Independence

What does it take to fight a war?

Wars are difficult and expensive even for powerful countries. But when the Revolutionary War began, the Thirteen Colonies were not yet a country! They were missing a few important things:

A government: Wars are complicated and involve many people working together. Usually, a country needs a government to organize a war. But the Thirteen Colonies did not have a government to unite them. They had to create a government after the war started!

Money: Wars are expensive. Someone needs to pay for weapons and food for the soldiers. Someone needs to pay the soldiers, too. A national bank helps a country raise money by borrowing from its people or other countries. Without a national bank, the Thirteen Colonies had no easy way to raise money.

A military: You cannot fight a war without a military! Soldiers need to be trained and organized. They need to know how to work together. But the Thirteen Colonies did not have any national army or navy. Instead, towns and colonies used militias, or local volunteer armies. The Thirteen Colonies had to create a military as the war was starting.

In 1773, a British politician said that Great Britain controlled a "vast empire, on which the sun never sets."

In the 1770s, people could truthfully say that "the sun never sets" on the British Empire. Because the Earth is round, it is always daytime somewhere. Great Britain controlled land all around the world. So, the sun was always up in some part of the empire.

King George III was the ruler of Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. He was strongly against American independence. He even said he would rather continue an endless war than lose the colonies.

Was King George III a tyrant?

A tyrant is a ruler who uses his or her power in a cruel way. Patriots often called King George III a tyrant. But he did not see himself that way. He was trying to keep the British Empire together, and he believed what he was doing was right.

Even after years of war, King George III still believed that most of the colonists were loyal to him. He thought the war was started by a small group of rebels who tricked the colonists into fighting. He believed his loyal colonists would eventually grow tired of war and help the British end it.

Where did the names "Patriot" and "Loyalist" come from?

• • Patriot comes from Latin and Greek words for "countryman" or "fatherland." Patriots were also known as Whigs or rebels. The Whigs were a political group in Great Britain that shared some of the Patriots' ideas.

  • Loyalists got their name because they remained loyal to the British government. Loyalists were also called Royalists or Tories. The Tories were a political group in Great Britain that opposed American independence.

How many Loyalists were there?

There is no way to know exactly how many colonists were Loyalists. But historians agree that Loyalists were 15–20% of the population. In other words, there were about 500,000 in total!

The Patriots were not only fighting Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. They also fought many of their Loyalist neighbors, relatives, and friends.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord took place on the morning of April 19, 1775. They were fought in two towns near Boston, Massachusetts.

The other choices are not correct:

• • The Boston Tea Party happened more than a year before the start of the Revolutionary War.

  • The Declaration of Independence was approved more than a year after the fighting began.

  • The Siege of Yorktown was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, leaders from the colonies met at the Second Continental Congress. At this meeting, the leaders had to figure out how to organize a war!

New faces at the Second Continental Congress

Many of the delegates from the First Continental Congress returned for the second. However, there were some important new faces, including Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson from Virginia.

Was the Second Continental Congress a true national government?

The leaders of the Second Continental Congress did not plan to act as a national government. But to organize a war, the Second Continental Congress needed to act like a national government:

• • It created an army and a navy.

  • It gave instructions to local governments.

  • It printed money.

  • It sent ambassadors, or representatives, to other countries.

But the Congress did not have the power to do some of the most important things that national governments normally do:

• It could not pass laws.

• It could not enforce laws.

• It could not collect taxes.

On the same day that the Second Continental Congress first met, Patriots were planning to attack a British fort. Read the story of that attack. Then answer the question.

Fort Ticonderoga was a British fort in northern New York. It had a large number of cannons, but it was not well defended. So, a Massachusetts militia led by Benedict Arnold went to capture it. On the way, the militia joined forces with Colonel Ethan Allen. Allen led the Green Mountain Boys, another militia from present-day Vermont.

Before dawn on May 10, 1775, the two militias quietly crossed the lake near the fort. They found the fort defended by fewer than 50 soldiers. The British were completely surprised, and the soldiers at the fort quickly surrendered. The Patriots did not even fire a single shot. But they won an important prize: a collection of British cannons!

How did the Patriots surprise the British?

The capture of Fort Ticonderoga took place three weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Why weren't the British ready for a Patriot attack?

• Look at the location of Fort Ticonderoga. It was about 200 miles from the battles in Massachusetts. But it was also at the edge of the colonies. At the time, the area was still mostly wilderness.

• News traveled slowly in those days, especially through the wilderness. A British general in Boston had even tried to warn the fort. But the message didn't arrive for about a month! By then, it was too late.

George Washington was born into a wealthy Virginian family. When he was only 21 years old, he started fighting in the French and Indian War. Despite his age, he quickly earned a reputation as a strong leader.

Washington fought alongside the British as an officer in the Virginia militia. As a result, he knew firsthand how the British fought wars. He also understood how to train and organize large groups of soldiers. These skills made him a good choice to lead the Continental Army.

Washington was also known for being modest. He never asked to be put in charge. Despite his experience as a military leader, he was not sure he was good enough to lead the Continental Army.

George Washington's modesty

George Washington was a talented and successful leader. But he was known for being modest. A modest person does not brag about his abilities. Even though many people praised Washington, he never praised himself.

When he accepted his position as commander-in-chief, he refused any payment for his service. He also asked that the men in the Congress remember these words:

I do not think myself equal to the Command I am honored with.

The following passage comes from a letter from John Adams to his wife, Abigail, on June 17, 1775.

I can now inform you that the Congress have made choice of the modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington, to be General of the American Army . . . . This appointment will have a great effect, in cementing and securing the Union of these Colonies. The continent is really in earnest in defending the Country.

virtuous: good, honest, moral

amiable: likeable

Why did John Adams think Washington would unite the colonists?

At the Second Continental Congress, John Adams represented Massachusetts, where the war began. But Adams wanted all the colonies to support the war, so he wanted a military leader from a different colony.

John Adams liked the fact that George Washington was from Virginia. By placing a Virginian in charge, the Congress helped the other colonies feel like they were part of the war.

Could the Patriots really defeat the British?

After the Battle of Bunker Hill, Abigail Adams said that the colonists were hopeful. They had proven that they could put up a good fight against the British.

Many colonists had watched the battle from their rooftops. They could all see that the colonies might even have a chance at winning the war.

What did the British leaders expect?

Many British leaders, including Thomas Gage, were surprised by how hard the Patriots fought at Bunker Hill. They did not think the colonists would put up much of a fight.

The British had fought alongside some of the colonists in the French and Indian War. During that war, the British leaders often complained about the colonists. They said the colonists were poorly trained and afraid of fighting.

But at Bunker Hill, the colonists were not fighting for Great Britain anymore. They were fighting for their homes and their beliefs. Suddenly, the British could see that the colonists would be difficult to defeat.

How did George Washington teach the army discipline?

Most of the soldiers in the Continental Army had never been in an army before. They were not used to following orders or fighting in a large, organized group. So, George Washington had to teach them. He started by creating some new rules for his soldiers:

• • stay clean at all times

  • no leaving camp without permission

  • no shooting guns in camp

  • no fishing in the nearby pond

When soldiers broke the rules, Washington made sure they were punished. Sometimes he would even kick them out of the army!

In July 1775, colonial leaders sent the Olive Branch Petition to the British government. An olive branch is an ancient symbol of peace.

What were the colonists fighting for?

When the Revolutionary War began, the colonists' goal was not yet clear. Not all of the colonists really wanted to break away from Great Britain. Some colonists suggested other solutions:

• The Thirteen Colonies would stay a part of Great Britain, but the British Parliament could not tax them.

• The Thirteen Colonies would stay a part of the British Empire, but they could make their own Parliament.

Some of the colonial leaders thought that by offering peace, Great Britain might be willing to make a deal. But by then, the colonists had already killed many British soldiers. The British leaders would not agree to peace.

In February 1776, a writer named Thomas Paine published an article called Common Sense.In the article, Paine argued for American independence from Great Britain. Read the passage from Common Sense.

The Father of the American Revolution

Thomas Paine was one of the most important writers of the American Revolution. His essay, Common Sense, sold 120,000 copies in only three months.

Thomas Paine's words encouraged many colonists to talk and argue about the idea of independence. Because his writing changed so many minds, historians sometimes call him the Father of the American Revolution.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress appointed committees to draft several documents.

One document was meant to explain why the Thirteen Colonies should be fully separate from Great Britain.

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

The Second Continental Congress chose a committee of five men to write the Declaration of Independence. But three men did most of the work:

• Thomas Jefferson, a young man from Virginia with a talent for writing

• Benjamin Franklin, an experienced politician and diplomat from Philadelphia

• John Adams, a leading lawyer from Massachusetts

The Congress approved the document on July 4, 1776. It named the new country the United States of America.

In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress selected a committee to draft several documents.

One document was meant to set up a government for the United States of America.

The Articles of Confederation created the first government for the United States of America. The document's full name was the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union.

The United States Constitution was not written until after the Revolutionary War was over. The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation.

The Declaration of Independence made it more likely that other countries would help the Americans fight against Great Britain. It was easier to form an alliance with an independent country than with the colonies of another country.

The Declaration of Independence made the Revolutionary War a conflict between two separate countries. The document also showed who the leaders of the new country were. The leaders of other countries knew who they could work with.

In September 1776, the Continental Congress asked Benjamin Franklin and two other delegates to go to France. The Congress wanted them to convince France to officially join the Revolutionary War.

The Second Continental Congress asked George Washington to command the Continental Army in 1775. Benjamin Franklin did not work with gunpowder. Although he did important experiments with electricity, electricity was not used to send messages until the 1800s.

In 1776, French leaders did not think the Americans could defeat the British.

The Americans had still not won a single major victory against the British.

The French needed proof that the Americans had a chance of winning. Though France was an enemy of Great Britain, the French government did not want to be on the losing side of a war.

In late 1777, the Americans finally won a major battle. Soon after the American victory, Benjamin Franklin and the other diplomats convinced the French government to join the war. France was not busy fighting any other major wars at the time. The French government was eager to weaken Great Britain's power in North America.