The American Revolution of 1775 to 1783: Promoted Unity

Outline

I. Introduction

II. Background and Causes of the Revolution

a. Political Turmoil

b. B. Taxation Without Representation

III. Taxation and Acts of the British Government imposed

a. Navigation Acts

b. B. Sugar, Currency, and Quartering Acts

c. C. Stamp Act of 1765

d. D. Townsend Act of 1767

e. E. The Boston Massacre and the Tea Act

f. F. Intolerable Acts of 1774

VII. Major Events and Key Players in the American Revolution

A. American Political Leaders

1. George Washington, King George III, Sir William Howe, John

Burgoyne, and Charles Cornwallis.

B. Events

1. The Battle at Boston, Defeat at New York City and Fabian

tactics, Valley Forge, Victory at Yorktown

1 | P a g e

a. Demobilization

b. Advantages and disadvantages of the opposing sides

VIII. Conclusion

I. Introduction

The American Revolution or American War of Independence in 1775 to

1783 promoted unity among the members of the 13 original colonies namely

2 | P a g e

Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts

Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North

Carolina, and Rhode Island and Providence Plantations located on the on the

Atlantic coast of North America founded between 1607 and 1733 that

revolted against their mother country and later declared their independence

from the British Empire and formed a new nation , the United States of

America. The American Revolution began as a transatlantic dispute over

parliamentary authority and policy, as American colonists chafed against

British measures to reconsolidate their hold over their North American

empire. This difference of opinion grew into a crisis of authority when

colonists expressed their opposition by rioting, burning effigies of English

officials, organizing vigilante associations, and pledging boycotts of imported

goods. The colonists did not initially think of themselves as waging a war for

independence, but rather believed they were defending their natural rights

as Englishmen to resist misguided and corrupt government officials and

representatives. With every new British assertion of authority, the colonists

redoubled their activism, and the stakes got higher and higher. The colonists'

faith in their sovereign, King George III, was dashed by his rejection of their

appeals and his condemnation of their protests as an unlawful rebellion.

Once they lost all faith in the righteousness and reason of the monarchy, the

American Patriots rejected it outright and set forth not only to win

independence but also to build a new kind of society in place of the old.1

1http://www.shmoop.com/american-revolution/

3 | P a g e

II. Background and Causes of the Revolution

The American Revolution was the result of a series of social, political,

and intellectual transformations in early American society and government,

collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. Americans rejected

the oligarchies common in aristocratic Europe at the time, championing

instead the development of republicanism based on the Enlightenment

understanding of liberalism. Among the significant results of the revolution

was the creation of a democratically-elected representative government

responsible to the will of the people. However, sharp political debates

erupted over the appropriate level of democracy desirable in the new

government, with a number of Founders fearing mob rule.In recent years a

debate has developed over the role of republicanism in the American

Revolution and in the British radicalism of the 18th century. For many

decades the consensus was that liberalism, especially that of John Locke,

was paramount and that republicanism had a distinctly secondary

role.2Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic,

where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often

elections.Also, "No Taxation without Representation!" was used by Reverend

Jonathan Mayhew in a sermon in Boston in 1750. The phrase had been used

for more than a generation in Ireland.3By 1765 the term was in use in

Boston, and local politician James Otis was most famously associated with

2See for example, Vernon L. Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought3McCullough, David (2001). John Adams. New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster. pp. 61.

4 | P a g e

the phrase, "taxation without representation is tyranny."4The British

Parliament had controlled colonial trade and taxed imports and exports since

1660.5 By the 1760s the Americans were being deprived of a historic right.

The English Bill of Rights 1689 had forbidden the imposition of taxes without

the consent of Parliament. Since the colonists had no representation in

Parliament the taxes violated the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen.

Parliament contended that the colonists had virtual representation.6

III. Taxation and Acts of the British Government imposed

There were a lot acts and taxation imposition that the British

parliament imposed that triggered for the thirteen colonies to demand for

their rights and angered them. Navigation Acts, in English history, name

given to certain parliamentary legislation, more properly called the British

Acts of Trade. The acts were an outgrowth of mercantilism, and followed

principles laid down by Tudor and early Stuart trade regulations. They had as

their purpose the expansion of the English carrying trade, the provision from

the colonies of materials England could not produce, and the establishment

of colonial markets for English manufactures. The rise of the Dutch carrying

trade, which threatened to drive English shipping from the seas, was the

immediate cause for the Navigation Act of 1651, and it in turn was a major

cause of the First Dutch War. It forbade the importation of plantation

commodities of Asia, Africa, and America except in ships owned by

4Daniel A. Smith, Tax Crusaders and the Politics of Direct Democracy (1998), 21-235Unger, pg. 876John C. Miller, Origins of the American Revolution. 1943. pp. 31, 99, 104

5 | P a g e

Englishmen. European goods could be brought into England and English

possessions only in ships belonging to Englishmen, to people of the country

where the cargo was produced, or to people of the country receiving first

shipment. This piece of Commonwealth legislation was substantially

reenacted in the First Navigation Act of 1660 (confirmed 1661). The First Act

enumerated such colonial articles as sugar, tobacco, cotton, and indigo;

these were to be supplied only to England. This act was expanded and

altered by the succeeding Navigation Acts of 1662, 1663, 1670, 1673, and by

the Act to Prevent Frauds and Abuses of 1696. In the act of 1663 the

important staple principle required that all foreign goods be shipped to the

American colonies through English ports. In return for restrictions on

manufacturing and the regulation of trade, colonial commodities were often

given a monopoly of the English market and preferential tariff treatment.

Thus Americans benefited when tobacco cultivation was made illegal within

England, and British West Indian planters were aided by high duties on

French sugar. But resentments developed.7Second, The Sugar Act, also

known as the American Revenue Act or the American Duties Act, was a

revenue-raising act passed by the Parliament of Great Britain on April 5,

1764.8 It arrived in the colonies at a time of economic depression.It was an

indirect tax, although the colonists were well informed of its presence. A

good part of the reason was that a significant portion of the colonial

economy during the Seven Years War was involved with supplying food and

7http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0835034.html8"The Sugar Act; Titled The American Revenue Act of 1764". U.S.history.org. Independence Hall Association. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

6 | P a g e

supplies to the British Army. Colonials, however, especially those affected

directly as merchants and shippers, assumed that the highly visible new tax

program was the major culprit.The preamble to the act stated: "it is

expedient that new provisions and regulations should be established for

improving the revenue of this Kingdom ... and ... it is just and necessary that

revenue should be raised ... for defraying the expenses of defending,

protecting, and securing the same."9 The earlier Molasses Act of 1733, which

had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses, had never been

effectively collected due to colonial evasion. By reducing the rate by half and

increasing measures to enforce the tax, the British hoped that the tax would

actually be collected.10

Third, the first one was the Currency Act of 1751, restricted the

emission of paper money by the colonies of New England. These colonies

had issued paper fiat money known as "bills of credit" to help pay for military

expenses during the French and Indian Wars. Because more paper money

was issued than what was taxed out of circulation, the currency depreciated

in relation to the British pound sterling.The resultant inflation was harmful to

merchants in Great Britain, who were forced to accept the depreciated

currency from colonists for payment of debts.11 It was followed by the

Currency Act of 1764extended the 1751 Act to all of the British colonies of

North America. Unlike the earlier Act, this statute did not prohibit the

9Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution. (1943)10Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution. (1943)11Allen, Larry. The Encyclopedia of Money.2nd edition. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO, 2009.

7 | P a g e

colonies from issuing paper money, but it did forbid them from designating

future currency emissions as legal tender for public or private debts. This

tight money policy created financial difficulties in the colonies, where gold

and silver were in short supply.[2] Benjamin Franklin, a colonial agent in

London, lobbied for repeal of the Act over the next several years, as 12did

other agents.

Fourth, The Quartering Act is the name of at least two 18th-century

Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain.These Quartering Acts ordered the

local governments of the American colonies to provide housing and

provisions for British soldiers. They were amendments to the Mutiny Act,

which had to be renewed annually by Parliament.13Lieutenant-General

Thomas Gage, commander-in-chief of forces in British North America, and

other British officers who had fought in the French and Indian War, had found

it hard to persuade colonial assemblies to pay for quartering and

provisioning of troops on the march, this Act was part of the Intolerable Acts.

The purpose of these laws was to take back hold of the colonies. Therefore,

he asked Parliament to do something. Most colonies had supplied provisions

during the war, but the issue was disputed in peacetime. The Province of

New York was their headquarters, because the assembly had passed an Act

to provide for the quartering of British regulars, but it expired on January 2,

12Morgan, David. The Devious Dr. Franklin, Colonial Agent: Benjamin Franklin's Years in London. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1999.13William Winthrop, Military Law and Precedents, 19-20 (2d ed., Government Printing Office 1920); "Quartering Act."Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 1 Dec. 2008

8 | P a g e

1764,14the result was the Quartering Act of 1765, which went far beyond

what Gage had requested.

When 1,500 British troops arrived at New York City in 1766 the New

York Provincial Assembly refused to comply with the Quartering Act and did

not supply billeting for the troops. The troops had to remain on their ships.

With its great impact on the city, a skirmish occurred in which one colonist

was wounded following the Assembly's refusal to provide quartering. For

failure to comply with the Quartering Act, Parliament suspended the Province

of New York's Governor and legislature in 1767 and 1769, but never carried

it out, since the Assembly soon agreed to contribute money toward the

quartering of troops;15 the New York Assembly allocated funds for the

quartering of British troops in 1771.

Fifth, The Stamp Act 1765 was a direct tax imposed by the British

Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required

that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper

produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.16An Act for

granting and applying certain stamp duties, and other duties, in the British

colonies and plantations in America, towards further defraying the expenses

of defending, protecting, and securing the same; and for amending such

parts of the several acts of parliament relating to the trade and revenues of

the said colonies and plantations, as direct the manner of determining and

14Kammen, Michael (1975). Colonial New York, A History.15America During the Age of Revolution, 1766-1767, Library of Congress.16Morgan, Edmund S. and Morgan, Helen M. The Stamp Act Crisis:Prologue to Revolution. (1963)

9 | P a g e

recovering the penalties and forfeitures therein mentioned.17The purpose of

the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British

victory in the Seven Years' War.

The British government felt that the colonies were the primary

beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of

the expense.The Stamp Act met great resistance in the colonies. The

colonies sent no representatives to Parliament, and therefore had no

influence over what taxes were raised, how they were levied, or how they

would be spent. Many colonists considered it a violation of their rights as

Englishmen to be taxed without their consent—consent that only the colonial

legislatures could grant. Colonial assemblies sent petitions and protests.

Six and seventh, The Townshend Acts were a series of laws passed

beginning in 1767 by the Parliament of Great Britain relating to the British

colonies in North America. The first one was the Revenue Act of 1767,18

which represented the Chatham ministry's new approach for generating tax

revenue in the American colonies after the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766.

Also, the Tea Act was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain. Its principal

overt objective was to reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the

financially troubled British East India Company in its London warehouses and

to help the struggling company survive. However, Colonists in the Thirteen

Colonies recognized the implications of the Act's provisions, and a coalition

17http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/stampact.htm18The Revenue Act of 1767 was 7 Geo. III ch. 46; Knollenberg, Growth, 47; Labaree, Tea Party, 270n12. It is also known as the Townshend Revenue Act, the Townshend Duties Act, and the Tariff Act of 1767.

10 | P a g e

of merchants and artisans similar to that which had opposed the Stamp Act

1765 mobilized opposition to delivery and distribution of the tea. The

company's authorized consignees were harassed, and in many colonies

successful efforts were made to prevent the tea from being landed. In

Boston, this resistance culminated in the Boston Tea Party on December 16,

1773, when colonists (some disguised as Indians) boarded tea ships

anchored in the harbour and dumped their tea cargo overboard. It was a

direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of

Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East

India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies, thus, it

led to the Boston massacre. Tensions had been mounting from the beginning

of the year with various clashes between British sympathizers and colonists.

However, in early March the tensions erupted into bloodshed.On March 5,

1770 a small group of colonists were up to their usual sport of tormenting

British soldiers.By many accounts there was a great deal of taunting that

eventually leads to an escalation of hostilities, five men had been shot to

death in Boston town by British soldiers.19 News of the event reached

England in January 1774. Parliament responded with a series of acts that

were intended to punish Boston for this destruction of private property,

restore British authority in Massachusetts, and otherwise reform colonial

government in America.

19http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/massacre.html

11 | P a g e

Lastly, the Intolerable Acts or the Coercive Acts are names used to

describe a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating to

Britain's colonies in North America.The acts triggered outrage and resistance

in the Thirteen Colonies that later became the United States, and were

important developments in the growth of the American Revolution.20Many

colonists viewed the acts as an arbitrary violation of their rights, and in 1774

they organized the First Continental Congress to coordinate a protest, and as

tensions escalated, the American Revolutionary War broke out the following

year.

IV.Major Events and Key Players in the American Revolution

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together

from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United

States during the American Revolution. They first met in Carpenter's Hall in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from September 5, to October 26, in 1774 and

consisted of fifty-six delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies that

would become the United States of America. The delegates, who included

George Washington, then a colonel of the Virginia volunteers, Patrick Henry,

and John Adams, were elected by their respective colonial assemblies. Other

notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts Bay, and

Joseph Galloway and John Dickinson from Pennsylvania.Although he

expressed opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the

20Middlekauff, Robert (2005). The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789 (Revised and expanded ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

12 | P a g e

colonies, he did not take a leading role in the growing colonial resistance

until protests of the Townshend Acts (enacted in 1767) became widespread.

In May 1769, Washington introduced a proposal, drafted by his friend George

Mason, calling for Virginia to boycott English goods until the Acts were

repealed.21However, Washington regarded the passage of the Intolerable

Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Privileges".22

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord near Boston in April 1775, the

colonies went to war. Washington appeared at the Second Continental

Congress in a military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war.23

Washington had the prestige, military experience, charisma and military

bearing of a military leader and was known as a strong patriot. Virginia, the

largest colony, deserved recognition, and New England—where the fighting

began—realized it needed Southern support. Washington did not explicitly

seek the office of commander and said that he was not equal to it, but there

was no serious competition.Congress created the Continental Army on June

14, 1775. Nominated by John Adams of Massachusetts, Washington was then

appointed Major General and Commander-in-chief.The Continental Army was

formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies

that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the

Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the

military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in their revolt against the rule of

21Freeman, Douglas Southall (1968). Harwell, Richard Barksdale. ed. Washington. New York: Scribner (174-176).22Randall, Willard Sterne (1997). George Washington: A Life. New York: Henry Holt & Co.23Rasmussen, William M. S.; Tilton, Robert S. (1999). George Washington-the Man Behind the Myths. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.

13 | P a g e

Great Britain. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and

other troops that remained under control of the individual states.

Washington had three roles during the war. In 1775–77, and again in 1781

he led his men against the main British forces. Although he lost many of his

battles, he never surrendered his army during the war, and he continued to

fight the British relentlessly until the war's end. He plotted the overall

strategy of the war, in cooperation with Congress.24

In June 1776, Congress' first attempt at running the war effort was

established with the committee known as "Board of War and Ordnance",

succeeded by the Board of War in July 1777, a committee which eventually

included members of the military.25

The Battle at Boston

Washington assumed command of the Continental Army in the field at

Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston.

Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for

new sources. American troops raided British arsenals, including some in the

Caribbean, and some manufacturing was attempted. They obtained a barely

adequate supply (about 2.5 million pounds) by the end of 1776, mostly from

24Higginbotham, Don (1985). George Washington and the American Military Tradition. Athens: University of Georgia Press.25"Creation of the War Department". Papers of the War Department, 1784–1800. Fairfax, Virginia: Center for History and New Media.

14 | P a g e

France.26The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and Washington moved

his army to New York City.

Defeat at New York City and Fabian tactics

In August 1776, British General William Howe launched a massive

naval and land campaign designed to seize New York. The Continental Army

under Washington engaged the enemy for the first time as an army of the

newly independent United States at the Battle of Long Island, the largest

battle of the entire war. The Americans were heavily outnumbered, many

men deserted, and Washington was badly beaten. Subsequently, Washington

was forced to retreat across the East River at night. He did so without loss of

life or materiel.27 Washington retreated north from the city to avoid

encirclement, enabling Howe to take the offensive and capture Fort

Washington on November 16 with high Continental casualties. Washington

then retreated across New Jersey; the future of the Continental Army was in

doubt due to expiring enlistments and the string of losses.28On the night of

December 25, 1776, Washington staged a comeback with a surprise attack

on a Hessian outpost in western New Jersey. He led his army across the

Delaware River to capture nearly 1,000 Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey.

Washington followed up his victory at Trenton with another over British

regulars at Princeton in early January. The British retreated back to New York

26Stephenson, Orlando W. (January 1925). "The Supply of Gunpowder in 1776". The American Historical Review (University of Chicago) 30 (2): 271–281.27McCullough, David (2005). 1776. New York: Simon & Schuster.28Ketchum, Richard M. (1999) [1973]. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton. New York: Henry Holt.

15 | P a g e

City and its environs, which they held until the peace treaty of 1783.

Washington's victories wrecked the British carrot-and-stick strategy of

showing overwhelming force then offering generous terms. The Americans

would not negotiate for anything short of independence.29These victories

alone were not enough to ensure ultimate Patriot victory, however, since

many soldiers did not reenlist or deserted during the harsh winter.

Washington and Congress reorganized the army with increased rewards for

staying and punishment for desertion, which raised troop numbers

effectively for subsequent battles.30

By summer 1777, however, Washington had rebuilt his strength and

his confidence; he stopped using raids and went for large-scale

confrontations, as at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and

Yorktown.31Late summer of 1777, the British under John Burgoyne sent a

major invasion army south from Quebec, with the intention of splitting off

rebellious New England. General Howe in New York took his army south to

Philadelphia instead of going up the Hudson River to join with Burgoyne near

Albany.

It was a major strategic mistake for the British, and Washington rushed

to Philadelphia to engage Howe, while closely following the action in upstate

New York. In pitched battles that were too complex for his relatively

29Fischer, David Hackett (2004). Washington's Crossing. Oxford, England; New York: Oxford University Press.30"American Presidents: George Washington". American-Presidents.com. 2011.Retrieved 2011-11-13.31Buchanan, John (2004). The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

16 | P a g e

inexperienced men, Washington was defeated. At the Battle of Brandywine

on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, and marched

into the American capital at Philadelphia unopposed on September 26.

Washington's army unsuccessfully attacked the British garrison at

Germantown in early October. Meanwhile, Burgoyne, out of reach from help

from Howe, was trapped and forced to surrender his entire army at Saratoga,

New York.32 It was a major turning point militarily and diplomatically. France

responded to Burgoyne's defeat by entering the war, openly allying with

America and turning the Revolutionary War into a major worldwide war.

Washington's loss of Philadelphia prompted some members of Congress to

discuss removing Washington from command. This attempt failed after

Washington's supporters rallied behind him.33

Valley Forge

Washington's army of 11,000 went into winter quarters at Valley Forge

north of Philadelphia in December 1777. Over the next six months, the

deaths in camp numbered in the thousands (the majority being from

disease), with historians' death toll estimates ranging from 2000[82] to 2500,

to over 3000 men.34The next spring, however, the army emerged from Valley

Forge in good order, thanks in part to a full-scale training program

supervised by General von Steuben. The British evacuated Philadelphia to 32Higginbotham, Don (1985). George Washington and the American Military Tradition. Athens: University of Georgia Press.33Heydt, Bruce (December 2005). "'Vexatious Evils': George Washington and the Conway Cabal". American History 40 (5): 50–73.34Ferling, John E. (2009). The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon. New York: Bloomsbury Press.

17 | P a g e

New York in 1778, shadowed by Washington. Washington attacked them at

Monmouth, fighting to an effective draw in one of the war's largest

battles.35Afterwards, the British continued to head towards New York, and

Washington moved his army outside of New York.36

Victory at Yorktown

In the summer of 1779 at Washington's direction, General John Sullivan

carried out a scorched earth campaign that destroyed at least 40 Iroquois

villages in central and upstate New York; the Indians were British allies who

had been raiding American settlements on the frontier.37 In July 1780, 5,000

veteran French troops led by General Comte Donatien de Rochambeau

arrived at Newport, Rhode Island to aid in the war effort. The Continental

Army having been funded by $20,000 in French gold, Washington delivered

the final blow to the British in 1781, after a French naval victory allowed

American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia. The surrender

at Yorktown on October 17, 1781, marked the end of major fighting in

continental North America.38

Demobilization

Washington could not know that after Yorktown, the British would not

reopen hostilities. They still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City,

35"Battle of Monmouth 1778".Rediscovering George.36"This Day in History: American Revolution – June 18, 1778, British abandon Philadelphia". History.com. Retrieved 2011-06-02.37Grizzard, Frank E., Jr. (2002). George Washington: A Biographical Companion. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.38Mann (2005, p. 38); Lancaster & Plumb (1985, p. 254).

18 | P a g e

Charleston and Savannah, together with a powerful fleet. The French army

and navy departed, so the Americans were on their own in 1782–83. The

treasury was empty, and the unpaid soldiers were growing restive, almost to

the point of mutiny or possible coup d'état. Washington dispelled unrest

among officers by suppressing the Newburgh Conspiracy in March 1783, and

Congress came up with the promise of a five-year bonus.39

By the Treaty of Paris (signed that September), Great Britain

recognized the independence of the United States. Washington disbanded

his army and, on November 2, gave an eloquent farewell address to his

soldiers.40

On November 25, the British evacuated New York City, and Washington

and the governor took possession. At Fraunces Tavern on December 4,

Washington formally bade his officers’ farewell and on December 23, 1783,

he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief. Historian Gordon Wood

concludes that the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander

of the armies—an act that stunned aristocratic Europe.41 King George III

called Washington "the greatest character of the age" because of this.42

Advantages and disadvantages of the opposing sides

39Kohn, Richard H. (April 1970). "The Inside History of the Newburgh Conspiracy: America and the Coup d'Etat". The William and Mary Quarterly (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture) 27 (2): 187–220.40Washington, George. "Letter to Continental Army, November 2, 1783, Farewell Orders; Letter to Henry Knox, November 2, 1783". George Washington Papers, 1741–1799: Series 3b Varick Transcripts. Library of Congress.Retrieved 13 November 2011.41Wood (1992, pp. 105–106)42Brookhiser (1996, p. 103)

19 | P a g e

The Americans began the war with significant disadvantages compared

to the British. They had no national government, no national army or navy,

and no financial system, no banks, no established credit, and no functioning

government departments, such as a treasury. The Congress tried to handle

administrative affairs through legislative committees, which proved

inefficient.At first, the Americans had no international allies. However the

American cause eventually attracted alliances and supporters, especially

from France, the Netherlands, and Spain.The Americans had a large,

relatively prosperous population (when compared to other colonies) that

depended not on imports but on local production for food and most supplies.

They were on their home ground, had a smoothly functioning, well organized

system of local and state governments, newspapers and printers, and

internal lines of communications. They had a long-established system of

local militia, with companies and an officer corps that could form the basis of

local militias, and provide a training ground for the national army that the

Congress set up and also they have efficient and intelligent Commander like

George Washington.43

While on the British side, the British were beset with major difficulties

in fighting the war. Compared to the Americans, the British had no major

allies, and only had troops provided by small German states to bolster the

strength of the British Army in North America. At the onset of the war, the

British Army was less than 48,000 strong worldwide, and suffered from a lack

43Pole and Greene, eds. Companion to the American Revolution ch 36–39

20 | P a g e

of effective recruiting. By 1778, the army was pardoning criminals for

military service and had extended the age range for service to be from 16 to

50. Although its officer and non-commissioned officer corps were relatively

professional and experienced, this professionalism was diluted because

wealthy individuals lacking military experience could purchase commissions

and promotions. As a consequence, inexperienced officers sometimes found

their way into positions of high responsibility.44Distance was also major

problem for the British. Although the Royal Navy was the largest and most

experienced in the world at the time, it sometimes took months for troops to

reach North America, and orders were often out of date because the military

situation on the ground had changed by the time they arrived.45

Loyalist allegiance also provided setbacks, as the British could not use

the harsh methods of suppressing rebellion they had used in Ireland and

Scotland. Despite these limitations, neutral colonists were often driven into

the ranks of the Revolutionaries due to the conflict.46

The Treaty of Paris

In London, as political support for the war plummeted after Yorktown,

British Prime Minister Lord North resigned in March 1782. In April 1782, the

Commons voted to end the war in America. Preliminary peace articles were

signed in Paris at the end of November, 1782; the formal end of the war did

44Murphy, Daniel P. (2011-02-23). "The British Army — American Revolution". Netplaces.com. Retrieved 2011-12-25.45Black (2001), p. 39; Greene and Pole (1999), pp. 298, 30646Black (2001), pp. 14–16 (Harsh methods), pp. 35, 38 (slaves and Indians), p. 16

21 | P a g e

not occur until the Treaty of Paris (for the U.S.) and the Treaties of Versailles

(for the other Allies) were signed on September 3, 1783. The last British

troops left New York City on November 25, 1783, and the United States

Congress of the Confederation ratified the Paris treaty on January 14, 1784.47

Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty without consulting her Native

American allies and ceded all Native American territory between the

Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River to the United States. Full of

resentment, Native Americans reluctantly confirmed these land cessions with

the United States in a series of treaties, but the fighting would be renewed in

conflicts along the frontier in the coming years, the largest being the

Northwest Indian War.48The United States gained more than it expected,

thanks to the award of western territory. The other Allies had mixed-to-poor

results. France made some gains over its nemesis, Great Britain, but its

material gains were minimal and its financial losses huge. It was already in

financial trouble and its borrowing to pay for the war used up all its credit

and created the financial disasters that marked the 1780s. Historians link

those disasters to the coming of the French Revolution. The Dutch clearly

lost on all points. The Spanish had a mixed result; they did not achieve their

primary war goal (recovery of Gibraltar), but they did gain territory. However

in the long run, as the case of Florida shows, the new territory was of little or

no value.49

47Richard Morris, The Peacemakers: The Great Powers and American Independence (1983)48Benn (1993), p. 1749Lawrence S. Kaplan, "The Treaty of Paris, 1783: A Historiographical Challenge," International History Review, Sept 1983, Vol. 5 Issue 3, pp 431–442

22 | P a g e

Conclusion

The American Revolution of 1775 to 1783 was a revolution involving

the moves and the different tactics that the American soldiers or militiamen

gathered by the different political and military leaders that led the war for

the independence of the 13 colonies from its mother country, England. The

revolution which took place primarily in the American soil depicts the

illnesses and strength of one’s country. It showcases the weaknesses of

Great Britain in order to suppress the revolution. Also, with the help of other

European countries like Spain and France that were sympathizers of the

cause of the American war of independence was so evident. The root of the

revolution itself is not just an ordinary one. It was an increasing burden to

the 13 colonies of what their mother country’s policies towards them. It was

a heavy burden for them because all was for the benefit of Great Britain. In

addition, the inhabitants of the 13 colonies were already at their mind the

different philosophies and the practice of it because at first they experienced

it in Europe.

Furthermore, the American Revolution promoted unity among the 13

colonies for their fight for self-government, and the practice of inherited

rights and the conquest of freedom for any foreign rule and obligation. It was

an event that even though it was for the independence of the 13 colonies, it

is also evident how the different ethnic and tribal groups help the cause of

the Americans like the Native American Indian, and the women’s

23 | P a g e

participation and roles. The unity among them was the key role in order for

them to achieved their independence even though there were sympathizers

of the British government, the so called “Loyalist” that is mostly occupied

the governmental post they were not able to outstretch the power of the

majority. Moreover, different pamphlets were exposed saying and portraying

the oppression and the harsh measure made by the British parliament from

whom it contributed a lot to the outbreak and the grievances of the people

like the pamphlet made by Thomas Paine. Also, it is very evident and clear

that the 13 colonies were much unified because they already establish the

rule of law and also the different persons around the victory of the 13

colonies from their Mother Country, the creation of the Continental Congress,

the person’s like Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin

and James Madison.

24 | P a g e

25 | P a g e