Doug West - The American Revolutionary War: A Short History

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Smashwords Edition

The American Revolutionary War A Short History

Copyright 2015 Doug West

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced in any form without written permission from the author.Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

Welcome to the book The AmericanRevolutionary War A Short History. This book is part of the30 Minute Book Series and, as the name of the seriesimplies, if you are an average reader this book will take around 30minutes to read or a little longer to listen to in audio format.Since this book is not meant to be an all-encompassing history ofthe American Revolutionary War, you may want to know more aboutthis turbulent time in American history. To help you with thisthere are several good references at the end of this book. Thankyou for purchasing this book and I hope you enjoy your time readingabout the painful birth of a nation.

Doug West

August 2015

The English colonists of the new world,called America, didnt wake up one day and decide to go to wartheir mother county it was more of a gradual movement thatculminated in a bloody war that would last for over six years.America was a divided place in the 18th century; about athird of the people were staunch supporters of the British and wereloyal to King and country, about the same number were fed up withthe intervention of the British in their lives and wantedindependence, and the remainder of the population were fencesitters meaning, they gave no allegiance to either cause. Theseeds of revolution took root after the end of the French andIndian wars in the year 1763. The French, with the aid of NorthAmerican Indian tribes, had been battling the British for controlof the colonies in what is now America and Canada. The British weresuccessful in fending off the French aggression but at a high costto their treasury. Britain was trying to recoup some of itsfinancial losses from this war and started imposing some taxes onthe colonists. This didnt sit well with the colonists and theresentment of the mother country began to grow and smolder.

Compared to the average British citizen, thecolonists enjoyed a much higher standard of living and paid farless taxes. The expanding economy of the new world provided plentyof opportunity for those willing to work or to innovate. Whereas,those living under the Crown in England faced a country locked in abureaucratic morass, with few opportunities to elevate theireconomic condition or social class.

Figure Boston Tea Party

The Boston massacre of 1770, where fiveBostonians were killed at the hand of British soldiers, galvanizedmuch of the population against the British. Revolutionists, such asSam Adams and Patrick Henry, were constantly fanning the flames ofdissent against the British Crown. The Boston Tea party, where tonsof British tea were dumped in Boston Harbor over taxes, exacerbatedthe tensions, and the British government felt they had no othercourse of action than to declare a state of emergency and stationadditional troops in the colonies. From there, relationshipsbetween the British Crown and the colonists worsened.

They who can give up essential liberty toobtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty norsafety. Benjamin Franklin

To counter the aggressive stance of theBritish, the colonists sent representatives from each of thecolonies to Philadelphia for a meeting which became known as theFirst Continental Congress. The first congress consisted of 56 menfrom 12 colonies, from new England to South Carolina. Some of theserepresentatives would travel for many days to attend the gathering.The meeting occurred in September 1774, and the majority opinionwas that the British measures should be opposed. However, themembers could not agree on the methods that should be adopted toresist the growing British control of the colonies. One factionwanted to petition for redress of their grievances and to basetheir claims on the English constitution and the colonial charters.Another group wanted to take a more aggressive stance and basetheir right on the laws of nature. This group wanted Congress tosever ties with Great Britain until she retreated from the punitivepositions taken in the Intolerable Acts and the use of militaryforce if required. The debate between the two groups went on forweeks. Eventually the more radical group had a majority and theywrote a declaration of colonial rights which induced the laws ofnature, the English constitution, and the colonial charters as afoundation. The Congress adopted the Continental Association, whichwas an agreement which provided for a complete cut-off of tradewith Britain and called for the formation of local committees inthe colonies to enforce the scheme. The conservative group,supported by Joseph Galloways plan for union, wanted to avoid openconflict with Britain. It was hoped that the Galloway plan wouldprovide a written constitution for the colonies and minimize thechances of military action with Great Britain. The plan wasrejected and the Congress adjourned and agreed to meet again in thespring of 1775 if there had been no action on behalf of Britainregarding the grievances of the colonists by that time.

Throughout the colonies, the ContinentalAssociation was put into effect by local committees during thewinter of 1774 to 1775. Most of the colonies had radical politicalorganizations that were actively preparing for a military encounterwith the British. Massachusetts was a hotbed of rebel sentiment andthere were meetings of the provisional congress in direct defianceof the Governor, General Thomas Gage. General Gage sent troops inApril of 1775 to seize stores of powder stored in Lexington andConcord. The encounter with the British and the militia protectingthe powder stores resulted in a shot being fired which precipitateda running gun battle between the militia and the British who weredriven back to Boston. The news of battle spread rapidly throughoutthe colonies. The British were accused of murder and atrocities.This brief battle lead to a hardening of the colonists positionand militia companies were called together to begin preparationsfor war.

The Second Continental Congress met inPhiladelphia to discuss the matter and what could be done. Onceagain there were two factions; the more conservative group wantedreconciliation with the British and the other wanted independenceand war if needed. Events, such as the battle at Lexington andConcord, would soon thrust the colonies into war with GreatBritain, and the Congress as the only central government wouldattempt to lead this new nation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident,that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by theirCreator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Preamble Declarationof Independence