The American revolutionary war a conflict between the British colonial government and the thirteen American colonies. The revolutionary war lasted between 1775 and 1783, and commenced when colonial militia and British troops clashed in Concord and Lexington in April 1775. The French entered the conflict on the side of the colonists in 1778, which was instrumental in helping the colonists triumph over British forces 1 . Though the British surrendered in 1781, leading to American independence, the war ended officially in 1783. The American revolutionary war was a turning point in international affairs as a young nation defeated the greatest empire of the time. Several factors were responsible for triggering the revolution and it reached a point where it became inevitable.
A decade before the revolution, tensions between the colonists and the British had been mounting. The French and Indian wars were some of the causes of the American Revolution because the British Empire incurred significant costs that had to be recouped through new taxation 2 . The conflicts brought new territories under the British crown, which meant the introduction of unpopular taxes to support the new territories. Notable taxes that became unpopular with the colonists include the Stamp Act of 1765, the Tea Act of 1763, and the Townsend act of 1767 3 . The colonists hated the idea of taxation without representation in the British parliament. The decision by the colonial administration to tax goods that the colonists imported from Britain led to the boycott of British goods. The British wanted to stop smuggling and fraud by colonial officials, but the laws served to increase the protests. Protests by the colonists led to the Boston massacre of 1770. During the massacre, British soldiers fired at a colonial mob, killing five of them.
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The Boston tea party was another cause of the American revolutionary war. In1773, a group of Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians and boarded British ships at the Boston harbor. They proceeded to dumped 342 chests of tea into the sea 4 . Though the British had repealed some of the onerous laws such as the Townsend act, it maintained the Tea Act, which was aimed at supporting the British East India Company. The law gave the company significant advantage because it allowed it to sell tea at a price that undercut American traders who bought their merchandise from Dutch traders, which infuriated American colonists. They opposed attempts by the British to tell them where to buy tea from. The colonist wanted to trade freely with anyone without interference from the British. The Boston Tea Party outraged the British parliament which responded by enacting repressive and intolerable laws. These acts were aimed at reasserting imperial authority over the colonists, but they only served to fan increased resistance from the colonists.
The quartering act, which gave British military officers the right to demand accommodation for soldiers in unused buildings and houses in towns, instead of staying in the countryside was also a contributing factor to the war 5 . Although the law did not compel colonists to take troops into their houses, they had to meet the costs of housing and feeding them. It is a provision that ultimately become one of the grievances mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.
The decision by the British to protect officials charged with capital crimes from being tried in Massachusetts also contributed to the American revolutionary war. These officials were often sent to another colony or Britain for trial, which the colonists felt it was unjust and unfair because it denied the victims justice.
The entry of the southern colonies into the war was occasioned by British attacks on coastal towns, which also contributed to the conflict. Initially, the revolutionary war was started by northern colonies, and there was no certainty of when the southern ones would join the war. The interests of the southerners did not align with those of the northerners because they relied on the British to purchase their crops. However, the decision by the British Navy to attack coastal towns such as Falmouth served to unite the northern and southern colonists against the British. The attacks shocked the colonists and were considered the greatest acts of barbarity. The attacks were also used by the colonists to make the argument that they needed to unite against a common enemy and embrace independence 6 .
Thus, it was the enactment of parliamentary acts for taxing the colonists, the lack of representation in the British parliament, and regulations overtrade that convinced the American colonists that war and independence were the only solutions. By 1775, these conflicts had reached a tipping point and both sides of the conflict were ready for war as negotiations continued to fail 7 . Therefore, the Lexington and concord conflicts marked the start of the American revolutionary war that ultimately led to its independence from Britain.
The American revolutionary war started in 1775, but there were events before this period that did not trigger a conflict between the colonists and the British. A war between the British and the colonists was not possible before 1775 because their relation relationship was strong, peaceable, and robust. For much of the 17 th and 18 th centuries, the American colonies enjoyed solitary neglect, which implied that the colonial governments were more autonomous and experienced less interference from the British. This laissez-faire approach to governance enabled the colonists to prosper economically, which was beneficial to the crown. However, this period of tranquility was to end with the onset of the Indian and French wars.
The French and Indian wars ended when the treaty of Paris was signed between the British and the French. In the aftermath of the war, France surrendered all its North American possessions east of the Mississippi River to the British, but the costs of the war were responsible for the imposition of taxes that were unpopular with the colonists 8 . Since the British fought with the Indians and the French to protect the interests of the colonists, it felt that the colonists should shoulder part of the burden by paying more taxes 9 . However, it was a decision that was to trigger the revolutionary war and the birth of a new nation.
Therefore, the American revolutionary war became inevitable when the British decided to tax the colonists without representation 10 . The colonists felt that they could not be taxed and at the same time denied the right of representation in the British parliament. The argument of no taxation without representation was a major one in the declaration of independence 11 . The American Revolution had impacts beyond the United States because it has been cited in other revolutions. It cemented the idea that a young country and oppose an imperial power to determine its destiny.
Bibliography
Allison, David K., Larrie D. Ferreiro, and José María Blanco Núñez. 2018. The American Revolution: a world war .
Forest, Christopher. 2013. The rebellious colonists and the causes of the American Revolution . North Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.
Taylor, Alan. 2017. American revolutions: a continental history, 1750-1804.
Wood, Gordon S. 1993. The radicalism of the American Revolution . New York: Vintage Books
1 Wood, Gordon S. 1993. The radicalism of the American Revolution . New York: Vintage Books
2 Forest, Christopher. 2013. The rebellious colonists and the causes of the American Revolution . North Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.
3 Allison, David K., Larrie D. Ferreiro, and José María Blanco Núñez. 2018. The American Revolution: a world war .
4 Taylor, Alan. 2017. American revolutions: a continental history, 1750-1804.
5 Wood, Gordon S. 1993. The radicalism of the American Revolution . New York: Vintage Books
6 Taylor, Alan. 2017. American revolutions: a continental history, 1750-1804.
7 Allison, David K., Larrie D. Ferreiro, and José María Blanco Núñez. 2018. The American Revolution: a world war .
8 Wood, Gordon S. 1993. The radicalism of the American Revolution . New York: Vintage Books
9 Taylor, Alan. 2017. American revolutions: a continental history, 1750-1804.
10 Forest, Christopher. 2013. The rebellious colonists and the causes of the American Revolution . North Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.
11 Allison, David K., Larrie D. Ferreiro, and José María Blanco Núñez. 2018. The American Revolution: a world war .
