The American Revolution
On April 19, 1775, about 700 British army regulars - Redcoats, with orders to find and destroy a colonial arsenal near the Massachusetts town of Concord, were met by a colonial militia, called Minutemen. The two groups met near the town of Lexington, and at dawn shots were fired between the two enemy groups. This was the first battle of the American Revolutionary War – the shots were heard around the world.

But in 1763, just a few years before the revolution began, Americans joyously celebrated the British victory in the Seven Years' War, proud of being British and proud of their membership in what they saw as the world's greatest empire.

So how did many American colonists change from being proudly British to being fiercely independent in just 12 years?

When the first colonists arrived, they had a hard time settling in, but then they discovered that the land was very good for farming. So more people moved to the colonies, and the colonies prospered until they became an important source of money for Britain.

By 1753 there were 13 colonies in North America: New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The people in the colonies were not in charge of the government, but some of them did get to have a say in how the colony was run.

The colonies were run by a governor, who was appointed by the king. The governor had a council to advise him. Sometimes the council was also appointed by the king. The governor could also call an assembly. The assemblies were made up of people elected by the landowners of the colony. The assembly could make some local laws, but the governor had to approve of any law.

Each colony was separate from the others. Each one had its own local government, but all of the decisions about things like taxes, laws, defence, and punishment for crimes were made by British officials. The local governments of each colony were not used to cooperating with each other.

The Seven Years War and its aftermath

While the colonies in America were growing, trouble was brewing in Europe. In 1753, war broke out between many of the countries in Europe. The British joined with Hanover (Germany) to fight against the French and Spanish. In America, the British colonies fought the French colonies and their native American Indian allies. This was called the French and Indian War, and began in 1754 with battles over control of the Ohio valley. Many American colonists fought in the French and Indian War on the side of the British.

When the war was over, in 1763, the British and their allies had won, and the American colonies were safe from French invasion. But the British soon realized it had been a very expensive victory. In 1763, George Grenville, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reckoned that Britain owed at least £122 million in loans taken out during the war. This was a tremendous amount of money for the time. The British government was desperate to find new sources of revenue, and Grenville decided that the colonies, including those in North America, needed to help pay.

Taxation Without Representation

In 1765, the British Parliament decided to raise the taxes on the American colonies. They enacted the Stamp Act. Under the Stamp Act, almost any official or semi-official written or printed document would have to be on special stamped paper, which was taxed. Among the items covered by the tax were wills, deeds, diplomas, almanacs, newspapers, pamphlets, government documents, advertisements, bills, bonds, newspapers, playing cards and even dice.

The American colonists, and especially the business owners, were very angry about the Stamp Tax. They also argued that the Act had been passed without local governments in America having a say. The colonists called this “taxation without representation”. During the spring and early summer of 1765, most of the colonial assemblies met and adopted resolutions condemning the Stamp Act.

In the colony of Massachusetts many people were especially angry. The people in Boston, the main city of Massachusetts, had a long tradition of rioting and political demonstrations.

On 14th August, an angry mob attacked the house of Andrew Oliver - the local man rumoured to be responsible for collecting the tax. Then on the 26th they attacked the houses of colonial officials, destroying the home of the colony's Lieutenant Governor. The demonstrations and riots soon spread to other colonies. By the autumn, almost no one was paying the tax, and no British official dared to try and collect it.

In October, several colonies sent delegates to New York to attend a 'Stamp Act Congress' which threatened a boycott of British goods if the tax was not repealed. In March 1766, the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act.

The Boston Tea Party

Although the British had repealed the Stamp Act, many colonists were now convinced they needed to become separate from Britain. Groups like the “Sons of Liberty” had been formed in every colony to fight the Stamp Tax, and these groups now argued for independence.

Meanwhile, in Britain, the government still needed money from the colonies. In 1767, Parliament passed a new set of taxes, called the Townshend duties. These were taxes on many everyday items, such as paper, tea, and sugar. At the same time, the British army sent troops into the ports and streets of Boston, to enforce the new taxes and stop any more riots.

The presence of the troops angered many colonists and fights began to break out between troops and local groups. One clash, in March 1770, between soldiers and a mob left five colonists dead. Rebel colonists called it the Boston Massacre, while the British called it the “incident on King Street”.

In March 1770 Parliament repealed the duties, except for one - the tax on tea. This was very unpopular, and many people continued to complain about the tea tax. In May of 1773 Parliament gave the East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea to America. Parliament also reduced the duty the colonies would have to pay for the imported tea. The Americans would now get their tea at a cheaper price than ever before.

However, some colonists argued that it was wrong to pay the tax at all. They said that if the colonies paid the tax on the imported tea they would be acknowledging Parliament's right to tax them. They argued that more taxes would soon follow. The colonists who made these arguments wanted to convince people that the colonies should be separate from Britain. They wrote pamphlets and made speeches against the tea tax.

When the East India Company sent shipments of tea to Philadelphia and New York the ships were not allowed to land. In Boston, the arrival of three tea ships angered local people. On December 16, 1773 about 7,000 angry locals milled about the wharf where the ships were docked. That evening a group of about 200 men, some disguised as Indians, assembled on a near-by hill. Whooping war chants, the crowd marched to the wharf, descended upon the three ships and dumped their cargos of tea into the harbour waters.

Many colonists applauded the action, but others were appalled. They thought people had gone too far. The reaction in London was swift. In March 1774 Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. These were called the Intolerable Acts in America. The Acts closed Boston port, the major port for America, and forced the colonists in Massachusetts to house British troops in their houses and taverns.

For many colonists, this was the last straw. Up and down the colonies, Americans began forming local militias and hiding weapons. At the same time, local assemblies began passing resolutions in favour of independence.

The Outbreak of War

After the Coercive Acts were passed, each American colony chose delegates from its assembly to attend a meeting called the First Continental Congress, to discuss what should be done next. The 56 delegates met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. The delegates wrote a letter asking King George III to stop the taxes and to give the local assemblies more say in how the colonies were run. The delegates also agreed to boycott all British goods, and that each colony should set up and arm its own militia. Finally, the delegates agreed to meet again if the king did not meet their demands.

In November, 1774, King George opened Parliament with a speech condemning Massachusetts and the colonies. He refused to read the colonists' letter. To the king, the colonists were dangerous rebels and traitors. At the beginning of April, 1775, the delegates began to make their way to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. Before they could arrive, the battle of Lexington and Concord occurred – the first battle of the Revolution.

Loyalist vs Patriot

When the delegates arrived for the Second Continental Congress in May, most of them had already decided on revolution. The delegates decided to send one more request to King George III to meet their demands. One delegate, William Penn, sailed to England with the request, but the king refused to see him. Instead, the king issued a proclamation on 23 August declaring America to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion."

On 14 June, the Second Continental Congress created a colonial army and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The Congress also approved the printing of paper currency to help pay for the war.

Up to now, many American colonists still hoped to come to an agreement with Britain and remain British. Many American colonists did not want the colonies to become separate – they were known as Loyalists. Many of these people formed their own militias and planned to fight for the British if war broke out. Those colonists who were in favour of independence were called Patriots or rebels. It is estimated that around 30% - 40% of the population were Loyalists, although many people did not have a strong opinion one way or the other.

The colonial army was made up of volunteers. These soldiers had very little experience fighting and were not used to obeying orders. They were often drunk and disobedient. In contrast, the British had a large army and navy made up of professionals with a lot of training and experience. They did not think it would be difficult to control the colonists.

The Battle of Bunker Hill

On 15 June, 1775 the colonists heard news that the British army planned to take control of the Charlestown peninsula between the Charles and Mystic Rivers. Two hills on this peninsula, called Bunker's Hill and Breed's Hill, overlooked Boston and Boston harbour, making the hills important vantage points. Colonial General Prescott took around 3,000 of his soldiers to fortify Bunker Hill under the cover of night on June 16.

The British suffered more than 1,000 casualties, while the colonists only suffered 400 to 600 casualties. In Britain, the battle caused alarm and surprise. The battle also caused many colonists to change their minds and support independence – maybe a war was winnable after all.

The Declaration of independence

On July 4, the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence (the official copy was signed by the delegates on July 19th) and every member signed it. As he signed the document, Benjamin Franklin said “Gentlemen, we must now all hang together, or surely we shall all hang separately.” He meant that every signer was committing treason and could be shot on sight by the British.

The Battle for New York

The colonists had declared their independence, but they still had to win the war. The United States had not been formed yet – the colonies had no way to pay for the war, and they were outgunned and had no navy.

The British had left Boston and moved their base up to Halifax, in Canada. They hired German mercenaries, called Hessians, to help them fight the war. Many of these soldiers would settle in America after the war, helping to give the USA a strong German Heritage.

The British plan was to move northward up the Hudson Valley and link with a force moving south from Canada. This would separate the colonies in New England from the southern colonies. Their first target was New York.

The Revolutionaries had appointed George Washington as their army commander. Washington decided he had to attack the British, and quick. The target was the Hessian-held town of Trenton, New Jersey - just across the Delaware River. During the night of December 25, Washington led his troops across the ice-swollen Delaware about 9 miles north of Trenton. Raging winds combined with snow, sleet and rain. Many of Washington's men had no winter coats or shoes.

The next morning they attacked. After fierce fighting, and the loss of their commander, the Hessians surrendered. On December 30, Washington and his men again crossed the Delaware, attacked and won another victory at Trenton on January 2, and then pushed on to Princeton, New Jersey defeating the British there on January 3.

These battles were small, but they convinced many that the colonial army did have a chance to win the war. In December, the Continental Congress sent Benjamin Franklin to France as an ambassador. It was his job to convince the French to support the American war effort.

Valley Forge

The winter of 1777-8 was the low point of America's struggle for independence. No one fought during the winter, so they all settled into winter quarters. Washington chose Valley Forge. An estimated 2,000 died. Morale plummeted.

France Enters the War

In February 1778, Franklin convinced France to join with the new American government. The French were enemies of Britain, and the revolution would be a good chance for them to weaken British power. France also had colonies and possessions in North America, and allying with the revolution was a way to protect those colonies. The assistance of France meant that the British now had to fight at sea as well as on land, as the French navy was able to supply the colonies, and hamper British ships from reaching North America.

The War Ends

On 7 October, 1780 colonial militias from the Carolinas, Virginia, and present-day Tennessee surrounded and defeated a force of Loyalists (Americans who fought for the British) under Major Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. This battle was fought almost entirely between Americans, and it convinced many Revolutionaries that the Loyalists had no place in American society. (It was the first 'civil war' battle in many ways. Another Civil Was to follow in the 1860s.)

In January 1782, the evacuation of British loyalists began. Between 60,000 and 100,000 Americans who remained loyal to the crown left to find new lives in Britain, Canada, and the British colonies in the West Indies.

In France, Benjamin Franklin helped to write a peace treaty between Britain and America - The Peace of Paris. This was signed on 3 September, 1783. In the treaty, Britain recognised US independence and agreed to cease hostilities and withdraw her troops. The United States recognised the debts owed to British creditors and promised to 'earnestly recommend' the restitution of property seized from those who had remained loyal to Britain. Much of the US-Canadian border was confirmed, and Britain gave up its Mississippi claims and returned East and West Florida to Spain. The last British troops sailed from New York City on 25 November 1783.