachments--with the land-hungry colonials. As a result, these tribes fought with the British or took advantage of the situation and acted against the colonists on their own. Patriots viewed the Indians as a threat throughout the war. The patriots' use of the term savages for the Native Americans gives a good indication of their overall attitude toward most tribes.
For some African Americans, the Revolution meant freedom. Because so much of the fighting in the last years of the war took place in the South, many slaves escaped to British lines. The British, hoping to weaken the American war effort, emancipated and evacuated thousands of ex-slaves. A few African Americans also won their freedom by fighting in the Continental Army despite the prejudices of patriot leaders. (This attitude changed somewhat during the course of the war.) For the vast majority of African Americans, however, the liberties touted by the American Revolution remained more promise than reality.
Women's lives were also profoundly affected by the Revolutionary War. Women whose husbands and other male relatives went to war had to assume many of their responsibilities, whether it be the farm or small business. Since Continental Army soldiers were typically drawn from the lower ranks of society, many women did not have farms and businesses to fall back on. Cities throughout the United States witnessed growing populations of impoverished women. Many women did not stay at home when their husbands went off to war. These women flocked to the army camps to join male relatives. There they helped maintain army morale while doing traditional women's chores--cooking, laundry, nursing, and so forth.
In many respects, the Revolutionary War was a civil war. First, most of the land war was fought on United States' soil. Second, somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of the population retained their loyalty to the crown. In some places, the loyalists actively opposed the patriots--through propaganda, spying, military service with the British, and sometimes insurrectionary activities. Loyalist propaganda continually planted seeds of dissention within the wider population. Patriots continuously perceived loyalist threats on the home front and actively worked to quiet the loyalists, arrest them, and confiscate their property.
Because the Continental Congress was unable to levy taxes to pay for the war, it relied on the printing press to issue nearly $250 million in paper money (the so-called Continental). The paper money was backed only by the good faith of the Congress; because of dislocations in trade and manufacturing, there was too much money competing for too few goods. The result was uncontrolled inflation. In early 1780, the Congress confessed that its money was worthless (something the people had known long before as evidenced in their popular saying "not worth a Continental").
For additional documents related to these topics, search Loc.gov using such key words as slaves, blacks, Indians (use "savages" and specific tribes such as Mohawk, Iroquis, or Six Nations), loyalists and tory, women, and economy (including paper currency, depreciation, and inflation), and use the terms found in the documents. Note that using these terms alone will produce thousands of hits each. Therefore, try to use these keywords in specific collections and with more specific modifiers, such as dates or places.
In 1777, the British were still in excellent position to quell the rebellion. Had it not been for a variety of mistakes, they probably could have won the war.
George Washington Papers
During early 1777, British officials considered a number of plans for their upcoming campaign. One they apparently decided upon was to campaign through the Hudson River Valley and thereby cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. General William Howe was to drive north from New York City while General John Burgoyne was to drive south from Canada. Meanwhile, British General Barry St. Leger would drive down the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York. The major problem was not with the plan but with its execution. Historians continue to debate whether Howe was ill-informed or simply acted on his own. Whatever the reasons, Howe decided to capture Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress, rather than to work in concert with Burgoyne and St. Leger.
Howe hoped that by seizing Philadelphia, he would rally the Loyalists in Pennsylvania, discourage the rebels by capturing their capital, and bring the war to a speedy conclusion. Washington tried to thwart Howe's plan, but Howe out-maneuvered him at Brandywine Creek and then at Germantown. While Howe's forces settled into winter quarters in Philadelphia, the Continental Army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. There, the army faced deprivation in the extreme.
Meanwhile to the north, Burgoyne and St. Leger suffered significant defeats at Oriskany, New York; Bennington, Vermont; and finally at Saratoga, New York. These American victories were critical for they helped convince France to recognize American independence and brought the French directly into the war as military allies. The French Treaty was also a result of a new British peace proposal, announced by Lord North in late 1777. The French were concerned that the Americans would agree to North's proposal since it offered them virtual autonomy within the British Empire. The French Alliance changed the face of the war for the British; the American war for independence was now in essence a world war. Even so, as many of the documents listed to the right suggest, winning the war even after the French Treaty was still not a certainty.
For additional documents related to these topics, search Loc.gov using such key words as Howe, Burgoyne, Gates, Saratoga, Philadelphia, Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, France, and Vergennes (the French Foreign Minister). Search Washington's Papers and the Journals of the Continental Congress by date (of specific battles, for example), and use the terms found in the documents to the right of the page.