The American Revolution
As Described By Noah Guidry
The Road to Revolution
Shortly after the French and Indian war was over, Britain had realised that they had accumulated a lot of debt. This caused them to begin placing large taxes on items like sugar, molasses, tea glass, paint, lead, paper and much more in order to pay off the debt. This outraged the colonists to the point where they had started making propaganda posters and boycotting taxed products, and even dumping imported tea into the boston harbor. This angered the British so much that they even went as far as to close down the Boston Harbor and force them to give land to Quebec. This was the last straw for the Americans; they were ready to take action, and they had planned to do so.
Lexington Concord
- The battle at Lexington Concord was the first battle in the Revolutionary war, happening on april 19, 1775.
- The Continental troops were instructed not to fire until fired upon, but some unknown soldier still fired a shot. This was later known as "the shot heard 'round the world."
- In the battle of Lexington only a few volleys were fired, and eight minutemen were killed and ten wounded, while the British troops only had one wounded soldier.
- In concord, the Colonial marksmen had an easy time hitting the British soldiers in their bright red coats.
- The British soldiers being attacked from above were forced to retreat to Boston, but suffered many fatalities on their way back.
Common Sense
- Common sense was a 47-page pamphlet published anonymously by Thomas Paine in 1776.
- His article suggested that laws should be written by the people rather than the king.
- Common sense sold roughly 500,000 copies and gave Paine a wide audience
- He continued writing to other common people, but was never able to top Common sense
- His words changed the way that the monarchs were viewed, and were very uncommon in a time where monarchs were very prominent.
Declaration of Independence
- The Declaration of Independence was a document written in June of 1776 that was addressed directly to King Henry III.
- Although it was to king henry, it was also an announcement to the colonists that they were officially breaking free of Britain's rule
- One of the main points argued in the D.O.I was that everybody has rights that cannot be taken away, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
- They also had a section dedicated to grievances, or complaints filed against the king or unfair laws passed by the parliament.
- The last section of the Declaration stated that the colonies had the right to break away from Great Britain.
Saratoga
- The British had planned to get the jump on colonists by coming down through Canada to recapture Fort Ticonderoga.
- The British successfully recaptured Ticonderoga and marched forewords.
- although they had won that battle, they were defeated in the fight at Saratoga.
- Saratoga was often called the turning point in the American revolution, because it gave America the upper leg
- after the battle, the French had decided to join the Americans in their fight against Britain.
Valley Forge
- Before the french came in to help the Colonial soldiers, they were incredibly low on supplies
- In December 1777, George Washington brought 12,000 soldiers at Valley Forge
- No battles were fought here, only harsh winters.
- over 2,000 people died in the harsh winter of 1777
- while the colonies suffered in the winters, the British were warm and happy in the town
Yorktown
- In early 1781, the patriots were losing terrible.
- they had assumed that the foreign support would end the war quickly, but they were wrong.
- One of their most gifted fighters, Benedict ​Arnold, had turned traitor.
- under the command of Nathanael Greene, the colonists had started to harass the British
- The battle had progressed to the American's victory, and had almost ended the war.
Treaty of Paris
- In the Treaty of Paris of 1783, the British had decided to recognise the colonies as independent.
- a separate treaty had gave modern day florida to spain.
- This treaty had also gave the americans the right so settle west of the Appalachian Mountains
- It took a nine year revolution, but America was finally an independent country.
- Benjamin franklin had played a major role in the negotiations for peace.