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American Revolution
The Collapse of Revolt 177583 of the British North American colonies, resulting in the Colonial the establishment of the United States of America. It was caused by System: George III and the Loss colonial opposition to British economic exploitation and by the unwillingness of the colonists to pay for a standing army. It was also of America fuelled by the colonists' antimonarchist sentiment and their desire to participate in the policies affecting them. Anonymous Resentment had been growing in the American colonies from 1763 Account of the onward as a result of high-handed British legislation, like the Stamp Boston Act of 1765, and the Townshend Acts of 1767, which imposed taxes Massacre on various goods, including tea. The first casualties of the revolution occurred in the Boston Massacre of 1770, when British Captain Thomas troops opened fire on protesters. In the Boston Tea Party of 1773, Preston's protesters disguised as Indians emptied 342 chests of cheap Account of the imported tea into the harbour. In 1775 fighting broke out at Boston Lexington and Concord, and in the same year the Americans Massacre invaded Canada and George Washington was appointed Charlotte Town commander-in-chief of the America forces. The Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, but Washington's troops suffered Resolves a series of defeats at the hands of General Howe. Edmund Burke: Speech on The turning point in the war came with the decisive American Conciliation victory at the Battle of Saratoga Springs in 1777, which prompted with America the French to enter the war on the American side. American military Letters to the success culminated in British defeat and surrender at Yorktown Inhabitants of 1781. The defeat forced the resignation of the prime minister Lord Massachusetts North, one of the war's main advocates. Under the Peace of Bay Versailles, on 3 September 1783 Britain recognized the Liberty! The independence of the USA, and in return was allowed to retain American Canada and recovered its West Indian territories Revolution Paris Peace The Revolution, or War of American Independence as it is sometimes known, was the product of complex factors and specific Treaty of 1783 points of contention, but may at root be attributed to Britain's refusal Rare Map to recognize that, economically and psychologically, the American Collection Revolutionary colonies had outgrown the status Britain accorded them. America Navigation Acts and taxes The first difficulties came with the Navigation Acts , which provided a closed market in Britain to certain colonial goods but restricted colonial trade, making smuggling almost universal. The situation came to a head when the British prime minister George Grenville clamped down on the colonies, insisting that the Navigation Acts be strictly enforced. He proposed that a standing army be garrisoned in the colonies, ostensibly to protect the

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colonists from Indian incursions, but many regarded this as an intimidatory measure to ensure colonial compliance with Britain's will. Moreover, Grenville insisted that the colonies should be taxed to pay for this army. Stamp Act The army was to be paid for by the Stamp Act, passed March 1765, which imposed direct taxes on the American colonies for the first time. James Otis of Boston and Patrick Henry of Virginia urged the colonists to resist and the Stamp Act Congress in New York, led by the colony of Massachusetts, decided to petition the king and Parliament. Widespread unrest broke out under the slogan 'No taxation without representation' and there were riots throughout the colonies. The British government failed to appreciate the scale of discontent, and its conciliatory gestures were inadequate. After some months of deadlock, during which there was serious rioting throughout the colonies, the British government was forced to yield: the American objection to 'internal' taxes externally imposed prevailed, and the stamp tax was abolished. Boston Tea Party Despite its climb-down over the Stamp Act, the British government retained the right to impose taxation on the colonies. As the Americans appeared to be willing to accept 'external' taxation, such as customs duties, Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the Exchequer, imposed an import duty on tea, glass, and other articles 1767 to pay for the officials of the crown appointed to the colonies. To the British government this seemed reasonable, but to their surprise American protests continued. Mob opposition, silenced by the repeal of the Stamp Act, was again roused, and the Boston Massacre of March 1770, when British troops opened fire on a crowd of colonists, killing five, threatened to provoke the situation out of all control. The British were forced to back down and in April the import duties were repealed, except that on tea, which was retained in the Tea Act, designed to help the East India Company off-load surplus stocks of cheap tea. The colonists refused to buy British tea, and instead smuggled tea from the Netherlands. The protests gained momentum during 1773 as cargoes of tea rotted in storage in Charleston and other ports. In Boston the protests went further still: a band of men disguised as American Indians boarded British tea ships in the harbour and tossed tea chests into the sea, an episode immortalized as 'the Boston Tea Party'. George III was outraged and demanded Parliament take drastic action, especially against Massachusetts. The Intolerable Acts, as they were known to the colonists, were passed in March 1774. Several different acts closed the port of

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Boston; gave the Massachusetts governor, General Gage, the power to billet soldiers in colonists' homes; and annulled the colony's charter and moved the capital from Boston to Salem. First Continental Congress The Intolerable Acts provoked the other colonies to declare their support for Massachusetts, and the First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia 5 September 1774. It called for civil disobedience against the British authorities in protest at the acts and resolved to draft an appeal for fair treatment to King George and to the British and Canadian people. Independence from Britain was explicitly rejected, and it was not until much later that the faction pressing for independence gained the upper hand. Outbreak of war The spark which ignited wholesale revolution came at Lexington, Massachusetts, 19 April 1775. General Gage had been sent to Massachusetts as both military and civil governor to suppress the signs of incipient rebellion in the colony. He dispatched a small force to seize illegal military stores at Lexington and to arrest two prominent rebels, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. The local colonists' militia, known as Minutemen, exchanged fire with the British troops and the Battle of Lexington and Concord began the Revolution. From revolt to revolution The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia May 1775 and adopted the rebel militias in the field as the Continental Army; George Washington was then appointed commander-in-chief of the American forces 15 June. Although the Congress was now an embryonic federal government of the 13 American colonies in a state of war with the British government, it was not yet prepared to throw off allegiance to the crown. The British were reinforced by the arrival in Boston of William Howe, Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne with additional troops, raising their total force to 10,000. The American army occupied the mainland and the first significant engagement of the conflict came at the Battle of Bunker Hill 17 June 1775 which the British won only at a great cost in casualties. An American force invaded Canada but was forced to retreat after Benedict Arnold's defeat at Quebec December 1775. Washington fortified Dorchester Heights outside Boston in March 1776 and bombarded the city, forcing Howe to evacuate on 17 March. The Continental Congress accepted it could no longer claim allegiance to the British crown and the American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and revised by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, was formally passed 4 July 1776.

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After Washington's defeat at Long Island 27 August the Americans were forced to abandon New York in September and Washington retreated through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. The Americans fought back and defeated the British at Trenton, New Jersey, 26 December, then at Princeton 3 Jan 1777. However, Washington suffered major reversals at the Battle of Brandywine 11 September and at Germantown 4 October, and Howe occupied Philadelphia, now the capital of the formally independent states. Just two weeks later, the British suffered a setback when Horatio Gates pushed the British forces under John Burgoyne into surrender at the Battle of Saratoga and prevented them linking up with Howe's forces. The European powers intervene The French saw an opportunity to strike a blow at the old enemy Britain, concluding an offensive and defensive treaty with American emissaries in February 1778, which provoked Britain to declare war on France. The Netherlands signed a treaty of amity with the American colonies September 1778 and joined in the war against Britain 1780. Spain declared war June 1779, laying siege to Gibraltar and allowing New Orleans to be used as a base for privateers acting against British shipping. Catherine II of Russia formed the League of Armed Neutrality in March 1780 to assist the American colonies by obstructing the use of British sea power. The American Revolution thus became part of a larger war in which most of the great powers participated to some extent. The British prime minister Lord North recognized the potential for a more general war when the French intervened, and he attempted to reverse his previous policy. Peace commissioners were appointed to negotiate with the Americans in April 1778, and Parliament promised the repeal of the Intolerable Acts, suspending them pending the outcome of negotiations. By this time, however, it was too late and Congress rejected the offer June 1778. The war at sea The Americans benefited also from the assistance of the French fleet, on which they were heavily dependent in naval engagements. US-built commerce raiders, such as that captained by the American folk hero John Paul Jones, provided support. War in the south Henry Clinton, Howe's succeessor as commander of the British forces, evacuated Philadelphia in June 1778 and attempted to return to New York. Determined to bring Clinton into battle, Washington hung on his flanks, provoking the inconclusive Battle of Monmouth 28 June 1778, the last general engagement fought on northern soil. Clinton occupied New York, Washington took up position at nearby

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White Plains; and the two sides watched each other from these positions for three years, while the real fighting took place further south. For the British, Lord Cornwallis achieved some notable successes in the south. The comprehensive British victory near Camden, South Carolina, 16 August 1780 was almost fatal to the Americans. British defeat In the late summer of 1781 Lord Cornwallis was besieged in Yorktown, Virginia, by Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, the French commander. His last hope of evacuation by sea was dashed by the French victory over the British fleet at Chesapeake Bay 5 September. With the British land force isolated, Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender on 19 October. His surrender effectively ended British hopes in the war: they evacuated much of the south and all but abandoned land operations. The British fleet under Admiral Rodney continued to achieve some success in the West Indies, notably in the defeat of the French fleet in the Battle of the Saints April 1782. However, maritime victories could not compensate for the collapse of the land force and the British were forced to enter peace preliminaries in November 1782. Hostilities formally ended in February 1783. Peace of Versailles Much of the rest of the year was spent in negotiation between the many countries who had become embroiled in the conflict, with the Americans represented by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams. Under the Peace of Versailles 3 September 1783, Britain recognized the independence of the USA but retained Canada and recovered its West Indian territories; France recovered St Lucia, Tobago, Senegal, and Goree; and Spain retained Minorca and recovered Florida. "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. ... It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward, for ever more." John Adams 2nd president of the USA.
[Referring to the day the Continental Conference voted for independence from Britain. Letter to his wife 3 July 1776]

"The British officers in general behaved like boys who had been whipped at school. Some bit their lips, some

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pouted, others cried." Anonymous[An American officer describing the surrender of

British troops at Yorktown 1781]

"Our cause is just. Our union is perfect." John Dickinson US lawyer and statesman.
[Declaration on Taking Up Arms 1775]

"We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin US author, scientist, and statesman.
[Remark to John Hancock, at Signing of the Declaration of Independence 4 July 1776]

"Experience has thoroughly convinced me that the Country gains nothing by granting her Dependencies indulgences, for opening the Door encourages a desire for more which if not complied with causes discontent, and the former benefit is obliterated." George III King of Great Britain and Ireland.
[Letter to Lord North 1778 (during the American Revolution)]

"I do not know whether our Generals will frighten the enemy, but I know they frighten me ..." Frederick North British Tory politician and prime minister.
[Attributed remark during American Revolution]

"If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country I would never lay down my arms never, never, never !" William the Elder Pitt British Whig prime minister.
[Speech, House of Commons 1777]

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