American War of Independence
Content
American War of Independence
Causes of the war • The conflict between Britain and her American colonists was triggered by the financial costs of the Anglo-French wars of the previous thirty years, in particular the Seven Years War (1756-63). The army in North America consumed 4% of British government spending. The British wanted to finance this cost from the Americans. The British wanted their American lands to provide raw materials to Britain and being consumers of British manufactured goods. For this reason they were imposing an increasing control and restrictions of American trade and industry. The American did not like that and wanted to be unrestricted by decisions made 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. In 1763 the British decided to limit expansion to the West by the colonists, a decision that was not liked by the Americans. In 1764 the British issued the Stamp act and the Sugar act imposing new taxes and duties in order to finance the administration and the defense of the colonies. The stamp tax was the first direct tax imposed to the colonies from London. The issue of the new tax brought forward the issue of the status of the legislative assemblies in the colonies. The British considered that they were being subordinate to Westminster. The Americans did not thing that. Because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing British Parliament, many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen. The British tried to impose new taxes and to limit the authorities of local parliaments. The American thought that the British wanted the full control of the colonies. The Americans reacted with a campaign of not importing products from Britain. This campaign created economic and social problems to the colonies. The Americans were boycotting whatever was taxed by the British including tea. On 5th March 1770 a Boston mob attacked a company of soldiers guarding the custom house. The soldiers killed five of the rioters and the incident was called thereafter the “Boston Massacre”. In 1773 the British government gave permission to export tea to America at a reduced taxation. The radicals wanted to prevent the tea to be landed and on 16th December 1773 a group of Bostonians, dressed as Indian braves, dumped thousands of pounds worth of tea into the harbor, a protest known as the “Boston tea party”. The British decided on confrontation and imposed new laws in an attempt to restore order. They also changed the constitution of Massachusetts by appointing the members of the upper house of representatives.
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The American representatives of all the colonies met at Philadelphia in September 1774 and asked the British the repeal of all colonial legislation passed since 1763. Until the withdrawal of the legislation they decided to block all imports and exports to and from Britain, to refuse to pay taxes and to prepare to resist any British troupes.
The War • The first shots of the war were fired in Lexington Massachusetts on 19 April 1775, where the British encountered a small American militia. After this incident Cage, the British General and Governor found itself frightening in Boston with an irregular but large American force. On 26th of May British reinforcements arrived in Boston. Encouraged by his reinforcements, Gage decided to strengthen his position by capturing key hills that overlooked Boston. The Americans learnt of this plan, and fortified Breed's Hill on the Charlestown peninsular north of the harbor. The resulting battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775) was a disaster for the British. Although they did manage to capture the American positions, it was at the cost of half of their force killed or wounded. Bunker Hill effectively knocked the main British army out of the war for the next year. On 15 June 1775 George Washington was appointed commander of the new Continental army, created in the same month out of the forces besieging Boston. Washington's most important contribute to the war was the patience with which he turned the forces he found outside Boston into an army that was eventually able to take on regular British troops on the battlefield. The British response to the revolt was to be directed by the new Secretary of State for the American colonies, Lord George Germain, who held the post from November 1775 until he was replaced in February 1782. The British response was to plan what was then the biggest transatlantic expedition ever carried out. Troops sent from Britain were to be sent to three separate theatres of war, there to reinforce the troops already present. The main event of 1776 was not to come on the battlefields. On 4 July 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Declaration of Independence was a momentous event. It gave clarity to the American cause that it had previously lacked, and that the British were never to gain. The main battles of the war were: 1776, August 27 Battle of Long Island, New York, British victory
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1776, September 16 1776, October 11 1776, October 28 1776, November 16 1776, December 26 1777, January 3 1777, June 21 October 17 1777, July 6 1777, September 11 1777, September 19 1777, October 4 1777, October 6 1777, October 7 1778, June 28 1779, July 16 1780, April 1-May 12 1780, August 16 1780, October 7 1781, January 17 1781, March 15 1781, September 5 1781, September 8 1781, September 28 - October 19
Battle of Harlem Heights, New York, American victory Battle of Valcour Island, New York, Draw Battle of White Plains, New York, Draw Battle of Fort Washington, New York, British victory Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, American victory Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, American victory Saratoga Campaign
Battle of Ticonderoga, northeastern New York, capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the British Battle of the Brandywine, Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, British victory First Battle of Saratoga, also called: First Battle of Freeman's Farm, New York, American victory Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, British victory Battles of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, west side of the Hudson River, British attack and victory led by General Henry Clinton Second Battle of Saratoga also called Second Battle of Freeman's Farm or the Battle of Bemis Heights, New York, American victory Battle of Monmouth, also called Battle of Monmouth Court House, Monmouth, New Jersey, Draw Battle of Stony Point, Stony Point, New York, American victory Siege of Charleston, South Carolina Battle of Camden, South Carolina, British victory Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, American victory Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, American victory Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, British victory Battle of Virginia Capes, near Chesapeake Bay, naval battle, American (French) victory Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, American victory
Why the Americans won
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A motivating force behind the revolution was the American embrace of a political ideology called "republicanism", which was dominant in the colonies by 1775. The republicanism was inspired by the "country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized that corruption was a terrible reality in Britain. Americans feared the corruption was crossing the Atlantic; the commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their rights, energized the revolution, as
Britain was increasingly seen as hopelessly corrupt and hostile to American interests. • Britain seemed to threaten the established liberties that Americans enjoyed. The greatest threat to liberty was depicted as corruption. The colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned. The Founding Fathers were strong advocates of republican values, particularly Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, which required men to put civic duty ahead of their personal desires. Men had a civic duty to be prepared and willing to fight for the rights and liberties of their countrymen and countrywomen.
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The Leaders (Founding fathers of USA)
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The Founding Fathers of the United States were the political leaders who o o o signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 took part in the American Revolution in winning American independence from Great Britain, participated in framing and adopting the United States Constitution in 17871788, participated in putting the new government under the Constitution into effect.
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The historians identified the following seven figures as the key founding fathers: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. The leaders of the revolution made the difference and won the British because they had a cause. They were fighting for liberty and a better way of life. They wanted the people to decide for their destiny.
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Causes of the war • The conflict between Britain and her American colonists was triggered by the financial costs of the Anglo-French wars of the previous thirty years, in particular the Seven Years War (1756-63). The army in North America consumed 4% of British government spending. The British wanted to finance this cost from the Americans. The British wanted their American lands to provide raw materials to Britain and being consumers of British manufactured goods. For this reason they were imposing an increasing control and restrictions of American trade and industry. The American did not like that and wanted to be unrestricted by decisions made 3,000 miles across the Atlantic. In 1763 the British decided to limit expansion to the West by the colonists, a decision that was not liked by the Americans. In 1764 the British issued the Stamp act and the Sugar act imposing new taxes and duties in order to finance the administration and the defense of the colonies. The stamp tax was the first direct tax imposed to the colonies from London. The issue of the new tax brought forward the issue of the status of the legislative assemblies in the colonies. The British considered that they were being subordinate to Westminster. The Americans did not thing that. Because the colonies lacked elected representation in the governing British Parliament, many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen. The British tried to impose new taxes and to limit the authorities of local parliaments. The American thought that the British wanted the full control of the colonies. The Americans reacted with a campaign of not importing products from Britain. This campaign created economic and social problems to the colonies. The Americans were boycotting whatever was taxed by the British including tea. On 5th March 1770 a Boston mob attacked a company of soldiers guarding the custom house. The soldiers killed five of the rioters and the incident was called thereafter the “Boston Massacre”. In 1773 the British government gave permission to export tea to America at a reduced taxation. The radicals wanted to prevent the tea to be landed and on 16th December 1773 a group of Bostonians, dressed as Indian braves, dumped thousands of pounds worth of tea into the harbor, a protest known as the “Boston tea party”. The British decided on confrontation and imposed new laws in an attempt to restore order. They also changed the constitution of Massachusetts by appointing the members of the upper house of representatives.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The American representatives of all the colonies met at Philadelphia in September 1774 and asked the British the repeal of all colonial legislation passed since 1763. Until the withdrawal of the legislation they decided to block all imports and exports to and from Britain, to refuse to pay taxes and to prepare to resist any British troupes.
The War • The first shots of the war were fired in Lexington Massachusetts on 19 April 1775, where the British encountered a small American militia. After this incident Cage, the British General and Governor found itself frightening in Boston with an irregular but large American force. On 26th of May British reinforcements arrived in Boston. Encouraged by his reinforcements, Gage decided to strengthen his position by capturing key hills that overlooked Boston. The Americans learnt of this plan, and fortified Breed's Hill on the Charlestown peninsular north of the harbor. The resulting battle of Bunker Hill (17 June 1775) was a disaster for the British. Although they did manage to capture the American positions, it was at the cost of half of their force killed or wounded. Bunker Hill effectively knocked the main British army out of the war for the next year. On 15 June 1775 George Washington was appointed commander of the new Continental army, created in the same month out of the forces besieging Boston. Washington's most important contribute to the war was the patience with which he turned the forces he found outside Boston into an army that was eventually able to take on regular British troops on the battlefield. The British response to the revolt was to be directed by the new Secretary of State for the American colonies, Lord George Germain, who held the post from November 1775 until he was replaced in February 1782. The British response was to plan what was then the biggest transatlantic expedition ever carried out. Troops sent from Britain were to be sent to three separate theatres of war, there to reinforce the troops already present. The main event of 1776 was not to come on the battlefields. On 4 July 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed. The Declaration of Independence was a momentous event. It gave clarity to the American cause that it had previously lacked, and that the British were never to gain. The main battles of the war were: 1776, August 27 Battle of Long Island, New York, British victory
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1776, September 16 1776, October 11 1776, October 28 1776, November 16 1776, December 26 1777, January 3 1777, June 21 October 17 1777, July 6 1777, September 11 1777, September 19 1777, October 4 1777, October 6 1777, October 7 1778, June 28 1779, July 16 1780, April 1-May 12 1780, August 16 1780, October 7 1781, January 17 1781, March 15 1781, September 5 1781, September 8 1781, September 28 - October 19
Battle of Harlem Heights, New York, American victory Battle of Valcour Island, New York, Draw Battle of White Plains, New York, Draw Battle of Fort Washington, New York, British victory Battle of Trenton, New Jersey, American victory Battle of Princeton, New Jersey, American victory Saratoga Campaign
Battle of Ticonderoga, northeastern New York, capture of Fort Ticonderoga by the British Battle of the Brandywine, Brandywine Creek, Pennsylvania, British victory First Battle of Saratoga, also called: First Battle of Freeman's Farm, New York, American victory Battle of Germantown, Pennsylvania, British victory Battles of Fort Montgomery and Fort Clinton, west side of the Hudson River, British attack and victory led by General Henry Clinton Second Battle of Saratoga also called Second Battle of Freeman's Farm or the Battle of Bemis Heights, New York, American victory Battle of Monmouth, also called Battle of Monmouth Court House, Monmouth, New Jersey, Draw Battle of Stony Point, Stony Point, New York, American victory Siege of Charleston, South Carolina Battle of Camden, South Carolina, British victory Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, American victory Battle of Cowpens, South Carolina, American victory Battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, British victory Battle of Virginia Capes, near Chesapeake Bay, naval battle, American (French) victory Battle of Eutaw Springs, South Carolina Siege of Yorktown, Virginia, American victory
Why the Americans won
• •
A motivating force behind the revolution was the American embrace of a political ideology called "republicanism", which was dominant in the colonies by 1775. The republicanism was inspired by the "country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized that corruption was a terrible reality in Britain. Americans feared the corruption was crossing the Atlantic; the commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their rights, energized the revolution, as
Britain was increasingly seen as hopelessly corrupt and hostile to American interests. • Britain seemed to threaten the established liberties that Americans enjoyed. The greatest threat to liberty was depicted as corruption. The colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned. The Founding Fathers were strong advocates of republican values, particularly Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, which required men to put civic duty ahead of their personal desires. Men had a civic duty to be prepared and willing to fight for the rights and liberties of their countrymen and countrywomen.
•
The Leaders (Founding fathers of USA)
•
The Founding Fathers of the United States were the political leaders who o o o signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 took part in the American Revolution in winning American independence from Great Britain, participated in framing and adopting the United States Constitution in 17871788, participated in putting the new government under the Constitution into effect.
o •
The historians identified the following seven figures as the key founding fathers: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton. The leaders of the revolution made the difference and won the British because they had a cause. They were fighting for liberty and a better way of life. They wanted the people to decide for their destiny.
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