The American Revolution

The American Revolution (1765–1783), also called the U.S. War of Independence and the American Revolutionary War, was an economic revolt as well as ideological (ideals about liberty, rights and governance) and political movement (colonial dissatisfaction with British policies) in the Thirteen Colonies in what was then British America.
The American Revolution began as a civil war for independence on April 19, 1775, with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, involving British troops and colonial minutemen which are cited as the first armed clashes of the war.
It became an international conflict when France joined with the colonists on February 6, 1778 after signing the Treaty of Alliance against Great Britain.
Spain joined with the colonists in June 21, 1779 and the Netherlands provided significant support through financial aid and supplied arms and munitions.
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799), the first President of the United States (April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797), known as the Father of the Nation for his role in bringing about American independence as Commander-in-Chief who led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War against Great Britain and helped create the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia that was ratified by nine of the thirteen states on June 21, 1788.

Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration, (also known as the Age of Discovery) spanning roughly from the 15th to the 17th century marked a period of extensive European exploration and colonization of new lands and trade routes.
European powers like Portugal, Spain, England, France and the Netherlands established colonial empires in the Americas, Africa and Asia primarily aimed to exploit colonial natural resources for raw materials and open new markets.
Colonies
Diverse groups of people that sought to settle in the New World included adventurers, farmers, indentured servants, religious communities who wanted religious freedom and people looking to shape their own political systems all hoped for a better life with the promise of opportunity and prosperity.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (25 August – 20 May 1506) , an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and 1504, was the first to link the Old World (Europe) and the New World (the Americas).
He prepared the New World to be colonized and explored, first by Spain and Portugal, then, England, France, and the Netherlands.
Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci (9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512), an Italian merchant, explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence bestowed the New World with the name “America”.

British America

England's rule over the Thirteen Colonies lasted from 1585 with the establishment of the Roanoke Colony (colony was abandoned in 1590) led by Sir Walter Raleigh, to 1783, when the American Revolution concluded and independence was achieved.
This period of British rule spanned approximately 200 years.
Colonies were founded and settled individually by British expeditions and companies along the eastern seaboard of North America, each with its own government but ultimately under the control of the British king.
The Thirteen Colonies were:
New England Colonies (New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut).
Middle Colonies (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware).
Southern Colonies (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).
Colonies named after British sovereigns.
Georgia: Named after King George II.
New York: Named after James, Duke of York, who later became King James II.
Carolinas: North and South (named after King Charles I - name is Latinized as "Carolus").
Virginia: Named after Queen Elizabeth I, known as the "Virgin Queen".
Maryland: Named after Queen Henrietta Maria, the wife of King Charles I.
Jamestown Colony
Three ships that left England on a transatlantic voyage in December 20, 1606 with 105 settlers and 39 crew were the Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery.
They founded the Jamestown Colony (named after King James I), which became the first permanent English settlement in North America, established on May 13th, 1607.
Jamestown marked the beginning of English colonization in the Americas.
Mayflower
The Mayflower voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts began on September 16, 1620 setting sail with 102 Pilgrims.
It took approximately 66 days and arrived at Cape Cod on November 9, 1620.
The Pilgrims established a permanent European settlement in what is now Massachusetts.
Religious Freedom
Puritans, Quakers and Catholics looked for a better life in the colonies where they could practice their religious beliefs without persecution from the Church of England.
Puritans wanted to "purify" the Church of England because they believed the Protestant Reformation still retained too many Catholic practices.
Quakers sought religious freedom in the colonies because they rejected religious ceremonies and didn't have official clergy which led to conflict with the Church of England.
Catholics believed in the principle of separation of church and state and the right of individuals to practice their own faith freely.
Pilgrims who journeyed on the Mayflower, wanted to separate from the Church of England altogether (they settled in the Plymouth Colony in 1620).
They are associated with the first Thanksgiving that is linked to a harvest feast celebrated by the English colonists at Plymouth and the Wampanoag Native Americans in 1621.
Economic Opportunities
Economic opportunities in the colonies were shaped by the region's resources and the needs of the mother country.
Colonies provided valuable resources like lumber, minerals, and crops (like tobacco, rice and indigo) that could be exported back to England for profit.
New England colonies provided fishing, lumber, and shipbuilding.
Southern colonies (Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina) provided tobacco, rice, and indigo production.
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York were engaged in cattle and sheep raising.
Political Liberty
Desire for greater autonomy and representation in government played a crucial role in the Thirteen Colonies leading to the slogan "No taxation without representation".
British Mercantilism
British mercantilism significantly impacted the American colonies by restricting their economic freedom - it led to widespread smuggling with other European nations.
Colonies were prohibited from developing their own manufacturing industries because mercantilism mandated that they trade with Great Britain - and could only purchase finished goods from the mother country creating dependence.
Britain increased taxes for colonists on things they bought and used every day like tea and sugar.
The combination of economic restrictions and heavy taxes sparked widespread anger and resistance towards British rule which ultimately contributing to the American Revolution.

Prelude to War

French and Indian War
Britain's victory in the French and Indian War (called the Seven Years War in England - 28 May 1754 – 10 February 1763) expelled France from North America and secured massive territorial gains for the empire in North America.
However, it was a precursor to the American Revolution because it fuelled widespread resentment over increased British control in the colonies through subsequent Crown policies over paying for the war's expenses via increased taxation that were seen as unjust and oppressive.
*Tea Act (1773) granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies.
The Tea Act made it cheaper than tea that was being smuggled into the colonies from other places.
*Sugar Act (1764) was a revenue-raising measure aimed at the American colonies on imported sugar, molasses, and other goods.
It was also aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and molasses from the French and Dutch West Indies.
*Stamp Act (1765) imposed a direct tax on the Thirteen Colonies requiring printed materials, legal documents, newspapers and playing cards, be produced on paper stamped with an embossed revenue stamp.
*Townshend Acts (1767) were four acts aimed to assert British authority over the American colonies that included suspending the New York Assembly, imposing taxes on goods imported to the colonies, establishing methods for tax collection and providing benefits for British tea merchants.
Colonists, having fought alongside the British believed they should not be taxed without having a voice in their governance eventually escalated into armed conflict.
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre (March 5, 1770) was a violent confrontation outside of the Customs House where British soldiers fired upon a crowd of colonists, resulting in the deaths of five civilians and wounding several others escalating anti-British resentment.
Boston Tea Party (December 16, 1773) protest of the Tea Act and the East India Company's monopoly occurred when colonists, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded three British ships (Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver) and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor leading to retaliatory measures from the British government.
Intolerable Acts (Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts - 1774) were passed by the British Parliament to suppress unrest in colonial Boston by closing the port and placing it under martial law after the Boston Tea Party.

The American Revolution

Outbreak of War
The British government attempts to raise revenue by taxing the colonies were met with protest among many colonists who resented that no one represented their needs in the British government and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.
Battles of Lexington and Concord
The Battles of Lexington and Concord marked the beginning of the American Revolution as colonists took up arms on April 19, 1775, marking the first armed conflict between British troops and colonial militiamen.
These battles, prompted by British attempts to disarm colonists and quell unrest.
Midnight Ride Of Paul Revere
On April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren summoned Paul Revere (December 21, 1734 – May 10, 1818), a silversmith, military officer and industrialist to ride at midnight to Lexington, Massachusetts and warn patriot minutemen (citizen soldiers and members of colonial militias prepared to fight at a moment's notice) in hiding there with the news that British soldiers stationed in Boston were about to march to quell the rebellion.
General Thomas Gage, the British royal governor of Massachusetts, ordered 700 Redcoats to march from Boston to Concord to seize colonial military supplies and arrest rebel leaders.
"Shot Heard 'Round the World"
On April 19, 1775, at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, colonial militia and British regulars engaged in a brief but significant skirmish that is now a famous phrase as the "shot heard 'round the world" signifying Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" referring to the opening shots that marked the beginning towards independence and democracy and the creation of the United States.
Throughout its eight-year period, the American Revolution saw numerous battles and smaller skirmishes and engagements.
Some of the major battles that took place during the American Revolution included:
Battle of Bunker Hill: (June 17, 1775)
Siege of Boston: (April 19, 1775 – March 17, 1776)
Battle of Trenton: (December 26, 1776)
New York and New Jersey campaigns: (July 1776 – March 1777)
Battle of Saratoga: (September 19 and October 7, 1777)
Washington Crosses the Delaware River
George Washington's crossing of the icy Delaware River on a cold, Christmas night (December 25-26, 1776) with his Continental Army was a pivotal moment in the American Revolution that led to the surprise victory against Hessian, German mercenaries hired by the British from the German state of Hesse-Cassel, at the Battle of Trenton in New Jersey.
The victory provided a much-needed morale boost after a string of defeats and encouraged it recruitment.
This historic event, depicted in art, became a symbol of American resilience and determination to fight for independence.
Sybil Ludington
Courageous teenager, Sybil Ludington (April 5, 1761 – February 26, 1839), the daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, rode an all-night, 40 miles (64 km) on horseback on April 26, 1777, at age 16, to muster local militia troops in response to a British attack on the town of Danbury, Connecticut, during the American Revolution.
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 — June 14, 1801) served with distinction for the Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780 during the American Revolution.
He was an excellent leader, a brilliant tactician and a courageous soldier who General George Washington trusted and gave him command of West Point in New York.
Arnold secretly conspired to surrender West Point to British forces but, the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he defected to the British lines.
He was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and led the British forces in battle against the army which he had once commanded.
Benedict Arnold's name became an epithet with treason and betrayal in the United States.
Final Battle of the American Revolution
The Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, began on September 28, 1781, was the final major battle of the American Revolutionary War.
It ended on October 19, 1781, at 10:30 am in Yorktown, Virginia with a decisive victory by the Continental Army led by George Washington, with support from the Marquis de Lafayette and French Army troops, led by the Comte de Rochambeau, and a French Navy force commanded by the Comte de Grasse over the British Army commanded by Lord, General Charles Cornwallis.
The surrender at Yorktown effectively ended major military operations, it ended British rule in the colonies and the birth of a new nation — the United States of America.

End of the American Revolution

A combination of colonial grievances against British policies intertwined with political, economic and social pressures caused the loss of the Thirteen Colonies.
King George III is often seen as the symbolic face of British policies that alienated the colonies through his use of military force to enforce British control contributed to the American Revolution.
George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin Thomas Jefferson as well as many other important figures played pivotal roles for independence and guiding the American Revolution.
The name "United States of America" was officially adopted by the Second Continental Congress on September 9, 1776.
Before this date, the colonies were referred to as the "United Colonies".
Treaty of Paris, 1783
The Treaty of Paris, signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783 brought an end to armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain.
The United States was also recognized as an independent nation.
George Washington
George Washington was unanimously elected by the Electoral College as the first President of the United States beginning on April 30, 1789, the day of his first inauguration, and ended on March 4, 1797.
He was succeeded by his vice president, John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) of the Federalist Party.
US Constitution
The US Constitution drafted at the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia between May 25 and September 17, 1787 was written and signed in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall.
This was the same place the Declaration of Independence was signed on August 2, 1776.
James Madison (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836), a Founding Father and the 4th president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. is called the "Father of the Constitution" because of his extensive contributions to the drafting process.
He was the primary author of the Virginia Plan, introduced at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 for a new federal government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

Liberty Bell

The Liberty Bell is an iconic symbol of American independence, was commissioned by the colonial legislature of Pennsylvania to hang in the steeple of the State House in 1752 to announce public meetings of the legislature and tolled for notable events.
A chime that changed the world on July 8, 1776, with the Liberty Bell ringing out from the tower of Independence Hall summoning the citizens of Philadelphia to hear the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.
Another, popular legend says that on July 8, 1776, the Liberty Bell rang to symbolize America's independence from Great Britain.
It bears the legend "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" - Biblical reference from the Book of Leviticus 25:10.

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