THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION(1776-1788)

Following wars with France and its Spanish allies, the British Empire was in

desperate need of revenue to maintain its growing colonies in North America. At the same

time, it sought to rein in control over increasingly autonomous colonies. In 1764 and

1765, Parliament passed a number of acts to tax the colonists in new ways, including the

Sugar Act, Currency Act, Stamp Act, and Quartering Act. There was significant

resistance to complying with the acts in some areas, Boston and New York in particular.

In response, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in March 1766 but passed the Declaratory

Act, stating that the British government had total power to legislate any laws governing

the American colonies in all cases whatsoever.

In this atmosphere of heightened tension, an increasing number of British tropps

were sent to ensure compliance with the acts and maintain order. On March 5, 1770, a

mob harassed British soldiers, who fired their muskets pointblank into the crowd, killing

three people instantly, mortally wounding two others, and injuring six, in what colonists

referred to as the Boston Massacre. Soon after, all of the new taxes were eliminated, as

was the Quartering Act. To resist the tax on tea, colonial activists disguised themselves as

Mohawk Indians and dumped all 342 containers of tea into the harbor: the Boston Tea

Party. In response, Parliament enacted the Coercive Acts that targeted Massachusetts and

also reinstated the Quartering Act throughout the colonies. Included in the Coercive Acts

were the Boston Port Bill, which effectively shut down all commercial shipping in Boston

harbor until Massachusetts paid the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor and

reimbursed the East India Company for the loss of the tea, the Administration of Justice
Act, which allowed murder trials of British officers against colonists to be held in

England, and the Massachusetts Government Act, which greatly curtailed the colony’s

autonomy.

To create a stronger organization to resist British control, leaders of opposition

groups formed the First Continental Congress, declared its opposition to the Coercive

Acts, and promoted the formation of local militia units. Soon afterwards, the English

parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. On April 19, 1775, 700

British soldiers en route to Concord, Massachusetts, to destroy a weapons depot that a

colonist militia had created were met by about 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen at

Lexington. The British destroyed the depot and returned to Boston but lost 250 men in the

fighting with militiamen. The Provincial Congress in Massachusetts ordered 13,600

American soldiers to be mobilized, and colonists flocked to siege British controlled

Boston as the struggle for autonomy shifted to war.

On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia and

placed the colonies in a state of defense, it later appointed George Washington

commander in chief of the new Continental Army. The first major fight between British

and American troops occurred at Boston in the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17,1775,

where 1,000 British soldiers were killed as well as 400 Americans.

To cut off support to the colonists, King George 3 issued a royal proclamation

closing the American colonies to all commerce and trade, to take effect in March 1776.
King Louis XVI of France shortly thereafter committed one million dollars in arms and

munitions to the colonists, and Spain also promised support.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress approved the United States Declaration

of Independence. It outlined the reasons why the colonists should no longer be subjects of

the English crown as well as cataloged the harms that England had done. Thomas

Jefferson, the key author of the document, argued that the purpose of the declaration was

‘’not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of but to place

before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to

command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled

to take. As such, it was imbued with Enlightenment philosophy of natural rights and self-

determination.

During the winter of 1776, George Washington battled the British throughout New

York and New Jersey, and it was not until October 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga that the

Americans won their first major victory of the war. As the war continued, the Continental

Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, which created a loose association of the

colonies into a new country. The articles reflected the colonists fears created by their

existence under a strong but distant parliament and as a result lacked a strong centran

government and granted most powers to the individual colonies. Soon after, in February

1778, France officially recognized the United States and became an increasingly

important supplier of money, munitions, and leadership. This, along with Dutch trading
with the French and Americans, widened the war to Europe, Africa, India and the high

seas.

After major battles in the southern colonies, the British began to lose several key

garrisons, leading to a House of Commons vote against further war in the United States in

1782. In March of that year, Lord North, the British prime minister, resigned, and his

successor, Lord Rockingham, began negotiations with the Americans. Near the end of

1782, a preliminary peace treaty was signed in Paris, and early in 1783, England officially

declared an end to the Revolutionary War. George Washington disbanded the Continental

Army soon after, in June. In September the Treaty of Paris was signed by the United

States and Great Britain acknowledging the independence of the thirteen colonies and

defining the boundaries of the new country. Soon after, George Washington voluntarily

resigned his commission.

Not long after the war, Congress authorized Secretary of War Henry Knox to raise

an army to put down a rebellion in Massachusetts. In 1787, partly in response to Shays

Rebellion, Congress endorsed a resolution calling for a constitutional convention to

reassess the structure of the confederation. Between May and September, 1787, delegates

from each of the states met to radically restructure the country into a federal republic with

a bicameral legislative branch, an elected president, and an independent judicial branch.

On July 2, 1788, the new Constitution of the United States took effect. Three years later,

the first ten amendments to the Constitution were ratified as the Bill of Rights.
TIME LINE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

1764: The Sugar Act and Currency Acts are created by Parliament to tax the

colonists to repay war debts. In response Boston merchants begin a botcott of British

luxury goods.

1765: The Stamp Act and Quartering Acts are passed by Parliament. The Sons of

Liberty is formed. There is widespread noncooperation with the act and some rioting and

looting in New York.

1766: March: Repeal of the Stamp Act. Passage of the Declaratory Act stating that

the British government has total power to legislate any laws governing the American

colonies in all cases whatsoever.

1767: June: Townshend Revenue Acts passed: Bostonians decide to reinstate a

boycott of English luxury items.

1770:March 5: The Boston Massacre occurs as a mob harasses British soldiers, who

then fire their muskets into the crowd, kill three instantly, mortally wound two others, and

injure six.

April: All taxes are eliminated as is the Quartering Act.

1773: December 16: Boston Tea Party occurs as colonial activists board ships and dump

all 342 containers of tea into the harbor rather than pay taxes on the tea.
1774: March: the Boston Port Bill effectively shuts down all commercial shipping in

Boston harbor until Massachusetts pays the taxes owed on the tea dumped in the harbor

and also reimburses the East India Company for the loss of the tea. Bostonians at a town

meeting call for a boycott of British imports.

October: The First Continental Congress declares its opposition to the Coercive

Acts and promotes the formation of local militia units.

1775: April 18: Seven hundred British soldiers are sent to Concord to destroy the

colonists weapons depot.

April 19: About 70 armed Massachusetts militiamen fight with the British who take

the depot.

April 23: The Provincial Congress in Massachusetts orders 13,600 American

soldiers to be mobilized.

May 10: The Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, places the

colonies in a state of defense, and appoints George Washington commander in chief of

the new Continental Army.

June 17: The first major fight between British and American troops occurs at Boston

in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

December 23: King George 3 issues a royal proclamation closing the American

colonies to all commerce and trade.

1776 January 5: The assembly of New Hampshire adopts the first American state

constitution.
 May 2 : King Louis xvi of France commits one million dollars in arms and

munitions. Spain also promises support.

July 4 : United States declares independence.

August- December: British soldiers take control of New York City.

December 25-26: George Washington halts British advance south at Trenton, New

Jersey.

1777: October 7: The Battle of Saratoga results in the first major American victory of the

Revolutionary War.

November 15: Congress adopts the Articles of Confederation as the government of

the new United States of America.

1778: July 10: France declares war against Britain.

December 29: The British begin a major southern campaign with the capture of

Savannath, Georgia, followed a month later with the capture of Augusta.

1781: September 28: Washington begins the siege of Yorktown with the support of

French ships.

October 19: Cornwallis surrenders Yorktown.

1782: February 27: British house of Commons votes against furtherwar in the United

States.

November 30:A preliminary peace treaty is signed in Paris.

 1783: September 3: The Treaty of Paris is signed by the United States and Great

Britain.

1786: October 20: Congress authorizes Secretary of War Henry Knox to raise an

army of 1,340 to put down Shays Rebellion.

1787: May25-September 17: Drafting of new Constitution.

Cast of Characters

Samuel Adams(1722-1803) : organized the revolutionary Sons of Liberty to oppose

British, guiding force behind Boston Tea Party.

John Hancock(1737-1793) : organized the revolutionary Sons of Liberty, president

of Continental Congress.

George Washington(1732-1799) : commander in chief of Continental Army, first

president of United States.

Thomas Jefferson(1743-1826) : author of Declaration of Independence, led

revolutionary movement in Virginia.

Benjamin Franklin(1706-1790) : key negotiator with French and eventually British

for end of war.