The American Revolution

After the Seven Years’ War, the British in Parliament thought that the colonies should pay more taxes, since the British spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on the colonies. The first taxation was the Sugar Act, which made Americans pay more money for sugar unless it came from Great Britain. The Americans were angry with this new tax. Then, the next year, another new tax came; the Stamp Tax. This made colonists pay more for newspapers, pamphlets, dice, playing cards, and they had to pay a fee for a will or diploma, so it could be made official. The British made even more Acts, causing the Americans to pay more and more money. Americans thought this was illegal, because no American representatives were in Parliament. Because George 3rd just came into power, he wanted to enjoy peacetime, not deal with a rebellion. So, he repealed some of the taxes, but Parliament said that the tax on tea remained. The Americans, who were still mad at the British, threw snowballs at the British soldiers. The British, frightened, gave an order to fire, killing 5 Americans and wounding more. The American governors named this event “The Boston Massacre”. Then, in 1773, the Americans dressed in Indian costumes, went on a British ship, and threw 342 crates of tea. The British, furious at this, closed the port in Boston (where this happened) until all the tea was paid off. They also put General Thomas Gage in charge of Boston, and any town meeting had to be met by his approval. With this, leaders from all of the colonies came to a meeting called the First Continental Congress. The leaders there wrote a petition that stated to remove the British soldiers, reopen the Boston port, repeal the taxes, and said they would not follow laws given to them without their permission. The Americans, sure that war would follow, prepared to get weapons and ammo for a war, their biggest stock in Concord. The British knew this, and prepared to march at night, so that they could surprise the Americans. But the Americans knew their plans, so when the British gathered in Lexington, the minutemen slowed their advance to Concord. Finally, when the British made it to Concord, a massive force of minutemen gathered to fight them. But because they couldn’t find the guns, they retreated to Boston, with the Americans shooting them while they retreated. This started the War of American Independence, although the Americans did not declare independence until 1776. In the Second Continental Congress, they made George Washington the new commander of the American army. The next major battle after Lexington and Concord was Bunker Hill. Although the Americans lost that battle, the British lost more men than the Americans. After that battle, George Washington knew he couldn’t fight the British in open combat. Instead, he would have to resort to ambushing. With the war dragging on, France and Spain decided to join the war, making it harder for Britain. The Spanish and French trained the Americans, making them organized soldiers instead of minutemen. With the battle turning in the Americans’ favor, the British were surrounded in Yorktown. The British, now losing money because of the American Revolution, signed a peace treaty, stating that the Americans were not anymore under British rule.