The road to America’s independence was
both long and brutal. Americans fled from Britain for a reason: freedom. The
colonists did not agree with Britain’s monarchy form of government. In
addition to opposing much of the British Parliament’s laws and policies, they
also sought religious freedom. A series of burdensome taxes imposed on the
colonists coupled with a continuously encroaching government was the tipping
point that ultimately led to American independence. Here I will provide a
summary of the major events of the American Revolution.
The battle between Britain and
France for colonial dominance in America was known as the French and Indian War
(1754-1763). The colonists dutifully fought alongside British soldiers, while
the French allied themselves with several Native American tribes. After
the British captured most of France’s major cities and forts in Canada and the
Ohio Valley, the war came to an end. Worried that the British would take more
tribal lands from the Native Americans, the Ottawa chief Pontiac led a series
of raids on British forts and American settlements in the Ohio Valley. This
Native American uprising is known as Pontiac’s Rebellion. It did not take
long for the powerful British forces to squash the rebellion. However, in an
effort to make peace with the Native Americans, Parliament issued the
Proclamation of 1763, which forbade American colonists to settle on Native
American territory unless native rights to the land had first been obtained by
purchase or treaty.
The End of Salutary Neglect and Taxation Without Representation:
After the French and Indian War,
Parliament moved to end the age of salutary neglect. The British government
began to impose numerous burdens and taxes on the American colonists. These
included the enforcement of the Navigation Acts, the Sugar Act to tax sugar,
the Currency Act to remove paper currencies from circulation, the Stamp Act to tax printed materials, and the
Quartering Act requiring Americans to house and feed British troops. Americans
throughout the thirteen colonies did not like being taxed without having
representation in Parliament, hence the famous phrase “no taxation without
representation”. Colonial leaders petitioned Parliament and King George III to
repeal the Stamp Act. In response to intense public pressure, Parliament
repealed the Stamp Act in 1766. However, it passed the Declaratory Act, which
allowed the Parliament to tax the colonies anytime it chose.
The Townshend Acts and the Boston Massacre:
Another series of taxes, this time
on lead, paints, and tea, were levied on the colonists through the Townshend Acts of 1767. At the same time, Parliament
also passed the Suspension Act, which suspended the New York assembly for not
enforcing the Quartering Act. Fearing a violent response from the colonists,
Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson requested assistance from the British
army. In 1768, four thousand British soldiers landed in the city to help
maintain order. Nevertheless, on March 5, 1770, an angry mob of rebels clashed
with British troops. The violent and bloody event, in which five colonists were
killed, became known as the Boston Massacre. News of the massacre spread like
wildfire throughout the colonies.
The Boston Tea Party:
In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea
Act, which granted the British East India Company a trade monopoly on the tea
exported to the American colonies. Tea merchants in many American cities
refused to purchase British tea. In an effort to uphold the law, Governor
Hutchinson of Massachusetts allowed for ships arriving in Boston harbor to
deposit their cargoes and ordered that appropriate payments be made for the
tea. On the night of December 16, 1773, sixty men boarded the ships and dumped
the entire shipment of tea into the harbor. This famous event, known as the Boston TeaParty, was a turning point
in American history.
The Intolerable Acts:
The
Intolerable Acts (the Coercive Acts), were passed by
Parliament in January 1774. The laws closed Boston Harbor until the British
East India Company had been fully reimbursed for the tea destroyed in the
Boston Tea Party. People from all over the colonies sent food and supplies to
help their fellow Americans survive the brutal northeastern weather.
The First Continental Congress:
Prominent colonials gathered in
Philadelphia in 1774 at the First Continental Congress to take action against the Intolerable
Acts. They petitioned King George III and the British government to repeal the
acts. They also instituted a boycott of all British goods in the colonies.
Lexington, Concord, and the Second Continental Congress:
On April 19, 1775, British forces in
Boston marched to the town of Concord, Massachusetts, to seize a colonial
militia arsenal. Militiamen of Lexington and Concord intercepted them and
attacked. The first shot, famously quoted as the “shot heard round the world”
was followed by many more shots that forced the British to retreat back to
Boston. Thousands of militiamen from nearby colonies went to Boston to assist.
In the meantime, leaders held the SecondContinental Congress. They
drafted the Olive Branch Petition, in which they
expressed their loyalty to Britain and asked King George III for peaceful
reconciliation. The king rejected the petition and formally declared that the
colonies were in a state of rebellion.
The Declaration of Independence:
The Second Continental Congress chose GeorgeWashington, who would later become America’s first president, to command the militiamen defending Boston in the north. They also appropriated money for a small navy and for developing a professional Continental Army. Support began to grow for America’s succession from Britain. A vote was held on July 2, 1776, to declare independence. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 the United States was born.
