AMERICAN REVOLUTION

The American Revolution (1775-83) is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the American War of Independence. The conflict arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.
The quest for colonies in the ‘New World’ started after its discovery by Columbus in 1492. By the end of 17th century, different European powers had established their colonies in America – French in the north (Canada), Spanish in the Mexico and Central America, and British in the East Coast of America.

By the mid eighteenth century, the English had established their thirteen colonies along the Atlantic coast. Landless peasants, people seeking religious freedom and traders had settled there. Initially the relationship between the colonies and British Government was cordial. Although these colonies were controlled through the governors, they enjoyed political freedom. Each colony had its own assembly elected by the people. It enacted laws concerning local matters. However, the policies followed by the home government (Britain) had resulted in the confrontation. This ultimately led to the American War of Independence at the end of which the colonies became independent.

Causes of the American War of Independence

The British Government followed the policy of mercantilism. According to this policy the colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country. The colonies were expected to furnish raw materials. They had to serve as markets for produced goods. Moreover, the colonies had to ship their goods only in British ships. In these ways the colonies were expected to add more wealth to the home country. The British Government enacted laws to implement this policy of mercantilism.
A series of Navigation Acts were passed by the British Parliament to control the trade of the American colonies. These Acts insisted that all the goods of both exports and imports should be carried in ships owned by England. Custom collectors were appointed in the colonies to implement the Navigation Acts. But, the American colonies considered these Acts as infringement of their rights.
The Sugar Act levied heavy duties on sugar and molasses imported into the American colonies. In addition to this, a series of Trade Acts were also passed to control the trade in the colonies. For example, the Hat Act of 1732 prohibited the import of hats from one colony to the other.
The colonies were forbidden from developing certain industries of their own like Iron Works , textiles etc.
Also, there were issued proclamations to prevent the Americans from moving west into the new lands as the aristocrats who owned land in eastern America wanted to secure their revenue from rents.
In total the British policies did not allow America to develop an economy of its own so that it can continue serving as a colony to England.
Due to these restrictions, bitterness developed between the home government and the American colonies. They were looking for an opportunity to free themselves from the control of Britain.

Seven Year’s War

The end of the Seven Years War in 1763 and the transfer of Canada from France to England removed the French fear from the minds of the Americans. There was no need to depend on their mother country against any possible attack by the French. Therefore, the American colonies decided to face the colonial attitude of the British.
Further, as a result of heavy expenses incurred on account of this War, British Parliament imposed a series of harsh Acts on the Colonies to recover the cost of the War, e.g., the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Laws, the Quartering Act etc. These measures were severely opposed by the colonists. They raised the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” thus insisting American representation in the English Parliament.

Intellectual and Psycological Causes

The intellectual environment created by the Enlightenment also instilled the revolutionary fervor in the Americans. Philosophers like Thomas Paine travelled widely in the colonies and spread the ideas of freedom of speech, thought and expression.
Further, with each passing generation, the link with the mother country was growing weaker and the sense of American identity was growing stronger.

Boston Tea Party

In 1773, a new Tea Act was passed imposing a tax on import of tea. It was a symbol to show that the British Parliament had the right to tax the colonies. But Americans showed their protest. A group of Americans dressed as Red Indians, climbed on the ships and threw away the tea bundles into the sea at the Boston harbour. This event took place on 16th December 1773 and it was known as the Boston Tea Party. This resulted in adoption of further harsh measures by the British Parliament like the Intolerable Acts of 1774.

What was the “Boston Tea Party” and why was it significant?
The thirteen British colonies in America strongly resented the economic and political exploitation by the British. The leaders from other colonies declared that the English Parliament had no right to levy taxes on them. Parliament eventually conceded and repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, however, Parliament also passed the Declaratory Act to reserve Britain’s right to govern and “bind” the colonies whenever and however it deemed necessary. Then Parliament imposed a tax on consumer goods coming into the colonies, such as paper, glass, tea and paint. In protest the colonies cut down the English imports by one-half. The English withdrew the plan- leaving only the tax on tea to assert their right to levy taxes.
The tax on tea led to trouble. In 1773, several colonies refused to unload the tea coming in English ships. In Boston, when the governor ordered a ship to be unloaded, a group of citizens, dressed as American Indians, boarded the ship and dumped the crates of tea into the water.
This incident is known as ‘the Boston Tea Party’. The English government closed the port of Boston to all trade which precipitated the uprising of the colonies.

Significance of Boston Tea Party
The tea shipments were sent to help out the struggling East India Company, by allowing them to sell the tea cheaply and so to secure a monopoly in the colonies. Colonial merchants were afraid England would follow by forcing monopolies on all sorts of things, driving them out of business.
But more critical was the decision to require the payment of the duty on tea. The tea would still be the cheapest, but by paying the duty the colonies would be acknowledging Parliament's authority to require such taxes. So, in the biggest, most successful boycott since the Stamp Act, the colonies united in refusing the tea-and-duty.
But the Tea Party was more important for its result as it propelled the two toward war

Philadelphia Congress

These harsh measures, in turn, galvanized the colonies into a common plan of action. The American colonists decided to unite in their fight against the British. In September 1774, the first Continental Congress was held at Philadelphia. It was attended by the representatives of the twelve colonies except Georgia. This congress appealed to the British King to remove restrictions on industries and trade and not to impose any taxes without their consent.
The second Continental Congress met in May 1775 at Philadelphia. Delegates from all the thirteen colonies attended this Congress. Prominent leaders like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin participated in it. George Washington was made the Commander-in-Chief of the American army. As a last attempt, a Petition was sent to the British king George III, who rejected it. The king proclaimed that the American colonies were in a state of rebellion. The skirmishes broke out in different colonies between the revolutionarists and the imperial troops.
Meanwhile, the independence was proclaimed politically. On 4th July 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. It was prepared by a committee of five led by Thomas Jefferson who included the ideals of human freedom in it. The Declaration of independence laid emphasis on the unalienable rights of men namely, “Life, Liberty and Pursuit of happiness” .

Important Battles

The war started in 1775, when the first battle was fought between the British soldiers and the colonial militia at Lexington in Massachusetts. Soon, George Washington assumed the command of the army of the American colonies. The British General, Gage won a victory at Bunker Hill. In 1776 the British forces led by Sir William Howe defeated Washington in the battle of Long Island. However, the army of American colonies commanded by General Gates defeated British troops at Saratoga in October, 1777. The victory at Saratoga marked a turning point in the war. The French troops under Lafayette came to the help of the American colonies. Finally, the British troops under the command of General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington at Yorktown in 1781. The war came to an end by the Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Importance of the American War of Independence

• The American colonies became free and the Republic of the United States of America was established. The first democratic government with a written constitution in the world became a reality. The Bill of Rights ensured fundamental rights to the citizens of the U.S.A.
• The American War of Independence was also called the American Revolution because it inspired the French Revolution. It was not only a war against England but against aristocracy and reactionary elements. It was also a fight against colonial domination.
• It introduced new political, social and economic set up in the United States of America. Democracy with separation of powers on the model suggested by French thinker Montesquieu was founded. Capitalism also took strong roots.
• However, the rights of the sons of the soil, the Red Indians and the Negroes were not considered at that time.

The American Constitution

When the war of independence started, each of the 13 colonies was a separate state with its own army, boundaries, customs duties and finances. But they co-operated against a common enemy. In 1781, as states of the United States, they united through a plan for a national government. A constitutional convention was called in Philadelphia to frame a new constitution, which came into effect in 1789.
The American constitution established a republican form of government at a time when states in other parts of the world were governed by monarchies. The American Constitution set up a federal system under which powers were divided between a central or federal government and the state governments.
Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and his followers campaigned for the addition of a Bill of Rights to the federal constitution. This was done through ten amendments which guaranteed many rights to the American people. The most noted of these are freedom of speech, press and religion, and justice under law.
The constitution marked the emergence of the United States of America as a nation in world history. It was the first written republican constitution ever framed in history, which is still in operation.

What is historic significance of the American Revolution?
The words of the Declaration of Independence regarding the equality of all men and the ‘inalienable rights’ of man electrified the atmosphere in America and outside. Lafayette, the French general who fought on the side of American revolutionaries, was soon to become a hero of the French Revolution. Thomas Paine also participated in the French Revolution.
By its example, the American Revolution inspired many revolutionaries in Europe later in the 19th century. It encouraged Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Central and South America to rebel and gain their independence. The main achievement of the American Revolution was the establishment of a republic. This republic was, however, not truly democratic, right to vote was limited. Negroes— most of them still slaves—American Indians, and women had no vote. Election laws in states favored men of property for many years. But progress towards democracy had begun. In some states, state religion was abolished, along with religious qualifications for holding public offices.

Consolidation of America after the Revolution

Early in the 19th century, many new areas were added to the United States. The vast territory in the middle of the continent, known as Louisiana, was purchased from France. Florida was acquired from Spain.
By the 1850′s, after a war with Mexico, the United States had extended its boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. People had continued to move west. The westward expansion of the United States was at the expense of the American Indians who were driven out of their territories and in the course of a few decades their population was reduced to an insignificant number.

The American Civil War

Increasing settlements in the west brought about increasing conflicts between the southern states that wanted to extend slavery to the western territories and the northern states that objected to a slave economy. The northerners wanted the west to remain open to white labour and entrepreneurs. A change of revolutionary significance came with the Civil War when slave-owning states of the south seceded from the Union and set up a separate government. The Civil War raged from 1861 to 1865 and ended in the defeat of the southern states. It was a victory for the capitalistic industrial states of the north over the slave-owning states of the south. The federal government abolished slavery. The abolition of slavery, however, did not end discrimination against the Black people and their struggle to make equal rights a reality continued.