American revolution
*Note- GB stands for great britain
Columbus landed in central america
Took Gold, and people
Showed off his riches and tobacco and other items like pineapple in pain
The race was on to explore and conquer the new world
European forces owned a lot of land
One specific territory was claimed by both the english and the french as theirs
Started the & years war or the french and Indian war
The French built some Forts along this land
Britain sent George Washington
Combined force of British troops and native americans
Great Britain won
At the peace negotiations, Spain gave up Florida
France gave up all of their territories in north America
Britain's victory was very expensive
were in a lot of debt, and turned to the colonies to repay it
the colonies did not want to pay a war fine, or a form of thank you for British aid in securing their land
The british went ahead and taxed them
1764 sugar act
Forced the colonists to only import sugar and molasses from the British
This improved their trade, as they had at leas one secure export during this time of need
The colonists also had to pay heavy duties on these items
A year later, 1765 stamp act
taxed paper documents like newspapers, cards, letters etc
We put a fancy stamp on ur stuff and in return you give us money
Until now the colonists had enjoyed relative freedom and independence to themselves
They did not like it now that Britain was asserting control
they did not have any representatives in the parliament that was levying taxes n them
They protested
No taxation without representation
They felt it was unfair that they didn't get a delegate to represent their perspective
British goods were boycotted
Anyone loyal to the british was harassed
This took a toll on british business
1766 Declaratory Act
British declared they could so what they wanted with the colonies
Fully asserting control
Levied new taxes through import duties on items like glass
Townshend acts
Tax for glass, lead, tea etc
Once again american boycott- british business felt the backlash- the british had to back down
All the new taxes were repealed except for the one on tea
Troops were sent to bostson to take control of the situation
Even more tension - the colonists had to pay for their new officers
Americans expressing their frustrations to the british troops
Snowballs were thrown, then rocks
The troops were outnumbered
5 civilians were killed, the troops had panicked
Boston massacre
Anger continued to grow
Protest
A british revenue ship in Rhode Island was burned down
When it came t light that the Gov of Massachusetts was in support of the British, his house was burned down
Boston Tea Party
dec 1773
A band of patriots known as the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as native americans
They boarded a British ship loaded with tea at the boston Harbor
Threw nearly 10k pounds of tea overboard
A million dollars worth
In front of thousands of protestors
British Punished Mass
Revoked their charter
dissolved their general assembly
Sent 3k more troops
Mass was now under the direct rule of GB
People were angry
Other colonies worried they might be next
56 delegates from the 12 colonies gathered in Philadelphia
George Washington,
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton would all spend time in the continental congress
After debate and disagreement, they finally compromised at a request to the british to stop with the heavy taxation
The british refused and the next step was for the colonies to start arming militias
Minutemen - local militia that were armed and ready at a minute's notice
British gov sent troops to destroy the stores of ammunition that the colonists had been saving
Paul revere - THE BRITISH ARE COMING
Gave the patriots time to prepare
They met in the middle
Hey faced off until the morning
in the confusion someone shot first
shot heard around the world
Marked the beginning of the war
The rebels were outnumbered
More and more rebels showed up, then the british were outnumbered
Rebel militia surrounded the british at bostson
Redcoats- british soldiers
George washington was selected to be commander in chief
Some colonists were not exactly sure why they were fighting
Some sought to / hoped for a repair of their relationship with GB
British burned down a town a town in Mass and one in Virginia as revenge for earlier anti british incidents
Instead of scaring the colonists into obedience like the british ah hoped, this played right into the anti british propaganda that existed, with the british seeming aggressive and uncaring towards the colonists
French and spanish sent supplies to the rebel cause
George washington
Henry Knox used oxen to drag artillery to washington
His army had been suffering through the cold winter, but now they had the weaponry to make a move
He wanted to launch a full assault on the city
His junior officers felt that they were too fortified
He listened to them and instead spent the night setting guns up n the heights overlooking the city
They had to abandon
His first victory
Thomas Jefferson
Wrote the declaration of independence
On the 2nd of July, congress coted unanimously in favor of independence
Independence came into effect a couple of days later
By the time the shooting stated, most of the colonists were already self governing through systems like the committee of correspondence which ended up starting up the continental congress
They had developed a sense of themselves as something separate and different from GB
20% of colonists remained support of the GB through the war, especially in major cities
Slaves supported GB
They promised any slaves that fought with them would be freed
The non monarchial government they wanted as radical at the time
Liberty
Revolutionary zeal informed by the enlightenment
The actual outcomes were not that revolutionary
The same men that held all the land before the war still held it after the war
Slaves were not free, and they were fighting against a gov that promised to free slaves
Women couldn’t vote
even men without a certain amount of property could not vote
Not an immense amount of societal change