The American Revolution
Overview:
Much more than a revolt against British taxes and trade regulations, the American Revolution was the first modern revolution. It marked the first time in history that a people fought for their independence in the name of certain universal principles such as rule of law, constitutional rights, and popular sovereignty. .
This chapter examines the causes, fighting, and consequences of the American Revolution. You will read about the problems created by the Seven Years' War, and British efforts to suppress American smuggling, to prevent warfare with Indians, and to pay the cost of stationing troops in the colonies. You also read about the emerging patterns of resistance in the colonies, including petitions, pamphlets, intimidation, boycotts, and intercolonial meetings. You will also learn about the series of events, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts, that ruptured relations between Britain and its American colonies.
In addition, you will learn why many colonists hesitating before declaring independence and how the Declaration of Independence summarized colonial grievances and provided a vision of a future independent American republic. This chapter will discuss the composition of the British and American military forces; the Revolution's implications for the institution of slavery; and the role of the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Native Americans in the colonists' struggle for independence. Finally, you will learn why the Americans emerged victorious in the Revolution.
Summary:
The Causes of the Revolution
The roots of the American Revolution can be traced to the year 1763 when British leaders began to tighten imperial reins. Once harmonious relations between Britain and the colonies became increasingly conflict-riven. Britain's land policy prohibiting settlement in the West irritated colonists as did the arrival of British troops. The most serious problem was the need for money to support the empire.
Attempts through the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts to raise money rather than control trade met with growing resistance in the colonies. Tensions increased further after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts and the First Continental Congress took the first steps toward independence from Britain. Before the colonies gained independence, they had to fight a long and bitter war.
The Revolutionary War
The British had many advantages in the war, including a large, well-trained army and navy and many Loyalists who supported the British empire. But many white colonists were alienated by Lord Dunmore's promise of freedom to slaves who joined the royal army, and were inspired by Thomas Paine's Common Sense.
Excellent leadership by George Washington; the aid of such European nations as France; and tactical errors by British commanders contributed to the American victory. British strategy called for crushing the rebellion in the North. Several times the British nearly defeated the Continental Army. But victories at Trenton and Princeton, N.J., in late 1776 and early 1777 restored patriot hopes, and victory at Saratoga, N.Y., which halted a British advance from Canada, led France to intervene on behalf of the rebels.
In 1778, fighting shifted to the South. Britain succeeded in capturing Georgia and Charleston, S.C. and defeating an American army at Camden, S.C. But bands of patriots harassed loyalists and disrupted supply lines, and Britain failed to achieve control over the southern countryside before advancing northward to Yorktown, Va. In 1781, an American and French force defeated the British at Yorktown in the war's last major battle.
Consequences
1. About 7,200 Americans died in battle during the Revolution. Another 10,000 died from disease or exposure and about 8,500 died in British prisons.
2. A quarter of the slaves in South Carolina and Georgia escaped from bondage during the Revolution. The Northern states outlawed slavery or adopted gradual emancipation plans.
3. The states adopted written constitutions that guaranteed religious freedom, increased the legislature's size and powers, made taxation more progressive, and reformed inheritance laws.
Our Online Textbook
Annotated Primary Source Documents
The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 , by George III
The Stamp Act Crisis
There is a violent spirit of opposition raised on the continent , by Archibald Hinschelwood, August 19, 1765
There is not gold or silver enough in the colonies to pay the stamp duty , by Benjamin Franklin, 1766
The Townshend Acts
Taxes...are imposed upon the People , without their consent, by John Hancock and four other Boston selectmen, September 14, 1768
The governors of too many of ye colonies are not only unprincipled, but...rapacious , James Otis to Catharine Macaulay, July 27, 1768
The army...is now publicly declared to be for the purpose of enforcing obedience to the authority of Parliament , Charles Thomson to Benjamin Franklin, November 26, 1769
The Boston Massacre
What are all the Riches...of Life , by Brutus, May 16, 1770
I trust we have Virtue & Resolution , John Dickinson to Catharine Macaulay, October 31, 1770
My Enemies were forced to content themselves with abusing me , Benjamin Franklin to his sister Jane Mecom, December 30, 1770
The Regulators
Lawyers, bad everywhere, but in Carolina worse than bad , by Richard Henry Lee, June 19, 1771
The Wretch who betrays his country , Samuel Adams to Colonel James Warren, July 16, 1772
A System of Tyranny gaining ground upon us every day , John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, April 19, 1773
The Boston Tea Party
Nothing but equal Liberty...can secure the attachment of the Colonies to Britain , by John Adams, December 11, 1773
There arrived from England 450 chests of tea , John Easson to David Easson, December 18, 1773
Each colony...as parts of the same Body , by George Read, May 26, 1774
Fifty thousand men well armed...on the march to Boston , by Caesar Rodney, September 17, 1774
Ruinous system of colonial administration , The Association, agreed upon by the Grand American Continental Congress, October 20, 1774
We...lay our grievances before the throne , Petition from the General Congress in America to the King, October 26, 1774
When a Nation...turns advocate for slavery and Oppression , Letter from the General Congress at Philadelphia, September 5, 1774
Resistance to Britain
It will produce Resistance...and a Flame through all America , John Adams to Catharine Macaulay, December 28, 1774
We consider ourselves as laying the foundation of a glorious future Empire , by Ezra Stiles to Catharine Macaulay, April 15, 1775
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
Troops...marched to Lexington , Isaac Merrill, April 19, 1775
To excite and justify devastation and massacre , Thomas Gage, June 12, 1775
All Europe is interested in the fate of America , Mercy Otis Warren to Catharine Macaulay, August 24, 1775
Common Sense , by Thomas Paine, 1776
Designing a plan of government , by John Adams, November 15, 1775
Necessity calls for Independence , by Richard H. Lee to Landon Carter, June 2, 1776
Our affairs are hastening fast to a Crisis , John Hancock, June 4, 1776
An African American veteran , by Peter Kiteridge, April 6, 1806
Just right to liberty , Society of Friends, September 23-28, 1776
An economist criticizes the British colonial system , by Adam Smith, 1776
Our cause is the cause of God , John Jay, December 23, 1776
Their design...is to spread smallpox thro the country , Josiah Bartlett to William Whipple, April 21, 1777
It would be next to impossible for Britain to succeed , by George Washington to the President of Congress, December 14-15, 1777
We had...not less than 2898 men unfit for duty , by George Washington to the State of New Hampshire, December 29, 1777
The benevolent overtures of Great-Britain , by Henry Clinton, October 3, 1778
Benedict Arnold's Treason
The story...is indeed shocking , by Edmund Pendleton, October 17, 1780
The War in the South
The loud roaring of our approaching Enemy , Henry Laurens, February 14, 1780
A considerable Fleet of the Enemy has arrived within our Capes , by Thomas Jefferson, October 22, 1780
Measures for suppress the...Rebellion , by Charles Cornwallis, February 20, 1781
Our affairs have been...growing from bad to worse , by George Mason to George Mason, Jr., June 3, 1781
We are told that the enemy...fleet will soon drive off the French , Edmund Pendleton, September 10, 1781
The design of the enemy , Edmund Pendleton
The Articles of Confederation
Twas high time the confederation was completed , Edmund Pendleton, September 25, 1780
Women & the Revolution
"I hope you will not consider yourself as commander in chief of your own house,"
Lucy Knox to her husband General Henry Knox, August 23, 1777
eXplorations
Our "doing history" modules
Classroom Handouts
Religion, Race, and Gender in Revolutionary America
Toward Revolution
Impact of the Revolution
Hollywood & the American Revolution
The first major film to deal with the America Revolution, Robert Goldstein's Spirit of '76 , is a textbook example of a movie appearing at precisely the wrong time. The film was completed in 1917, as the United States was entering World War I as an ally of Britain. A federal appeals court judge ruled that "the disposition and purpose of the whole play…is to incite hatred of England and England's soldiers." Goldstein served three years in jail for attempting to distribute a picture "calculated to foment disloyalty or insubordination" among American servicemen.
To learn more about Hollywood's depictions of the American Revolution
Quizzes
Test your knowledge about the Revolutionary War
Quiz 1
Quiz 2