American Revolution

The French and Indian War left England with a huge war debt. How were they going to pay? Tax the colonists, of course!

Taxing was one source of revenue but there were other restrictions on trade and migration which would benefit the English government.

A restriction on migration included the Proclamation of 1763 which forbade colonists from settling west of an imaginary line which ran from Canada down to Georgia along the Appalachian mountains. The proclamation was supposed to protect settlers from hostile Indians as well as restrict trade between them.

Other new acts of taxation came into effect including the Sugar and Stamp Acts, Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. These acts taxed everyday items and were supposed to prevent contraband trade.

The reaction to the Stamp Act, which basically taxed anything that was printed, included rioting and threats of revolution. The Stamp Act was repealed and replaced with the Townshend Act.

In reaction to the Townshend Act, Colonists boycotted English made goods.

In 1770, Bostonians feel that the British troops are more of a threat than protection. A crowd of angry civiliants taunt British soldiers that are guarding the Boston Customs House. The soldiers fire on 11 of them resulting in 5 deaths including Crispus Attucks, the first African-American killed in the American Revolution. This incident served as propaganda for anti-British colonists.

In reaction to the tea tax, a group of colonists disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians and boarded three ships carrying tea. They then dumped the tea into Boston Harbour. This would later be known as the Boston Tea Party.

Boston Merchants offered to pay for the tea but England passed a set of four new laws to punish the colonists for the lost tea and revenue collectively known as the Coersive Act.

The Coersive Act included: The Boston Port Act, The Massachusettes Government Act, The Impartial Administration of Justice Act and The Quartering Act.

England Passed a 5th law, The Quebec Act, that allowed French Canadians (now British Citizens) to continue their way of life. This was an act to prevent an uprising in Canada.

The four laws of the Coersive Act plus the Quebec Act were known as the Intolerable Act.

The First Continental Congress met in Philadelpha in September of 1774 and produced a "Declaration of rights" that asked for Peace, Liberty, and Security.

As the revolution begins colonists form Militias, citizen soldiers, and Minutemen, militia units ready to respond on a minute's notice to any threat from British troops

In 1775, the British are marching toward Concord, Massachusetts to search for a suspected munitions storage site. The minutemen are warned by Paul Revere, William Dawes, and a third rider, Dr. Samuel Prescott.

The minutemen meet the British troops at Lexington and skirmish with them. This is the first battle of the American Revolution and the "Shot heard around the world".

To help suppress the revolution, Lord Dunmore passes a proclamation offering freedom to all "indented servents, nergroes, or others, who would help put down the rebellion"

The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775 and had two main goals: raise and supply and army and explore reconciliation with England.

The Second Continental Congress also chose George Washington as the Continental Army's Commander.

June 1775- Bunker Hill. The battle started at Breed's Hill and while the British lost more men, they were still victorious. The Continental soldiers volleyed at close range making their aim deadly.

The "Tyrant" we were fighting against was King George III.

On July 4, 1776, a formal statement was adopted by the Second Continental Congress declaring independence from England. The author was a young Virginian named Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration of Independence listed justifications for rebellion and declared the colonies to be independent of Britain.

On December 26, 1776, Washington captured a Hessian garrison wintering in Trenton, New Jersey. Hessians were soldiers hired by the British to fight the American rebels.

Reconciliation came in the form of the Olive Branch Petition. It was rejected by England.

The Boston Massacre was only one form of justification for independence. A pamphlet called "Common Sense", written by Thomas Paine, aka T Paine, laid out a lively and compelling case for independence.

Here are some of the revolutionary population:

Militia- citizen soldiers

Regulars - full-time soldiers

Loyalists - those loyal to England, aka "tories"

One man's hero is another man's traitor. And so was the case of General Benedict Arnold who took command of West Point only to have planned on surrendering it to the British. His plan was revealed when his courier was captured. Arnold then served in the British Army but was never trusted.

The Battle of Saratoga was a decisive American victory. After battles along the Hudston river, the British surrendered. This battle influenced the French to formally sign an alliance with the Americans and join the war.

The winter of 1777 -1778 at Valley Forge, PA was hard on the Continental Army. 2,000 men died from sickness and 8 to 10 men deserted per day. Most were starving and barefoot in the frigid cold winter.

Baron Friedrich von Steuben from Prussia helped train the Continental Army. The army had received money, loans, uniforms and weapons from other sources--France, Spain, Holland. Strict military training was lacking in the Continental Army and von Steuben's training changed them into professional soldiers.

With France as an American ally, Spain also joined in the war as an ally to France because of the Bourbon Family Compact. Both France and Spain were ruled by the same family, the Bourbons.

Spain's role in the American revolution included the blockade of the Mississippi River and fighting the British in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Governor Bernardo de Galvez, namesake of Galveston, was successful in defeating the British at the Battle of Saratoga which gave Florida back to Spain.

General Cornwallis, the commander of the British Army was outnumbered and out of provisions when General Washington and Compte de Rochanbeau from France met him at Yorktown, Virginia. Cornwallis surrendered and instead of surrendering his sword to Washington in person, he sent his second in command. Washington did the same.

Fighting would go on for another two years around the world: Caribbean, Atlantic, and India.

The treaty that ended the war and gave America its independence was the Treaty of Paris 1783.