American+Revolution

The American Revolution refers to a series of civil, political, and eventually military conflicts between the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. This series of events started when Britain imposed duties upon the residents of the Thirteen Colonies in order to compensate for losses during the Seven Years War, which depleted Britain of much of its resources. The colonists were required to pay taxes on, among other things, sugar, stamps (required on newspaper, documents, etc) and tea. They refused to comply, as they insist that it violates their rights as Englishmen to be taxed without representation. ** Equilibrium (1): ** After the colonization of New England (America), the British left the colonists without support, taxes, etc. due to the impractical distance between the two. This allowed the American colonies to develop their own political, economical, social, and commercial systems. That freedom, however, only lasted about 143 years until after the Seven Years War between Britain and France. After the war, Britain, despite its victory, is economically devastated. The Britain government saw the colonies in America as a much ignored opportunity to restock its treasury and diminish national debts, and began to pass acts after acts of taxation upon them. Due to the long isolation between the colonies and Britain, however, the colonies had no representatives in the British parliament. The majority of the colonists saw that as an unreasonable deed of the British, to influence them without so much as allowing a representative into the parliament. Because of that, the colonists started rebelling against the taxes by a variety of actions that include but are not limited to smuggling, boycotting taxed products, and encouraging consumption of smuggled products. The variety of rebellious actions from the colonists eventually stimulated military tension between the two factions. The British sent army and navy forces to enforce the tax, and several colonist militias have formed in America. The rebellious actions had also forced Britain to repeal some of their acts of taxation, only to be later replaced by new ones. The British military forces in America started perceiving the colonist militias as a threat, and decided to disarm the militias by capturing some military supplies in Concord, which resulted in the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19 1775. ** The Incident (2) ** The first shots starting the revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts. On April 18, 1775, British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition the colonists had stored in the town of Concord, just outside of Boston. They also planned to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, two of the key leaders of the patriot movement. The Battles of Lexington & Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the kingdom of Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the mainland of British North American. Dr. Joseph Warren learned of the British plans and sent Paul Revere to alert John Hancock and Samuel Adams. Paul Revere promised to warn them when the British soldiers started to march. Since he wasn't sure that he would be able to get out of Boston with the message, he made plans to alert people by putting lanterns in the Old North Church steeple. He would light one lantern if the British were coming by land and two lanterns if the British were coming by sea. It was on the evening of April.18th, the British troops were ferried across the Boston Harbor. So, Paul Revere hung up two lanterns in the Church steeple. Then Paul Revere, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott rode to warn the colonists that the British were coming. Paul Revere rode to Lexington and alerted Samual Adams and John Hancock. By the time the British soldiers reached Lexington, Samual Adams and John Hancock had escaped. The colonists had been expecting a fight with the British. They had organized a group of militia, called the Minutemen. They were called Minutemen because they needed to be prepared to fight on a minutes’ notice. When the British soldiers reached Lexington, Captain Jonas Parker and 75 armed Minutemen were there to meet them. The Minutemen were greatly outnumbered. The British soldiers fired, killing 8 Minutemen and injuring 10 others. Although Paul Revere was captured by British scouts before reaching Concord, other messengers managed to get through and warn the people. While the British soldiers continued on their way to Concord, the men and women of Concord were busy moving the arms and ammunition to new hiding places in surrounding towns. When the soldiers arrived they were only able to destroy part of the supplies. ** Counter Balance (3): ** After the battle of Lexington and Concord, the British realized how extensive the militia threat was. Boston was under siege, and the British forces cannot move freely as the colonists set numerous blockades along the roads in and out of Boston, which contained the largest concentration of British military presence. As a response, about 4500 British soldiers were sent to America by sea, to reinforce the 4000 already there. They then attacked a militia position near Boston on Breed’s Hill in June 1775. The position was ultimately taken, but the British lost far too many men for this to be considered a victory. The battle came to be known as the bloodiest battle in the American Revolutionary War, and was named after the nearby Bunker Hill. George Washington was assigned the new Commander in Chief of the colonial army, also known as the Continental Army, before the battle of Bunker Hill, but didn’t arrive to take command of his forces until July 1775. After he took command, he immediately realized his forces were largely lacking gunpowder and other supplies. Washington started exploring new sources of supplies such as raiding enemy supply dumps, manufacturing and importing from other countries; most notably France, which supplied the Continental Army with about 2000000 pounds of gunpowder. To put it in contrast, that was 90% of the gunpowder the Continental Army received. The siege of Boston lasted through the winter of 1775. In March 4 1776, the Continental Army deployed artillery outside of Boston, overlooking the British positions, and the British were forced to withdraw. Their city surrounded, their only means of escape was by sea. They sailed out to Nova Scotia, Canada, which was under British control. After the retreat, the British presence in America was all but purged. Neither British loyalists nor the British army held any significant ground. The British was, however, massing their navy at Nova Scotia where their forces retreated to, in hopes of a return by force. The British massed their forces until they made their return in late June 1776. They established their headquarters on July 2 1776 in New York. On the same day, the second Continental Congress voted on independence and two days later, they signed on the Declaration of Independence, and the colonies declared themselves a nation under the name United States of America. The Declaration of Independence announced separation from Great Britain of the Americans. The British did not accept this, and in turn increased the military power sent to America. Far before the British landed back, George Washington foresaw the offensive to take place in New York, due to its strategic importance. Almost right after the British retreat from Boston, he started sending forces, there for defense. Charles Lee, George Washington’s second in command was in charge of the defenses against the British. He realized, however, that since New York was a coastal city, and that British had naval superiority, and the British still held New York Harbor, holding the city will be impossible. Over one month after the British Landing, they attacked Long Island on August 27 1776. The attack included a main force and another flanking force to hit the enemy on the side. The flanking force, which snuck into position the previous night, proved to be extremely effective and the British won the battle with only about 400 casualties compared to the American 1300 +. This attack was led by, among others, General Charles Cornwallis, General William Howe, and Admiral Lord Richard Howe. After the battle, a brief conference was held at September 11 1776, where Admiral Howe met with John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Edward Rutledge from the Second Continental Congress. The conference’s intends were to resolve the revolution without further violence, but due to Admiral Howe’s lack of political power, this was not achieved. The meeting took place at Billop Manor, which was the residence of Colonel Christopher Billop and lasted three hours. Three days after the conference, the British forces seized control of Manhattan, forcing the Americans to retreat out of New York to Harlem. After the British captured Harlem as well, the Americans retreated through New Jersey. General Howe, after reinforcing his positions in New York, sent Cornwallis to chase the fleeing Americans. By the end of the battles in New York, George Washington was left with few men and resources. He was also losing population support as more and more residents joined the British cause after the capture of New York. As a method to inflict damage to the British and boost morale, George Washington planned several surprise attacks. The most famous of which was the crossing of Dalaware River, where Washington stealthily crossed the Delaware River to attack the British outpost on the other side. The attack took place at Christmas day, when the British were least defended, and ended in capturing nearly nine hundreds British soldiers. After the sneak attacks, the Americans were able to drive the British out of New Jersey in early 1777. The British, now in control of New York, and will hold then until the end of the war, when they were forced to pull out. Britain forces then attempted to capture Hudson River, which was strategically important as it will provide a water route. The primary push of forces from British was led by Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York. The British sent General Burgoyne came from Canada with 7,700 troops to take control of the Hudson River Valley. Another group of British troops led by Lieutenant Colonel St.Legar and General Howe were to join him and they were to attack together. Before St.Legar could join Burgoyne he ran into Benedict Arnold and his American militia which forced him to retreat, General Howe was fighting with Washington’s forces at the Battle of Brandywine and then at the Battle of Germantown which kept him from joining Burgoyne. Burgoyne attacked American forces at the Battle of Oriskany but he was driven back, Burgoyne attacked again at the Battle of Bennington but once again he was driven back, Burgoyne attacked for the third time at the Battle of Saratoga where he was eventually defeated and was forced to surrender. After the Battle of Saratoga, the Congress decided to seek French support in the war. Benjamin Franklin who could speak French met with King Louis the 16th and the French foreign minister. France wanted revenge on the British after the defeat in the French and Indian War, and wanted to ensure that the Americans and British don’t resolve their problems. So on February 1778 America and France signed a treaty that put France at war with Britain. This treaty was the first document that officially recognized American as an independent nation. Spain an ally of France entered the war a year later. This was troubling for Britain who now had to defend their own country from French and Spanish attacks. British Generals Clinton and Cornwallis sailed from New York with a fleet of 90 ships and 850 soldiers to take control of the south. After several victories Clinton returned to New York and left Cornwallis in command. Cornwallis then attacked General Gates and defeated him in August 1780. General Gates was then replaced by General Nathanael Greene on October 1780. Greene used a hit and run method which forced Cornwallis to retreat back to Yorktown. By 1781 American forces managed to force Cornwallis into Yorktown, Virginia. French Admiral de Grasse sailed to Chesapeake Bay and defeated the British navy. Grasse then positioned his fleet and began bombarding Cornwallis forts and troops. Cornwallis was trapped between the French and Americans. ** Equilibrium (4): ** The end of the American Revolution was at Yorktown, Virginia. The British might not have surrendered if they weren't surrounded by Americans on land and by the French in the ocean. France's Admiral de Grasse arrived in time to block a British fleet that was coming to rescue Lord Cornwallis from French and American land forces. One September.15th, 1781, de Grasse's fleet moved out of Chesapeake Bay to face the attacking British ships. When they realized that the French blockade could not be broken, the British fleet sailed back to New York leaving Cornwallis' army with no other choice, but to surrender. During the 20-day siege, 16,000 French & American soldiers closed in on the 8000-man British force. The redcoats (British) surrendered on October.19, 1781. When the British had surrendered, Cornwallis was so embarrassed that he sent his second in command, so Washington had to also send his second in command. When the British heard of their loss in Yorktown, the House of Commons was in an uproar. They were concerned of losing the war, British prime minister North resigned and was replaced by Lord Shelborne who wanted to negotiate an end of the war. He sent Richard Oswald to meet with the American representatives Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay. The Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3rd, 1782. The treaty was ratified on April 17th,1783 and officially recognized American Independence. Under the terms of the treaty Britain was to recognize the independent nation of the United States of America, Britain agreed to remove all of its troops from America. The treaty also set many new boarders for America, The United States agreed to pay all existing debts back to the British and let all the British troops in America to return to Britain. They also agreed to let any of those who left America to return. [] **American Revolution Quiz ** 1, What were the colonists and the British disagreeing about that eventually led to the revolution. Taxation without repersentation. 2, What was the Boston Massacre, what happened there? An open protest where 5 civilians were killed. 3,Who was the British General who sent 700 men to destroy guns and ammunition of the colonists stored in the town of Concord? General Thomas Gage. 4,How many lanterns did John Revere hang in the Church Steeple? Why that many? Two, because the British came by water. 5, The British retreated from Boston in the spring of 1776, why? It was impossible to hold their position with American artilleries intact. 6, Who was assigned commander of the American Forces and took command after the battle of Bunker Hill? George Washington. 7, When was the Declaration of Independence signed? July 4 1776 8, What was the crossing of Delaware River, what was Washington trying to achieve? A surprise attack on a British outpost. Washington was trying to boost morale of his army. 9, How many troops did Burgoyne bring to take control of Hudson River Valley? 8000 men. 10, The French joined the war in February 1778. Why did they join, and how did this influence the war? Because they think Americans had the ability to win as proved in Battle of Saratoga. It gave America the advantage in the war. 11, What kind of tactic did Nathanael Green use to force Cornwallis into Yorktown? Hit and run. 12, General Cornwallis’ forces were driven to Yorktown, where he surrendered. Why did he surrender? Why did he not attempt a retreat to New York? He could not retreat, as he was surrounded by Americans by land and French by sea. 13, Where was the treaty that ended the Revolutionary War signed? Paris. (the Treaty of Paris) 14, In your opinion, how did the revolution change America? For better or for worse? Why? (two marks) Varies, one mark each for opinion and reason.
 * The American Revolution: **