The American Revolution

By Timothy

So many emotions exist in the words of those who contemplate about the Revolutionary War. We are still

influenced by the American Revolution after 240 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed.

The Revolutionary War is an important part of our history. It lasted for many years during the latter part of

the 18th century. It represented an end to an old era and a beginning of a new one. Also, globally around

that time, revolutions existed in Haiti, Latin America, and Europe (especially in France). These revolutions

wanted to end the oligarchic power base of the monarchy and form republics or more democratic style

governments. Many people involved in these revolutions would legitimately desire the separation of

church and state and the elimination of the titles of nobility. The end of the Revolutionary War resulted in

the birth of the nation of America itself. Today, people wear hats, sing songs, eat hot dogs, and view

performances that celebrate and commemorate the American victory of the Revolutionary War. Yet, that

war has a long, controversial history that must be shown to the general public. Both the British Empire and

the early American colonies promoted the evils of slavery and racial discrimination during the 18th century.

The lands of Native Americans were readily exploited, stolen, and harmed by imperialists (both from the

British Empire and those colonists in America).

The issues of slavery, empire, democracy, gender, a Republic, the Enlightenment, the Founders, etc. are

part and parcel of the American historical experience. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander

Hamilton, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and other people were diverse in their ideologies and political

views. Yet, they were unified in their opposition to the British Empire and they desired the independence of

the American nation. The good and the evil actions of many Americans must be made known. To start,

America, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, was filled with colonies. These colonies on the eastern

seaboard and the South were controlled by the British Empire mostly. The evils of slavery and the genocide

of Native Americans existed. So, the Revolutionary War occurred in a backdrop of many injustices and

controversies. The Seven Year War was one reason (out of many) on why the Revolutionary War

commenced in the first place. Also, Enlightenment, anti-monarchical thinking was spread far and wide in

the early American lands. Today, the United States of America has over 320 million people and the fight for

justice continues.

The Seven Years War

The Seven Years War was a war which was prelude to the Revolutionary War. It was one of the first world

wars in world history. It was fought between 1755 and 1764 and the main conflict lasted from 1756 to 1763

(which was about seven years). The war was fought in the Americas, West Africa, Europe, India, and in the

Philippines. The war dealt with the competition between Great Britain and France (among other European

nations) for the imperial control of many nations in the world. During the course of the War, Great Britain

allied with Prussia, Portugal, Hanover, Brunswick,-Wolfenbuttel, the Iroquois Confederacy, and other

nations. France allied with the Holy Roman Empire, Austria, Saxony, Russia (until 1762), Spain (from 1762),

many Native American tribes, and the Mughal Empire (from 1757). In America by the early to mid-1700's,

France controlled the Mississippi river valley heavily with the construction of their own forts and trading

positions. English colonists wanted to travel in the region, especially in the Ohio Valley. By 1753, then 21

year old Major George Washington (back then, he was in the British Empire during the Seven Years War)

left Williamsburg, Virginia to the Ohio Valley. Virginia’s governor Robert Dinwiddie had sent Washington to

order the French to abandon the string of forts they are building between Lake Erie and the Forks of the

Ohio River (the confluence of the Ohio, Monongahela, and Allegheny Rivers). Robert wanted Washington to

stop the French from preventing English settlements. Lt. Colonel Washington defeated a French force near

the Great Meadows in May 28, 1754. British attempts to halt this fort construction were unsuccessful, and

the French proceeded to build the fort they named Fort Duquesne. British colonial militia from Virginia was

then sent to drive them out. Led by George Washington, they ambushed a small French force at Jumonville

Glen on May 28, 1754 killing ten, including commander Jumonville. Washington worked with his ally or

Seneca chief Tanaghrisson to attack the French people. The French commandeer was killed and the victims

were scalped too. Later, a French force of 700 attacked George Washington and his 400 troops at Fort

Necessity in retaliation for the massacre of the French at the Great Meadows. Washington surrendered and

leaves the Ohio Valley. The Mohawks left the alliance with Britain and proclaimed neutrality.

The first British action was the assault on Acadia on June 16, 1755 in the Battle of Fort Beauséjour, which

was immediately followed by their expulsion of the Acadians. The major conflict started in 1756 when both

France and Britain declare war officially against each other. King Frederick II of Prussia was a great ally of

Britain and he gained many early victories in Germany and then as years came about, he suffered defeats.

The French captured Fort Oswego in the Great Lakes in August 14, 1756. William Pitt was the secretary of

State. He promoted sending resources to defeat the French in America and in Europe. He will authorize the

raising of 23,000 provincial troops in North America in 1758, and will end squabbling over taxation by

guaranteeing the colonial assemblies that Parliament will cover all expenses. The huge defeat of the British

in 1758 caused 2,000 casualties for the British. In the same year, the British captured the French port on

Nova Scotia called Louisbourg. This caused the British to restrict heavily the French supply lines flowing

down the Saint Lawrence River. General James Wolfe in 1759 attacked Quebec and the French retreated to

Montreal. Wolfe was killed in battle. The French (with Governor General Vauderueil of New France)

surrendered Montreal or the last French stronghold in North America without firing a shot when a British

army of 17,500 British regulars, American provincial troops, and Native Americans converged on the city

from three directions. While the Iroquois allied with the British, in Africa, Britain captured Gambia from the

French. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 was the beginning of the end of the War. Complex land exchanges were

the end result of the War. The Treaty allowed Great Britain to get territories east of the Mississippi River,

Canada (except Saint Pierre and Miquelon), and the island of Grenada. The Northern Circars went to Great

Britain. Louisiana west of the Mississippi River went to Spain. Great Britain received Florida from Spain. The

war caused a huge financial burden on France and Great Britain. Great Britain became the most powerful

European nation in that time and France decreased in power. Prussia also increased its power after the

Treaty of Paris. The British forced American colonists to pay the bills for the war via taxes and other

policies. This was part of the anger from the colonists (from the Thirteen Colonies) which would expand

into the Revolutionary War. So, the Seven Years War was one crucial factor in causing the Revolutionary

War.

The American Colonies

By 1780, the population of Great Britain and Ireland had ca. 12.6 million people while the 13 colonies had

2.8 million people including over 500,000 black people (who were mostly enslaved unjustly). Before that

time, European explorers set up colonies. Many Europeans voluntarily came into the Americas while black

people were involuntarily kidnapped and sent into the Americas. The European imperialists wanted to

explore resources, built up agricultural products, and exchange goods between Africa, the Americas, and

Europe (in the form of the Triangular Trade). The colonies in North America were controlled by the French,

the English, the Dutch, the Spanish, and other European powers. New England colonies were settled heavily

by the Puritans. They wanted religious freedom from persecution in Europe, but they violated the human

rights of Native Americans in many circumstances. They formed a “covenant community” based on the

principles of the Mayflower Compact. They had town meetings to advance direct democracy. The Middle

Atlantic region was settled mostly by the English, the Dutch, the Swedes, the Finns, and the German

speaking immigrants seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity.

Virginia and the other Southern colonies were settled by imperialists and colonists who wanted economic

opportunities. Most of the slaves back then existed in the South. Some of the early Virginia settlers were

“cavaliers” (or English nobility who received large land grants in eastern Virginia from the King of England).

Later, there were the small farmers who came as English poor immigrants. They wanted better lives. Some

of them were artisans too and some lived in the Shenandoah Valley or western Virginia. Indentured

servants (who were white and black people) agreed to work on tobacco plantations for a period of time to

pay for passage to the New World. Jamestown was established in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London

as a business venture. That was the first permanent English settlement in North America. The Virginia

House of Burgesses was created in the 1640’s. That was the first elected assembly of Europeans in the New

World. It has operated continuously and is known as the General Assembly of Virginia. Black slaves were in

Jamestown too. They were oppressed, violated of their human rights, and abused by white racists.

As time went on, the colonies developed their own economic, social, and political characteristics (especially

by the late 1600’s to the 1700’s). During the colonial period, New England colonies developed an economy

based on shipbuilding, fishing, lumbering, small scale subsistence farming, and eventually manufacturing.

The Puritans believed in hard work and thrift. The middle colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,

and Delaware developed economies based on shipbuilding, small scale farming, and trading. Cities like New

York and Philadelphia began to grow as seaports and/or commercial centers. Southern colonies developed

economies in the eastern coastal lowlands based on large plantations that grew “cash crops” like tobacco,

rice, and indigo for export to Europe (via mercantilism). Further inland, however, in the mountains and

valleys of the Appalachian foothills, the economy was based on small scale subsistence farming, hunting,

and trading. There was a strong belief in the private ownership of property and free enterprise, which

characterized colonial life everywhere.

The social life of the New England colonial society was based in religious views. The Puritans grew

increasingly intolerant of dissenters who challenged the Puritans’ belief in the connection between religion

and government. Rhode Island was founded by dissenters fleeing persecution by the Puritans in

Massachusetts. Their government had town meetings in the operation of government, which was similar to

the Athenian direct democracy model. The middle colonies were home to multiple religious groups who

generally believed in religious tolerance. There were Quakers in Pennsylvania, Huguenots and Jewish

people in New York and Presbyterians in New Jersey. The middle colonies had a more flexible social

structures and began to develop a middle class of skilled artisans, entrepreneurs (business owners), and

small farmers. The middle colonies had a number of democratic principles that reflected the basic rights of

Englishmen. Virginia and the other Southern colonies had a social structure based on family status and

ownership of land. Large landowners in the eastern lowlands dominated colonial government and society

and maintained an allegiance to the Church of England and closer social ties to Britain than did those in the

other colonies. In the mountains and valleys further inland, however, society was characterized by small

subsistence farmers, hunters, and traders of Scots-Irish and English descent. The Southern colonies

maintained stronger ties with Britain with planters playing leading roles in representative colonial

legislatures.

The Intolerable Acts

The Intolerable Acts of 1774 was one of the major reasons for the existence of the American Revolutionary

War in the first place. These Acts came from Britain as a way for the UK to try to control the American

colonies. The American colonies opposed such acts, because the colonies believed that they didn’t have

enough political representation in the British Parliament and they felt such acts violated their rights as

colonists. The four British disciplinary acts placed on Americans by the British were that: The Boston Port

Act closed Boston’s harbors due to the Tea Party, the second act allowed British officials to hold Americans

to trial in other colonies (even in Britain called the Administration of Justice Act), the Quebec Act of 1774

banned trading between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and the last act was to allow the British to have

colonist soldiers (or the Coercive Acts). There was the Quartering Act was extended to publicly occupied

buildings or that Boston must house the British troops sent to enforce the Coercive Acts. This mostly

involved the crown seizing large public buildings like warehouses, churches, and Faneuil Hall. The

Massachusetts Government Act caused almost all self-government is removed from the people from

Massachusetts. Town meetings are greatly curtailed and most positions were now filled with crown

appointees rather than elected by the citizenry. This led to the First Continental Congress of September 5th,

1774. It was the first Congress to meet at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. 44 delegates had attended. Late

comers brought the total up to 56. Peyton Randolph of Virginia was chosen as President and among the

members of the first Congress were George Washington, Patrick Henry, John Jay, John Adams, and others.

The First Continental Congress of 1774 wanted to fight the Intolerable Acts. Their representatives wanted

to try to figure out a compromise that could be made with England. The Congress voted to cut off colonial

trade with Great Britain until the Parliament abolished the Intolerable Acts. Congress also decided to

prepare training men for war, fearing that war with England was inevitable. King George III and Parliament

didn’t acknowledge or respect the requests of the colonists. Back then, the border of Canada was extended

into the western colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia in 1774.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party happened in December 16, 1773 in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a political protest

done by the Sons of Liberty organization. The Sons of Liberty wanted political independence from the

British Empire. It had members from all thirteen colonies and it opposed the taxation from the British

government. They fought the Stamp Act of 1765 as well. Controversy between Great Britain and the

colonies arose in the 1760's when Parliament sought, for the first time, to impose a direct tax on the

colonies for the purpose of raising revenue (because of the Seven Years War, etc.). Some colonists, known

in the colonies as Whigs, objected to the new tax program, arguing that it was a violation of the British

Constitution (as no colonies could be taxed without consent from colonial assemblies).This protest was

against the Tea Act of May 10, 1773. The Tea Act came from Parliament. It was created to help the British

East India Company, which faced economic problems. It also wanted to prevent illegal tea that was

smuggled into the North American colonies. Tea smugglers continued to work in New York and

Philadelphia. Whigs in the colonies opposed the Tea Party. They resisted the consignees who were assigned

to enforce the Tea Act too. The Boston Tea Party involved colonists (some of them disguised themselves as

Native Americans) to board tea ships anchored in the harbor. Later, they dumped the tea cargo overboard.

The British Parliament and King George were furious, so they enacted the Coercive Acts.

These acts were used to punish Massachusetts for its resistance and it established the appointment of

George Thomas Gage as royal governor of Massachusetts. The actions by the Parliament from British

further increased tensions. The colonists have said that they were experiencing “taxation without

representation” as the colonists had virtual no representation in the British Parliament to really have a say

in policies politically. The North Ministry failed to make the colonists and the Parliament to reconcile

amicably. Samuel Adams defended the Boston Tea Party. Other people involved in support of the action

were Paul Revere, William Molineux, and other Sons of Liberty. Many meetings of the Sons of Liberty took

place in the Green Dragon Tavern. This place had a downstairs area of the tavern. Upstairs had the St.

Andrews Lodge of Massachusetts (Ancients). It was filled with Freemasons who would later be involved in

the American Revolution. Many Freemasons were involved in the American Revolutions from Generals to

regular colonists. The Sons of Liberty held secret sessions in the Green Dragon Tavern. Joseph Warren and

Paul Revere were well known Freemasons. Masonry teaches the following according to 233rd Degree

Freemason Manly P. Hall: "...The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of

his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means

little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every

altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all

spiritual truth." (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, 33rd, page 65, Macoy Publishing and Masonic

Supply Co. Richmond, Va., 1976). The Boston Tea Party was one of the last acts of rebellion by the American

colonists before the American War of Independence took place in April 1775.

The Boston Massacre

The Boston Massacre was one of the major catalysts for the American Revolutionary War. The Boston

Massacre happened on March 5, 1770. During this time, Boston was a strong city of pro-independence

sentiment. The British in Boston and all over the colonies enforced the Townshend Acts. These acts were

duties and taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea imported into the colonies. Many Americans saw

these acts as an abuse of power as the American colonies had no representation in Parliament. By 1770,

the duties did exist on tea. British custom officials were repelled in many cases of enforcing the Townshend

Acts. On March 5, a large crowd was in Boston. Soldiers from Britain were there. Heckling exists and shots

were fired. They or the British soldiers fired into the crowd, without orders, instantly killing three people

and wounding others. Two more people died later of wounds sustained in the incident. Three Americans—

rope maker Samuel Gray, mariner James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks (who was of black African descent)

died instantly. The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested for manslaughter, along

with eight of his men; all were later acquitted or released. In an effort to demonstrate the impartiality of

colonial courts, two Patriot leaders, John Adams and Josiah Quincy, volunteered to defend Captain Preston

and his men. The prosecution produced little evidence, and Preston and six of the soldiers were acquitted;

two others were found guilty of manslaughter, branded on the hand, and released. The killings of March 5,

promptly termed a “massacre” by Patriot leaders and commemorated in a widely circulated engraving by

Paul Revere, aroused intense public protests and threats of violent retaliation. This pressure caused

Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson to withdraw the troops to an island in the harbor. Paul Revere

and Samuel Adams talked about the incident to promote animosity against British authorities. John Adams

wrote that the "foundation of American independence was laid" on March 5, 1770, and Samuel Adams and

other Patriots used annual commemorations (Massacre Day) of the event to fulminate against British rule.

The Beginning of the Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. It was one of the most serious wars in human

history. The war was between Great Britain and the thirteen of the North American colonies who had

declared themselves the independent United States of America. The conflict expanded into the Caribbean,

India, and other places. America had allies in France, Spain, and the Netherlands. The war started in 1775.

As early as February of 1775, Parliament declared Massachusetts as in a state of rebellion. Lieutenant

General Thomas Gage was the British North American commander in chief. He commanded four regiments

of British regulars (or about 4,000 men) from his headquarters in Boston. The countryside was controlled by

the revolutionaries. On April 14, Gage was ordered to disarm the rebels and arrest their leaders. It was

during the night of April 18, 1775 that things would change forever in America. On that date, General Gage

sent 700 men to seize munitions sorted by the colonial militia in Concord, Massachusetts. Riders including

Paul Revere alerted the countryside, and when British troops entered Lexington on the morning of April 19,

they found 77 Minutemen formed up on the village green. Shots were exchanged, killing several

Minutemen. The British moved on to Concord, where a detachment of three companies was engaged and

routed at the North Bridge by a force of 500 minutemen. As the British retreated back to Boston, thousands

of militiamen attacked them along the roads, inflicting many casualties before timely British reinforcements

prevented a total disaster.

As Robert Parry has mentioned:

"...the British military controlled Boston long before April 1775, garrisoning Redcoats in the rebellious

city since 1768. The British clamped down more tightly after the Boston Tea Party on Dec. 16, 1773,

imposing the so-called “Intolerable Acts” in 1774, reinforcing the Boston garrison and stopping

commerce into Boston Harbor. The aggressive British actions forced dissident leaders Sam Adams and

John Hancock to flee the city and take refuge in Lexington, as colonial militias built up their stocks of

arms and ammunition in nearby Concord.

The Revolutionary War began not with British forces seizing Boston in April 1775 as Romney wrote,

but when the Redcoats ventured forth from Boston on April 19, 1775, to seize Adams and Hancock in

Lexington and then go farther inland to destroy the colonial arms cache in Concord. The British failed in

both endeavors, but touched off the war by killing eight Massachusetts men at Lexington Green. The

Redcoats then encountered a larger force of Minutemen near Concord Bridge and were driven back in a

daylong retreat to Boston, suffering heavy losses. Thus, the Revolutionary War began with a stunning

American victory..."

With the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the war had begun. The militia from the Americans came into

Boston. They bottled the British in the city. About 4,500 British soldiers came to Boston by sea. By June 17,

1775, British forces under General William Howe seized the Charlestown peninsula at the Battle of Bunker

Hill. The British mounted a costly frontal attack. The Americans fell back, but British losses totaled over

1,000 men. The siege was not broken, and Gage was soon replaced by Howe as the British commander-in-

chief. General Gage admitted in a letter to the Secretary at War in London that the Americans showed

strong spirit in their fighting.

In July of 1775, newly appointed General George Washington came into Boston. He took charge of the

colonial forces and organized the Continental Army. Washington wanted the army to have more

gunpowder since there was a shortage. So, he asked for new sources. Arsenals were aided. Manufacturing

was attempted. 90% of the supply (2 million pounds) was imported by the end of 1776, mostly from France.

Patriots in New Hampshire had seized powder, muskets and cannons from Fort William and Mary in

Portsmouth Harbor in late 1774. Some of the munitions were used in the Boston campaign. The standoff

continued throughout the fall and winter. During this time Washington was astounded by the failure of

Howe to attack his shrinking, poorly armed force. In early March 1776, heavy cannons that the patriots had

captured at Fort Ticonderoga were brought to Boston by Colonel Henry Knox, and placed on Dorchester

Heights. Since the artillery now overlooked the British positions, Howe's situation was untenable, and the

British fled on March 17, 1776, sailing to their naval base at Halifax, Nova Scotia, an event now celebrated

in Massachusetts as Evacuation Day. Washington then moved most of the Continental Army to fortify New

York City. In 1775, the American forces invaded Canada and especially Quebec.

This image shows how British soldiers and Provincial militiamen repulse the American assault

at Sault-au-Matelot, Canada on December of 1775.

Various Battles

American forces invaded Quebec three weeks after the siege of Boston started in 1775. It was led by the

Green Mountain Boys (or a group of militia volunteers led by Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. Yes,

Benedict Arnold was once a Patriot and later became a Redcoat). They captured Fort Ticonderoga, which

was a strategic location between New York State and the Province of Quebec. They later raided Fort St.

John’s, which wasn’t too far from Montreal. People in Montreal and other locations were shocked at the

American advance. In response, Quebec’s governor Guy Carleton started to fortify St. John’s. He also

opened negotiations with the Iroquois and other Native Americans tribes for their support. These actions

along with lobbying both Allen and Arnold (along with the fear of a British attack from the north, persuaded

the Continental Congress on June 27th, 1775 to authorize the American invasion of Quebec). The

Americans wanted to drive the British military from Quebec. Back then, Quebec was referred to as Canada.

Most of its lands included former French Province of Canada. During this era, a total of two Quebec bound

expeditions existed. On September 28, 1775, Brigadier General Richard Montgomery marched north from

Fort Ticonderoga with about 1,700 militiamen. They besieged and captured Fort St. Jean on November and

then Montreal on November 13. General Carleton escaped to Quebec City and started to prepare that city

for an attack. The second expedition was led by Colonel Arnold. He went through the wilderness of what is

now northern Maine. Logistics were difficult, with 300 men turning back, and another 200 perishing due to

the harsh conditions. By the time Arnold reached Quebec City in early November, he had but 600 of his

original 1,100 men. Montgomery's force joined Arnold's, and they attacked Quebec City on December 31,

1775, but were defeated by Carleton in a battle that ended with Montgomery dead, Arnold wounded, and

over 400 Americans taken prisoner.

The remaining Americans held on outside Quebec City until the spring of 1776, suffering from poor camp

conditions and smallpox, and then withdrew when a squadron of British ships under Captain Charles

Douglas arrived to relieve the siege. Americans still tried to get Quebec. They failed at Trois-Rivières on

June 8, 1776. Carleton then launched his own invasion and defeated Arnold at the Battle of Valcour Island

in October. Arnold fell back to Fort Ticonderoga, where the invasion had begun. While the invasion ended

as a disaster for the Americans, Arnold's efforts in 1776 delayed any full-scale British counteroffensive until

the Saratoga campaign of 1777. Many British people started to lose support of the American independence

cause because of the invasion of Canada. The people of Quebec initially supported the invasion early on,

but became less supportive during the occupations. The Patriots overtly wanted Quebec to be part of their

cause and made specific provisions for it to join the U.S. under the 1777 Articles of Confederation.

In the beginning of the War, British forces were huge in Boston. This force evacuated by the signing of the

Declaration of Independence in 1776. Patriots in all 13 colonies were quick to form new revolutionary

governments based on committees and conventions that they have established in 1774 and early 1775.

Royal governors and officials found themselves powerless to stop the rebellion and in many places were

forced to flee. In many places the Patriots were energetic and were backed by angry mobs while the

Loyalists were too intimidated or poorly organized to be effective without the British army. The term

"lynching" originated when Virginia Patriots held informal courts and arrested Loyalists (the term did not

suggest execution). Loyalists supported the British Empire. They were funded by London officials. Patriots

defeated the Loyalists in the Snow Campaign in South Carolina in late 1775. Loyalist and Virginian governor

Lord Dunmore tried to rally a loyalist force. Yet, he was beaten in December 1775 at the Battle of Great

Bridge. In February 1776 British General Clinton took 2,000 men and a naval squadron to assist Loyalists

mustering in North Carolina, only to call it off when he learned they had been crushed at the Battle of

Moore's Creek Bridge. In June he tried to seize Charleston, the leading port in the South, but the attack

failed as the naval force was repulsed by the Patriot forts.

Apart from the thirteen, no other British North American colony joined the rebellion. King George III

considered the American Patriots as traitors of the British crown. He issued a Proclamation of Rebellion in

August 1775. He addressed Parliament on October 26, 1775. He said that "the authors and promoters of

this desperate conspiracy" who had "labored to inflame my people in America ... and to infuse into their

minds a system of opinions repugnant to the true constitution of the Colonies, and to their subordinate

relation to Great Britain ..." He detailed measures taken to suppress the revolt, including "friendly offers of

foreign assistance." The King's speech was endorsed by both Houses of Parliament; a motion in the House

of Commons to oppose coercive measures was defeated 278–108. The British received an Olive Branch

Petition written by the Second Continental Congress dated July 8, 1775, imploring the King to reverse the

policies of his ministers. However, by this time the invasion of Canada was already well under way, and

Parliament debated on whether to accept the petition, but after a lengthy debate rejected it by 53 votes,

viewing it as insincere.

Parliament then voted to impose a blockade against the Thirteen Colonies. The popularity of war in Britain

reached a peak in 1777. King George III was involved in the war effort. He rejected independence and

wanted to use Native Americans to fight the Americans. The Irish Parliament agreed to the withdrawal of

troops from Ireland in order to suppress the rebellion in America. Most Irish Protestants were against the

war and favored the Americans. The Catholic establishment supported the King. The American Revolution

was the first war in which Irish Catholics were allowed to enlist in the British army. The British peacetime

army in the beginning of the war was small since the Glorious Revolution, so an abuse of power was

prevented by the King. To muster a force, the British had to launch recruiting campaigns in Britain and

Ireland and hire mercenaries from the small German states, both immensely time-consuming. The king

wanted to save money, and the administration of the army was inefficient. Russia refused to rent out

soldiers. After a year the British were able to ship Sir William Howe an army of 32,000 officers and men to

open a campaign in summer 1776. It was the largest force the British had ever sent outside of Europe at

that time.

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was a document created by the American colonies to establish the

proclamation of independence from the British Empire. It was created in the midst of the early parts of the

American Revolutionary War. One-third of America supported the Revolution while two-thirds were either

neutral or Loyalist. There were attempts to end the war, but they failed. Many colonies opposed the British

Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. The colonists were restricted of representation in

Parliament. The Thirteen colonies announced that they wanted to be independent sovereign states. So, the

document was very historic. It was adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting at Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. John Adams was a leader in pushing for independence. On June 7, 1776, there was Lee’s

Resolution.

Richard Henry Lee was a delegate from Virginia. He read a resolution before the Continental Congress that

said the following: “…that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States,

that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between

them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

On June 11, 1776, there was the Committee of Five being appointed. The consideration of the Lee

Resolution was postponed. The Committee of Five was appointed to draft a statement presenting to the

world about the colonies’ case for independence. On June 11, Congress recessed for three weeks. During

this period the "Committee of Five" (John Adams, Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston,

and Thomas Jefferson) drafted the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson drafted it, Adams and

Franklin made changes to it. Congress reconvened on July 1, 1776. Thomas Jefferson wrote most of the

Declaration of Independence with changes made to it by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The best

known version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is popularly regarded as the official document, is

displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The Declaration listed grievances against King

George III by citing the Intolerable Acts, the slave trade, and other issues. It talked about inalienable rights

and the right of revolution. It promoted the principle that people had natural and legal rights. Of course,

there are contradictions with this document. The document talks about equality, but many signers to the

Declaration of Independence were slave owners and didn’t view black people or women as equal human

beings. The famous words of the Declaration involving human rights are the following words:

"...When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political

bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the

separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent

respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the

separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their

Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of

Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just

powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes

destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new

Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them

shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness..."

These words are very powerful words which have inspired various future Revolutions in the four corners of

the Earth. Thomas Jefferson took influence from the Constitution of Virginia and George Mason’s draft of

the Virginia Declaration of Rights. Jefferson had included a paragraph in his initial draft that strongly

indicted Great Britain's role in the slave trade, this was deleted from the final version. Many of the ideas

from the Declaration of Independence undoubtedly came from the views of the Enlightenment. During the

American Revolution, Jefferson and other Americans looked to the English Declaration of Rights as a model

of how to end the reign of an unjust king. The Scottish Declaration of Arbroath (1320) and the Dutch Act of

Abjuration (1581) have also been offered as models for Jefferson's Declaration, but these models are now

accepted by few scholars. Thomas Jefferson respected John Locke, who a British philosopher who wrote

about property rights.

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and printed. This occurred late in the

morning of July 4. The Committee of Five took the manuscript copy of the document to John Dunlap or the

official printer to the Congress. On the morning of July 5, 1776, copies printed by John Dunlap were

dispatched by members of Congress to various committees, assemblies, and to the commanders of the

Continental troops. By July 9, the action of Congress was officially approved by the NY Convention. On July

19, 1776, Congress ordered that the Declaration be "fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile

{sic} of ‘The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America’ and that the same, when

engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." Most members signed the Declaration of

Independence on August 2, 1776. George Wythe signed on August 27. On September 4, Richard Henry Lee,

Elbridge Gerry, and Oliver Wilcott signed. Matthew Thornton signed on November 19, and Thomas McKean

signed in 1781. The Declaration is not divided into formal sections; but it is often discussed as consisting of

five parts: Introduction, the Preamble, the Indictment of King George, the Denunciation of the British

people, and the Conclusion.

President of Congress John Hancock sent a broadside to General

George Washington, instructing him to have it proclaimed "at

the Head of the Army in the way you shall think it most proper.”

Washington had the Declaration read to his troops in New York

City on July 9, with thousands of British troops on ships in the

harbor. Washington and Congress hoped the Declaration would

inspire the soldiers, and encourage others to join the army.

Copies were sent to France and other places of the word from

Switzerland to Pother nations. Many British leaders opposed the

Declaration of Independence as the work of rebellion. Some

viewed it as hypocritical to proclaim that all men are created

equal and maintain slavery. British Tories denounced the signers

of the Declaration for not applying the same principles of

"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to African Americans.

Referring to this contradiction, English abolitionist Thomas Day

wrote in a 1776 letter, "If there be an object truly ridiculous in

nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of

independency with the one hand, and with the other brandishing

a whip over his affrighted slaves." William Whipple, a signer of

the Declaration of Independence who had fought in the war,

freed his slave, Prince Whipple, because of revolutionary ideals. In the postwar decades, other slaveholders

also freed their slaves; from 1790 to 1810, the percentage of free blacks in the Upper South increased to

8.3 percent from less than one percent of the black population. All Northern states abolished slavery by the

19th century. By the 19th century, abolitionists in the States used the Declaration of Independence as a

means to inspire people to fight against slavery (and endorse revolution as the document did endorse

revolution under certain circumstances). Abraham Lincoln invoked the Declaration of Independence in his

speeches and the early suffrage movement of the 1844, the Seneca Falls Convention (which was held in

Seneca Falls, New York) promoted the motto that: “All men and women are created equal.” The suffrage

movement was supported by William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. So, the Declaration of

Independence was historical document which represented the aspirations of the colonists and outlined the

beginning of the long evolution of the American Revolutionary period.

Here is a picture showing Benjamin Franklin, John Adam Thomas Jefferson (in the far right) drafting the Declaration of Independence.

Campaigns in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania

General Howe from Great Britain had withdrawn his army from Boston. So, Howe was focused on capturing

New York City. NYC back then was limited to the southern tip of Manhattan Island. Howe’s forces came off

of Staten Island across from the harbor from Manhattan on June 30, 1776. His army captured Staten Island

without resistance. To defend the city, General George Washington spread his forces along the shores of

New York’s harbor, which is concentrated on Long Island and Manhattan. While British and recently hired

Hessian troops were assembling, Washington had newly issued the Declaration of American Independence

read to his men and the citizens of the city. Washington was in an extremely dangerous situation, because

he had divided his forces between Manhattan and Long Island. These forces couldn’t match the full

strength of the opposing force. Military critics note that Howe could have trapped and destroyed

Washington’s whole army if he had landed on Manhattan, but instead Howe decided to mount a frontal

assault against Long Island.

The British landed about 22,000 men on Long Island. By late August 1776, they badly defeated the

Continental army in the war’s largest battle. They took over 1,000 prisoners and driving them back to

Brooklyn Heights. Instead of pursuing the American forces, Howe decided to lay siege to the heights. He

claimed that he wanted to spare his men’s lives from an assault on the Patriot fortifications. He actively

restrained his subordinates from landing what could have been the finishing blow against Washington’s

forces. Washington at first reinforced his exposed position. Yet, Washington personally directed the

withdrawal of his entire remaining army and all their supplies across the East River on the night of August

29-30, 1776 without loss of men or materiel. The unfavorable direction of the wind had prevented British

warships from blocking Washington's escape. A peace conference took place on September 11, 1776 to

explore the possibility of a negotiated solution. The British promoted Lord North’s “fixed contribution”

formula of the preceding year. The British said that other laws could be revised or repealed if the authority

of Britain was acknowledged. The American negotiators insisted that they would not give up the

Declaration of Independence.

Howe continued with his attack. By September 15, Howe landed about 12,000 Redcoats in lower

Manhattan. They quickly took control of New York City. The Americans withdrew north up the island to

Harlem Heights. That is where they battled the next day to repulse a British advance. A devastating fire

took place in September 21 and the Patriots were blamed for. Yet, there is no proof that the Patriots were

involved in the fire. On October 12 the British made an attempt to encircle the Americans, which failed

because of Howe's decision to land on an island that was easily cut off from the mainland. The Americans

evacuated Manhattan, and on October 28 fought the Battle of White Plains against the pursuing British.

During the battle Howe declined to attack Washington's highly vulnerable main force, instead attacking a

hill that was of no strategic significance. Washington retreated and Howe returned to Manhattan and

captured Fort Washington in mid-November taking about 3,000 people prisoners. This started the infamous

“prison ships system” that the British established in New York for the rest of the war. This situation caused

more American soldiers and sailors to die of neglect and disease than died in every battle of the entire war

combined. Howe later detached Sir Henry Clinton with 6,000 men to seize Newport, Rhode Island for the

British fleet. This came about without encountering any major resistance. Clinton objected to this move,

believing the force would have been better employed up the Delaware River, where they might have

inflicted irreparable damage on the retreating Americans.

General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington’s army through New Jersey, but Howe ordered him

to halt and Washington escaped across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 7, 1776. Howe

refused to order a pursuit across the river even though the outlook of the Continental Army was bleak.

"These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, who was with the army on the retreat. The

American army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after

enlistments expired at the end of the year. Congress moved inland and abandoned Philadelphia in despair,

although popular resistance to British occupation was growing in the countryside. Later, Howe came to

divide his forces in New Jersey into small detachments that were vulnerable to defeat in detail with the

weakest forces stationed the closest to Washington’s army. George Washington decided to take the

offensive by stealthily crossing the Delaware on the night of December 25-26, 1776. Washington and his

forces captured nearly 1,000 surprised and unfortified Hessians at the Battle of Trenton. Cornwallis

marched to retake Trenton, but was first repulsed and then outmaneuvered by Washington, who

successfully attacked the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777. He took around 200 prisoners.

Howe then conceded most of New Jersey to Washington, in spite of Howe's massive numerical superiority

over him. Washington entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, having given a morale boost to

the American cause. Throughout the winter New Jersey militia continued to harass British and Hessian

forces near their three remaining posts along the Raritan River. In April 1777 Washington was amazed that

Howe made no effort to attack his smaller army.

1777-1778

The British started to plan for more operations in 1777. They had two main armies in North America. They

had an army in Quebec (later under the command of John Burgoyne) and Howe’s army in New York. In

London, Lord George Germain approved a campaign for these armies to converge on Albany, New York and

divide the American colonies into two. Yet, there was no express orders to given to Howe (who was

developing his own plans). In November 1776 Howe requested large reinforcements so he could launch

attacks against Philadelphia, New England, and Albany. These reinforcements were not granted so Howe

modified his plan to launch an attack against Philadelphia only. Germain gave his approval to this plan. He

believed that Philadelphia could be taken in time for Howe to coordinate with the northern army. Howe, on

the other hand, opted to send his army to Philadelphia by sea via the Chesapeake Bay instead of taking

shorter routes either overland through New Jersey or through the Delaware Bay. This left him completely

incapable of assisting Burgoyne.

There was the 1777 campaign of Saratoga too. The first of the 1777 campaign was an expedition. It was

from Quebec being led by General John Burgoyne. He wanted to seize Lake Champlain and the Hudson

River corridor. That could isolate New England from the rest of the American colonies. Burgoyne's invasion

had two components: he would lead about 8,000 men along Lake Champlain towards Albany, New York,

while a second column of about 2,000 men, led by Barry St. Leger, would move down the Mohawk River

Valley and link up with Burgoyne in Albany.

British General John Burgoyne worked to fight the Americans in June of 1777. He recaptured Fort

Ticonderoga in early July. Afterwards, his march was slowed by the Americans. The Americans knocked

down trees in his path. His army had an extensive baggage train. There was a detachment sent out to seize

supplies and they were defeated in the Battle of Bennington by American militia in August. This caused

Burgoyne to be deprived of almost 1,000 men. At St. Leger, more than half of his force of Native Americans

led by Sayenqueraghta—had laid siege to Fort Stanwix. American militiamen and their Native American

allies marched to relieve the siege but were ambushed and scattered at the Battle of Oriskany. When a

second relief expedition approached, this time led by Benedict Arnold, St. Leger's Native American support

abandoned him, forcing him to break off the siege and return to Quebec. Burgoyne’s army was reduced to

about 6,000 men by the loss of Bennington. He wanted to garrison Ticonderoga and he was running short

on supplies. With these setbacks, Burgoyne was determined to go to Albany. An American army of 8,000

men were entrenched about 10 miles south of Saratoga, New York.

They were commanded by General Horatio Gates (by they were also led by his subordinate Benedict

Arnold, who was in favor of the Patriot cause at the time). Burgoyne tried to outflank the Americans, but

was checked at the first battle of Saratoga in September. Burgoyne’s situation was desperate. He hoped

that help from Howe’s army in New York City might be on the way. It was not. Howe sailed away on his

expedition to capture Philadelphia. American militiamen flocked to Gates’s army. This caused his force to

be 11,000 people by the start of October. The British were defeated badly at the second battle of Saratoga,

so Burgoyne surrendered on October 17, 1777. The British General Clinton in New York City tried to create

a diversion in favor of Burgoyne in early October by capturing two key forts, but he withdrew after hearing

of the surrender. Saratoga was a turning point of the Revolutionary War. Once, Patriot confidence and

determination suffered with Howe’s successful occupation of Philadelphia. Yet, Patriot confidence and

determination improved. This victory of Saratoga caused the French to make an open alliance with America

after 2 years of semi-secret support. The war was more complicated for the British. The Americans held the

British prisoners taken at Saratoga until the end of the war, in direct violation of the agreed surrender

terms, which specified they would be repatriated immediately.

Pennsylvania

The war continued in Pennsylvania including Philadelphia. Howe started to fight in Pennsylvania in June of

1777. He failed to engage in battle against Washington’s smaller force in New Jersey. Howe sent his troops

in transports and slowly sailed to the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay. He landed 15,000 troops on

August 25 at the head of the Elk River. Washington positioned his 11,000 men in a strong position along the

Brandywine River. That was between the British and Philadelphia. Howe outflanked and defeated General

Washington on September 11, 1777. French observers noted that Howe didn’t follow up on his victory. If

Howe continued to press the Americans, then that could have destroyed Washington’s army. The

Continental Congress was abandoned against in Philadelphia. On September 26, Howe financially

outmaneuvered Washington and marched into Philadelphia unopposed. A part of Howe's army was then

split off to reduce rebel forts blocking his communications up the Delaware River. Hoping to bring about

another Trenton-like victory while the British were divided, on October 4 Washington assaulted against the

British in a surprise attack at Germantown. Howe had failed to alert his troops there, despite being aware

of the impending attack the previous day. The British were in danger of a rout, but faulty American

decisions resulted in Washington being repulsed with heavy losses. Both armies met at White Marsh in

December. There were some skirmishes. Howe decided to retire as he ignored the vulnerability of

Washington’s rear. Such an attack would cut off Washington from his baggage and provisions.

George Washington and his army encamped at Valley Forge in December 1777, which is about 20 miles

from Philadelphia. At Valley Forge, they stayed for the next six months. During the winter, 2,500 men (out

of 10,000) died from diseases and exposure to the elements. The army as reduced to 4,000 effectives.

During this time, Howe's army, comfortable in Philadelphia, made no effort to exploit the weakness of the

American army. The American army was in good order by the Spring of 1778 with the help of a training

program, which was supervised by Baron von Steuben. Baron Von Steuben introduced the most modern

Prussian methods of organization and tactics. Many historians say that British forfeited many chances for

military victory in 1776-1777. According to them, if General Howe violated military tradition by going into

Valley Forge in December of 1777, then the war could end in a British victory. Howe submitted his

resignation in October 1777. Until it was accepted, he spent his time in Philadelphia preparing his

arguments for an expected parliamentary inquiry. Although he had twice as many men as Washington, the

bitter memory of Bunker Hill made him highly reluctant to attack entrenched American forces. General

Clinton replaced Howe as British commander-in-chief on May 24, 1778.

After the news of surrender at Saratoga came to England and the concern over French intervention, the

British decided to accept the original demands made by the American Patriots. The Parliament repealed the

remaining tax on tea. They declared that no taxes should be imposed on the colonies without their consent

(except for custom duties, the revenues of which would be returned to the colonies). A Commission was

formed to negotiate directly with the Continental Congress for the first time. The Commission was

empowered to suspend all the other objectionable acts by Parliament passed since 1763; issue general

pardons, and declare a cessation of hostilities. The Commissioners arrived in America in June 1778 and

offered to place the colonies in the condition of 1763 if they would return to the allegiance of the King. The

Parliament agreed that no troops would be placed in the colonies without their consent. The Congress

refused to negotiate the commission unless they first acknowledged American independence or withdrew

all troops.

On October 3, 1778, the British published a proclamation offering amnesty to any colonies or individuals

who accepted their proposals within forty days, implying serious consequences if they still refused. There

was no positive reply. King George III gave up all hope of subduing America by more armies, while Britain

had a European war to fight. "It was a joke," he said, "to think of keeping Pennsylvania." During this time,

King George III didn’t want to acknowledge the independence of the Americans. He wanted to punish them

by prolonging the war eternally. So, King George III wanted to keep the 30,000 men garrisoned in New York,

Rhode Island, Quebec, and Florida; other forces would attack the French and Spanish in the West Indies. To

punish the Americans the King planned to destroy their coasting-trade, bombard their ports; sack and burn

towns along the coast. He wanted the Native Americans to attack in frontier settlements. These operations,

the King felt, would inspire the Loyalists, would splinter the Congress, and "would keep the rebels harassed,

anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment

were converted into penitence and remorse."

King George III believed that the colonists would beg to return to his authority. He wanted to re-subjugate

the colonies after dealing with the Americans’ European allies. This plan could even harm the Loyalists and

the Native Americans who supported the British. King George's plan could cause an indefinite prolongation

of a costly war, and the risk of disaster as the French and Spanish assembled an armada to invade the

British Isles. The King hoped to re-subjugate the rebellious colonies after dealing with the Americans'

European allies.

The Tide Tuns (Americans begin to win the war) and International Support

From the spring of 1776, France and Spain had informally been involved in the American Revolutionary

War, with French admiral Latouche Treville having provided supplies, ammunition, and guns from France to

America after Thomas Jefferson encouraged a French alliance. Guns like the de Valliere type were used.

They played an important role in battles like the Battle of Saratoga. After learning of the American victory

at Saratoga, the French became concerned that the British would reconcile their differences with the

colonists and turn on France. In particular, King Louis XVI was influenced by alarmist reports suggesting that

Britain was preparing to make huge concessions to the colonies and then, allied with them, strike at French

and Spanish possessions in the West Indies. So, the French concluded a Treaty of Alliance with the United

States on February 6, 1778. This committed the Americans to seek nothing less than absolute

independence. Previously, France had only been willing to act in conjunction with Spain but now they were

willing to go war alone if necessary. Britain responded by recalling its ambassador, although Franco-British

hostilities didn’t break out actually until June 17, 1778. In 1776, the Count of Arnada met in representation

of Spain with the first U.S. Commission composed by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee.

The Continental Congress had charged the commissioners to travel to Europe and forge alliances with other

European powers that could help break the British naval blockade along the North American coast. Arnanda

invited the commission to his house in Paris. He was acting as the Spanish ambassador and he became an

active supporter of the struggle of the fledgling colonies, recommending an early and open Spanish

commitment to the colonies. However, he was overruled by José Moñino, 1st Count of Floridablanca who

opted for a more discreet approach. The Spanish position was later summarized by the Spanish

Ambassador to the French Court, Jerónimo Grimaldi, in a letter to Arthur Lee who was in Madrid trying to

persuade the Spanish government to declare an open alliance. Grimaldi told Lee that "You have considered

your own situation, and not ours. The moment is not yet come for us. The war with Portugal — France

being unprepared, and our treasure ships from South America not being arrived — makes it improper for us

to declare immediately.” Meanwhile, Grimaldi reassured Lee. There were stores of clothing and powder

deposited at New Orleans and Havana for the Americans. There were further shipments of blankets being

collected at Bilbao. Spain finally entered the war officially in June 1779, thus implementing the Treaty of

Aranjuez. The Spanish government had been providing assistance to the revolutionaries since the very

beginning of the war, but it did not recognize the United States officially. The Dutch Republic, which also

had assisted the colonists since 1776, declared war on Britain at the end of 1780, and did recognize the

United States diplomatically.

Northern theater after Saratoga

The French entry into the war caused the British to change strategy. Sir Henry Clinton (or the British

Commander in Chief in North America from 1778- 1782) abandoned Philadelphia. He wanted to reinforce

New York City, now vulnerable to the French naval power. George Washington shadowed Clinton on his

withdrawal through New Jersey and attacked him at Monmouth on June 28, 1778. The battle was tactically

inconclusive, but Clinton successfully disengaged and continued his retreat to New York. It was the last

major battle in the north. Clinton’s army went to New York City in July arriving just before a French fleet

under Admiral d’Estaing arrived off the American coast. Washington’s army returned to White Plains, New

York (or north of New York City). Both armies were back where they were two years earlier, but the nature

of the war had now changed as the British had to withdraw troops from North America to counter the

French threats elsewhere. In August of 1778, the Americans attempted to capture the British held Newport,

Rhode Island with the assistance of France. Yet, the effort failed when the French withdrew their support.

The war in the north was bogged down in a stalemate. Neither side was capable of attacking the other in

any decisive manner. The British instead attempted to wear out American resolve by launching various

raiding expeditions like Tryon’s raid against Connecticut in July 1779. In that year the Americans won two

morale-enhancing victories by capturing posts at Stony Point and Paulus Hook, although the British quickly

retook them. In October 1779 the British voluntarily abandoned Newport and Stony Point in order to

consolidate their forces.

By the winter of 1779–80 the American army suffered worse hardships than they had at Valley Forge

previously. The Congress was ineffective; the Continental currency worthless, and the supply system was

fundamentally broken. Washington was finding it extremely difficult to keep his army together, even

without any major fighting against the British. In 1780 actual mutinies broke out in the American camp. The

Continental Army's strength dwindled to such an extent that the British decided to mount two probing

attacks against New Jersey in June 1780. The New Jersey militia strongly rallied, however, and the British

quickly returned to their bases. In July of 1780, the American cause had a boost. There was the 5,500 strong

French expeditionary force arrived at Newport, Rhode Island. Washington hoped to use this assistance to

attack the British at New York and end the war. Events elsewhere, however, would frustrate this. Additional

French reinforcements were prevented from arriving by a British blockade of French ports, and the French

troops at Newport quickly found themselves blockaded as well.

Moreover, the French fleet refused to visit the American coast in 1780, having suffered significant damage

in actions in the West Indies. Benedict Arnold decided to come over to the British side after Saratoga. The

reason was he was disenchanted with struggle. He believed that the war fulfilled his responsibilities. In

September 1780 he attempted to surrender the key American fort at West Point along the Hudson River to

the British, but his plot was exposed. He escaped and continued to fight under the British army. He wrote

an open letter justifying his actions by claiming he had only fought for a redress of grievances and since

Britain had withdrawn those grievances (see above) there was no reason to continue shedding blood,

particularly in an alliance with an ancient and tyrannical enemy like France. He led the last British attack in

the north, a devastating raid against New London in September 1781. The British held Staten Island,

Manhattan, and Long Island until peace was made in 1783. These areas contained about 2% of the

population of the thirteen colonies.

Frontier Battles

There was the Northern and Western frontier of the Revolutionary War too. West of the Appalachian

Mountains and along the border with Quebec, the American Revolutionary dealt heavily with Native

Americans. Most Native Americans supported the British. There were separate factions that supported the

Americans and some that didn’t. These factions included the Iroquois Confederacy, the Shawnee, and the

Chickamauga including the Cherokee. The British supplied their Native American allies with muskets,

gunpowder, and advice. Yet, Loyalists led raids against civilian settlements, especially in New York,

Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. There were joint Iroquois-Loyalist attacks in Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania

and at Cherry Valley in New York in 1778. That provoked George Washington to send the Sullivan

Expedition into western New York during the summer of 1779.

There was little fighting as Sullivan systematically destroyed the Native American’s winter food supplies.

This forced them to flee permanently to British bases in Quebec and the Niagara Falls area. During the

Illinois Campaign of 1778, the Virginia frontiersman George Rogers Clark attempted to neutralize British

influence among the Ohio valley tribes by capturing the colonial outposts of Kaskaskia and Cahokia and

Vincennes, in the Illinois Country. When General Henry Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, retook

Vincennes, Clark returned in a surprise march in February 1779 and captured Hamilton. In March 1782,

Pennsylvania militiamen killed about a hundred neutral Native Americans in the Gnadenhütten massacre.

In the last major encounters of the war, a force of 200 Kentucky militia was defeated at the Battle of Blue

Licks in August 1782.

The Carolinas

During the first three years of the American Revolutionary War, the primary military encounters were in the

north. Yet, some attempts to organize Loyalists were defeated. A British attempt at Charleston, South

Carolina failed and a variety of efforts to attack British forces in East Florida failed. After France entered the

war, the British turned their attention to the southern colonies. They British hoped to regain control by

recruiting a large number of Loyalists. The southern strategy also had the advantage of keeping the Royal

Navy closer to the Caribbean, where the British needed to defend economically important possessions

against the French and the Spanish. On December 29, 1778, an expeditionary corps from Clinton’s army in

New York captured Savannah, Georgia. There was an attempt by the French and American forces to retake

Savannah, which failed on October 9, 1779. Clinton then besieged Charleston, he captured it, and most the

southern Continental Army on May 12, 1780. With relatively few causalities, Clinton seized the South’s

biggest city and seaport, which provided a base for further conquest. The remnants of the southern

Continental Army began to withdraw to North Carolina. Yet, they were pursued by Lt. Colonel Banastre

Tarleton, who defeated them at the Waxhaws on May 29, 1780. These events caused the organized

American military activity in the region to collapse. The war carried on by partisans called Francis Marion.

Cornwallis took over British operations while Horatio Gates arrived to command the American effort. On

August 16, 1780, Gates was defeated at the Battle of Camden in South Carolina.

This set the stage for Cornwallis to invade North Carolina. Georgia and South Carolina were thus both

restored to Britain for the time being. Cornwallis came into North Carolina, but a Loyalist wing of his army

was utterly defeated at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. That temporarily aborted his

planned advance. Cornwallis received reinforcements, but his light infantry under Tarleton was decisively

defeated by Daniel Morgan at the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781. In spite of this, Cornwallis

decided to proceed, gambling that he would receive substantial Loyalist support. General Nathanael

Greene, who replaced General Gates, evaded contact with Cornwallis while seeking reinforcements. By

March, Greene's army had grown to the point where he felt that he could face Cornwallis directly. In the

key Battle of Guilford Court House, Cornwallis drove Green’s much larger army off the battlefield, but in

doing so suffered causalities amounting to one-fourth of his army. Also, far fewer Loyalists were joining up

than expected. The reason is that the Patriots put heavy pressure on them and their families (who would

become hostages). Cornwallis decided to retreat to coastal Wilmington, North Carolina for resupply and

reinforcement. This left the interior of the Carolinas and Georgia open to Greene. He then proceeded north

into Virginia. American troops in conjunction with Patriot partisans then began the process of reclaiming

territory in South Carolina and Georgia. Despite British victories at Hobkirk's Hill and at the Siege of Ninety-

Six, by the middle of the year they had been forced to withdraw to the coastal lowlands region of both

colonies. The final battle (Battle of Eutaw Springs) in September 1781 was indecisive but by the end of the

year the British held only Savannah and Charleston.

African Americans and the Revolutionary War

African Americans have a huge role to play in the Revolutionary War (among both sides). Back during that

war, black people in North America were heavily enslaved and some were free. African Americans

participated in both sides during the war for diverse reasons. The British recruited slaves from the Patriot

side and promise freedom to them. One promise was made by Dunmore’s Proclamation. Lord Dunmore’s

Proclamation had the following words: “…And I hereby further declare all indented servants, Negroes, or

others (appertaining to Rebels) free, that are able and willing to bear arms, they joining His Majesty's

Troops, as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing the Colony to a proper sense of their duty, to

this Majesty's crown and dignity…” Lord Dunmore was the title of the Governor of Virginia. Dunmore

officially issued his proclamation in November, 1775, and within a month 300 black men had joined his

Ethiopian regiment. Probably no more than 800 eventually succeeded in joining Dunmore's regiment, but

his proclamation inspired thousands of runaways to follow behind the British throughout the war. There

were manpower shortages on the American side, so George Washington (who owned slaves) lifted the ban

on black enlistment in the Continental Army in January of 1776. There were small all-black units were

formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Many slaves were promised freedom for serving. When the war

was over, some slaves were brought back to slavery and some were freed. Another all-black unit came from

Saint-Domingue with French colonial forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the Revolutionary

cause.

Thousands of slaves escaped during the war and joined British lines. Other moved into the areas of

America. One example is in South Carolina; nearly 25,000 slaves (30% of the enslaved population) fled,

migrated or died during the disruption of the war. This greatly disrupted plantation production during and

after the war. When they withdrew their forces from Savannah and Charleston, the British also evacuated

10,000 slaves belonging to Loyalists. Altogether, the British evacuated nearly 20,000 blacks at the end of

the war. More than 3,000 of them were freedmen and most of these were resettled in Nova Scotia; other

blacks were sold in the West Indies. There was a 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown

campaign which showed a black infantryman from the 1st Rhodes Island Regiment. For black people, we

wanted freedom back then. Back then, the majority of Americans were either neutral or Loyalist. African

Americans like Agrippa Hull and Prince Hall sided with the Patriot cause. James Lafayette, an enslaved

African American from Virginia, served in the Continental Army and successfully requested his freedom

after the war.

5,000 black men served in the Continental Army and hundreds more served on the sea. Black people fought

side by side with their white counterparts in the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. Colonel Tye

was perhaps the best-known of the Loyalist black soldiers. An escaped bondman born in Monmouth

County, New Jersey, he fought the American colonists with his guerrilla Black Brigade in New York and New

Jersey. At one time he commanded 800 men. For most of 1779 and 1780, Tye and his men fought by

getting cattle, freeing slaves, and capturing Patriots at will. On September 1, 1780, during the capture of a

Patriot captain, Tye was shot through the wrist, and he later died from a fatal infection. Boston King was a

black escaped slave and he joined the Loyalists. He was kidnapped by Southern Loyalists who tried to sell

him back into slavery. He escaped and again rejoined the army. Many thousands of African Americans who

fought for the British lost their freedom. Some were placed into slavery in the Caribbean. According to

Margaret Washington (historian on the evacuation of Charleston): “…Many of them ended up in slavery in

the Caribbean. Others, when they attempted to leave with the British, in places like Charleston and

Savannah, were prevented. And there are incredible letters written by southerners of Africans after the

siege of Charleston, swimming out to boats, and the British hacking away at their arms with cutlasses to

keep them from following them. So it was a very tragic situation. And of the many thousands of Africans

who left the plantations, not many of them actually got their freedom.” Sir Guy Carleton (or the acting

commander of the British forces) refused to abandon black Loyalists.

So, Brigadier General Samuel Birch, British commandant of the city of New York, created a list of claimants

known as The Book of Negroes. Boston King and his wife, Violet, were among 3,000 to 4,000 African

Americans Loyalists who boarded ships in New York bound for Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and Britain. Yes, the

miniseries “Book of Negroes,” which is an excellent movie is based on these events. I saw the Book of

Negroes movie before and I do recommend it for any person. They or those Brothers and Sisters were not

slaves anymore. In 1780, Massachusetts approved a new constitution, which borrowed from the

Declaration of Independence and the Virginia Bill of Rights, stating that "all men are born free and equal."

Relying upon this language, Elizabeth Freeman and Quock Walker (both African Americans) successfully

sued for emancipation.

One of the greatest books on the experience of Black America centuries ago is “Before the Mayflower: A

History of Black America” by Lerone Bennett, Jr. Lerone Bennett, Jr. is a Brother who is a great historian and

has done great research for decades. I do recommend this book too. In the book, he has written the

following words:

“…To grasp its true significance, we must draw back for a movement and view it against the

background of the American Revolution, which simultaneously and paradoxically produced a new

nation and black and white fragments wedded to each other and to conflict by the terms of their common

birth-terms that involved a contradiction between affirmation (equality) and reality (inequality). It was in

the struggle surrounding the Revolution that the founders of Black America defined themselves and re-

positioned themselves. It was the failure of that Revolution-it was the realization that the makers of the

Revolution didn’t believe what they said-that forced Black America to create itself. In assessing that

momentous event, it is important to keep in mind that the black creation accompanied the white creation

but was not contained by it or defined by it.” As he has also mentioned, “An educator in a system of

oppression is either revolutionary or an oppressor.”

Phillis Wheatley was a black woman who was an amazing poet and wrote literature in favor of liberty. The

Revolutionary War (filled with controversies, hypocrisies, and contradictions) included history where many

black people fought courageously for freedom and justice. We do honor that black people back then who

fought against slavery and desired justice for all.

Yorktown

The Yorktown campaign was during the end of the Revolutionary War. The British General Cornwallis came

from Wilmington (in Delaware) into Virginia. He wanted to conquer Virginia in order to hold the southern

colonies. Before Yorktown, in January of 1781, there was a small British raiding force under Benedict

Arnold. Benedict Arnold came into the British side, because he felt that the Patriots fulfilled their goals of

opposing the Intolerable Acts and he felt that it was time for the Americans to go be with the British

crown. Despite Arnold's successes while he was with the Americans, he was passed over for promotion by

the Continental Congress while other officers claimed credit for some of his accomplishments. Adversaries

in military and political circles brought charges of corruption or other malfeasance, but most often he was

acquitted in formal inquiries. Congress investigated his accounts and found that he was indebted to

Congress after spending much of his own money on the war effort. Arnold was frustrated and bitter at this,

as well as with the alliance with France and the failure of Congress to accept Britain's 1778 proposal to

grant full self-governance in the colonies. He decided to change sides and opened secret negotiations with

the British. In July 1780, he was awarded command of West Point. Arnold's scheme was to surrender the

fort to the British, but it was exposed when American forces captured British Major John André carrying

papers that revealed the plot. Upon learning of André's capture, Arnold fled down the Hudson River to the

British sloop-of-war Vulture, narrowly avoiding capture by the forces of George Washington, who had been

alerted to the plot. In 1782, Benedict Arnold and his family moved to London where he passed away in

1801 at the age of 60 years old.

They or the British forces moved in the countryside and destroyed

supply depots, mills, and other economic targets. In February of 1781,

General Washington dispatched General Lafayette to counter Arnold.

He later sent General Anthony Wayne Arnold. Arnold was reinforced

with additional troops from New York in March. His army joined the

army of Cornwallis in May. Lafayette had a skirmish with Cornwallis,

so it prevented a large scale battle while gathering reinforcements.

Cornwallis’ superior officer, General Clinton opposed Cornwallis

Virginia campaign. General Clinton believed that such a large and

disease ridden area with a hostile population could be pacified with

the limited forces available. Clinton wanted instead to fight further

north in the Chesapeake region (as found in Maryland, Delaware, and

southern Pennsylvania). Clinton believed that those areas had a strong

Loyalist presence. Upon his arrival at Williamsburg in June, Cornwallis received orders from Clinton to

establish a fortified naval base and a request to send several thousand troops to New York to counter a

possible Franco-American attack. Following these orders, he fortified Yorktown, and, shadowed by

Lafayette, awaited the arrival of the Royal Navy.

This painting shows American forces

fighting British forces in a naval battle

off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

There were northern, southern, and naval theaters of war converging in 1781 at Yorktown, Virginia. The

French fleet became available for operations, which could either move against Yorktown or New York.

Washington still favored attacking New York, but the French decided to send the fleet to their preferred

target at Yorktown. Learning of the planned movement of the French fleet in August, Washington began

moving his army south to cooperate. The British fleet, not realizing that the French had sent their entire

fleet to America, dispatched an inadequate force under Admiral Graves, though the underlying reason for

this was a lack of naval resources. Since the entry of France and Spain into the war, the British lacked the

necessary ships to match their opponents every move. In early September, French naval forces defeated

the British fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, cutting off Cornwallis' escape. Cornwallis, still expecting to

receive support, failed to break out while he had the chance. When Washington's army arrived outside

Yorktown, Cornwallis prematurely abandoned his outer position, hastening his subsequent defeat. The

combined Franco-American force of 18,900 men began besieging in early October. For several days, the

French and Americans bombarded the British defenses, and then began taking the outer redoubts. The

British attempted to cobble together a relief expedition, but encountered numerous delays. Cornwallis

decided his position was becoming untenable and he surrendered his entire army of over 7,000 men on

October 19, 1781, the same day that the British fleet at New York sailed for his relief.

By November 1781, news of the surrender at Yorktown arrived in Britain. King George III took the news

calmly and delivered a defiant address pledging to continue the war; a majority of the House of Commons

endorsed it. In the succeeding months news arrived of other reverses, however.

The French and Spanish successfully took several West Indian islands and appeared to be on the verge of

completely expelling the British there. Minorca also surrendered to a Franco-Spanish force on February 5,

1782 and Gibraltar seemed to be in danger of falling as well. In light of this, Parliament on February 27,

1782 voted to cease all offensive operations in America and seek peace. He or Lord North was threatened

with votes of no confidence, so he resigned on March 20, 1782. His Tory government was replaced by the

Whigs. The British won the Battles of the Saintes to gain parts of the West Indies and they dealt with

Gibraltar. If the North government held out, they could continue to fight despite Yorktown (being

strengthened). The new Whig administration accepted American independence as a basis for peace. There

were no further major military activities in North America, although the British still had 30,000 garrison

troops occupying New York City, Charleston, and Savannah. The war continued elsewhere, including the

siege of Gibraltar and naval operations in the East and West Indies, until peace was agreed in 1783.

Here is another map that describes many of the battles of the Revolutionary War.

The Treaty of Paris

The Treaty of Paris was signed in September 3, 1783. It was signed by the representatives of King George III

of Great Britain and the representatives of the United States of America. It was signed at Hotel d’York

(called now 56 Rue Jacob) in Paris, France. 1783 marked the end of the Revolutionary War. After the battle

of Yorktown, political support for the war in London decreased rapidly. British Prime Minister Lord North

resigned in March of 1782. In April 1782, the Commons voted to end the war in America. There were

preliminary peace articles signed in Paris at the end of November 1782. The formal end of the war didn’t

happen until the Treaty of Paris (or the Treaties of Versailles for other Allies) was signed on September 3,

1783. The last British troops left New York City on November 25, 1783. The United States Congress of the

Confederation ratified the Paris treaty on January 14, 1784. Britain negotiated the Paris peace treaty

without consulting her Native American allies. They ceded all Native American territory between the

Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River to the United States. 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. The British sought to establish a buffer Native American state in the American Midwest, and

continued to pursue that goal as late as 1814 in the War of 1812. The United States gained a lot of lands in

the western territory. The other Allies had mixed to poor results. France had some gains over its nemesis,

Great Britain. Yet, France’ material gains were minimal and France experienced huge financial loses as a

product of the Revolutionary War. France was already in financial trouble and it was borrowing money to

pay for the war. It used up all of its credit and created the financial disasters that marked the 1780’s which

led into 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 that Spain acquired was temporary.

The United States Government (The U.S. Constitution)

The Constitution was created by a long process. In essence, the Constitution as we see today evolved from

the Articles of Confederation to the U.S. Constitution. The Articles of Confederations had weaknesses like it

gave the states a whole amount of power, states disagreed on how to function, it had no Bill of Rights, and

the federal government was very weak to handle interstate disputes. The Declaration of Independence was

created in July of 1776. The Articles of Confederation was created in November 15, 1777 to form a weak

central government. It had a weak federal government, because the colonists didn’t want to mimic the

authoritarian rule of the British Empire over them. By July 9, 1778, the Article of Confederation was signed.

As early as March 25, 1785, the Mount Vernon conference started to deal with navigational rights in

Virginia and Maryland.

In 1785, the Land Ordinance of 1785 passed by Congress provides for rectangular survey dividing

northwestern territories into townships, which are in turn divided into lots of 640 acres each, with one lot

set aside for public education. During 1786, the Ordinance of Religious Freedom was adopted by Virginia

legislature written by Thomas Jefferson. This statute would later become the model for the first

amendment to the Constitution. The 1787 Northwest Ordinance was enacted by Congress and it provided

for the eventual incorporation of three to five new states in the Northwest Territories, with the

establishment of a bicameral assembly, freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education, and

a ban on slavery.

Shay’s Rebellion was turning point in early American history. Shay’s Rebellion lasted from August 1786 to

June 1787. It happened in Massachusetts. One of the rebel leaders was Daniel Shays. Shays and other

people rebelled, because they opposed the huge debt and taxes imposed on farmers. On February 1787,

after a surprise attack in Sheffield, 30 rebels were wounded in a skirmish with the government troops. This

caused fear among the new American oligarchy. So, they decided to establish a new policy to establish a

stronger federal government and revolutionize the old Articles of Confederation.

In 1786, many represents from states started to advocate a convention to discuss amending the Articles of

Confederation (or the old law governing the newly created United States of America). On September 14,

1786, the Annapolis Convention adjourned. The convention report, sent to Congress and the legislatures of

the various states, contains a request that another convention be held the following May at Philadelphia to

discuss amending the Articles of Confederation. Many states in late 1786 and early 1787 (like Pennsylvania,

North Carolina, New Hampshire, etc.) elect delegates to participate in the proposal constitutional

convention.

On May 25, 1787, the Constitutional Convention was established in Philadelphia. This was created to

discuss changing the Articles of Confederation at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The delegates began

their work. George Washington was elected President of the Convention.

The Constitution in its final version was written in September of 1787 and is taken up at the Convention’s

final session. A committee of five was appointed to write the constitution. The U.S. Constitution was signed

in September 17, 1787. William Jackson is selected as the secretary to the convention. Alexander Hamilton,

Charles Pinckney and George Wythe are chosen to prepare rules for the convention.

The Great Compromise is formed in July 16, 1787. This allows proportional representation for seats in the

House on Representatives based on population while equal representation for each state in Senate. Later,

the Committee of Eleven evolved with different members including some of the same people to address

issues of government, trade, impeachment, etc.

During the Convention, various plans are proposed to improve the government like the Virginia Plan (or the

Large State Plan) and the Pinckney Plan. The New Jersey Plan was proposed too or the Small State Plan.

Alexander Hamilton outlines his plan as well. On July 2, 1787, the Committee of Eleven composed of

Abraham Baldwin, Gunning Bedford, William Davie, Oliver Ellsworth, Benjamin Franklin, Elbridge Gerry,

Luther Martin, George Mason, John Rutledge, William Patterson, and Robert Yates, were selected to work

Thomas Paine was one of the greatest

proponents of American independence. His

published “Common Sense” literature came

about in 1776 which wanted Americans to

declare their independence from Britain. He

was a great lover of Enlightenment

principles. He lived until 1809 where he

passed away in New York City. One of his

famous quotes includes the following words:

“…’Tis repugnant to reason, to the universal order of things, to all examples from former ages, to suppose that this Continent can long remain subject to any external power.”

-Thomas Paine, Common Sense

out a compromise on the issue of representation in the two houses of the federal legislature. Committees

like this one, composed of one delegate from each state represented, were established on several

occasions during the convention in order to secure a breakthrough so that the deliberative process could

move forward in a productive fashion. From September 13-14, 1787, the official copy of the draft

Constitution is engrossed by Jacob Shallus. On September 15, the draft Constitution received unanimous

approval by the state delegations.

The Constitution was signed in September 17, 1787. It was signed by 38 out of 41 delegates present. 12

states except Rhode Island sign it. One delegate, John Dickinson, who was ill and not present, had George

Read sign his name by proxy. Three delegates present declined to sign the document: Edmund Randolph,

George Mason, and Elbridge Gerry. George Washington, as president of the convention, signed first. There

was a debate over signing it between Federalists and Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong

central government and they didn’t want repeat of Shay’s Rebellion. George Washington didn’t want

political parties, but human nature would cause different political cliques to arise. The Federalists wrote

Federalist papers to defend their views and promulgate their ideologies. The Federalists supported the

Constitution over the Articles of Confederation. They included people like James Madison, Alexander

Hamilton, and John Jay. They believed in the protection of property rights. They believed that checks and

balances alone would protect against abuses. They were hesitant in supporting the Bill of Rights federally

(as they said that state constitutions already had a bill of rights). The Federalists (who believed in a loose

construction of the Constitution) included the wealthy and common citizens. The Anti-Federalists wanted a

weaker central government and they opposed the ratification of the Constitution. Famous anti-Federalists

(who believed in a strict construction of the Constitution) included people like Richard Henry Lee, George

Mason, Thomas Jefferson, and Samuel Adams. They wanted a strong state government and they didn’t

want the executive branch to act like a monarch. They wanted a federal Bill of Rights to protect citizens

from the government. The Anti-Federalists included small farmers and debtors. In essence, the Constitution

was a compromise between the Federalists and the anti-Federalists on how government would function.

Copies of the Constitution spread into Philadelphia by September 18, 1787. Now, the Constitution must be

ratified. Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution on December 7, 1787. On September 13,

1788, the Constitution is ratified.

Later, the Congress of Confederation sets date for the

first meeting of the new federal government and the

Presidential election. The first quadrennial Presidential

election under the new Constitution is held from

December 15, 1788 to January 10, 1789. The Electoral

College convenes to vote for their respective states in

February 4, 1789. George Washington is unanimously

elected to be the nation's first President and John Adams

is elected its first Vice President , receiving 34 of 69 votes

cast. Only ten of the thirteen states cast electoral votes

in this election. North Carolina and Rhode Island were

ineligible to participate as they had not yet ratified the

Constitution. The New York legislature failed to appoint

its allotted electors in time, so there were no voting

electors from New York.

On March 4, 1789, the United States Constitution officially

replaces the Articles of Confederation and the first

United States Congress convenes. The federal

government begins operations under the new form

of government as members of the House and Senate

are seated at Federal Hall in New York City. The Senate

of eleven states would include 20 Federalists and two

Anti-federalists (both from Virginia). The House would

seat 48 Federalists and 11 Anti-federalists (from four

states: Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia). However, the initial meeting of each

chamber must be adjourned due to lack of a quorum. The Electoral votes are counted on April 6, 1789. The

House and Senate, meeting in joint session, certify that George Washington has been elected President of

the United States and John Adams elected as Vice President. On April 30, 1789, George Washington was

inaugurated as President of the United States and John Adams inaugurated as Vice President at Federal Hall

in New York City. Washington placed his hand upon a Bible belonging to the St. John's Lodge No. 1,

A.Y.M. as Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office. In 1789,

War and Treasury Departments are established by Congress. Henry Knox will be the Secretary of War, and

Alexander Hamilton will be the Secretary of the Treasury. By February 2, 1790, the first term of the

Supreme Court commences, with Chief Justice John Jay presiding. Rhode Island was the thirteenth and final

state to ratify the Constitution on May 29, 1790. In January 10, 1791, Vermont votes to ratify the

Constitution and apply for admission to the Union. Washington, D.C. will not be the Capital of The United

States of America until 1800. On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution. The

Bill of Rights is one of the most important parts of the Constitution. It is made up of 10 Amendments that

each deal with an important part of societal structure.

1st: Guarantees the freedom of religion, speech,

press, assembly, and petition.

2nd: The right to Bear Arms.

3rd: Prohibits the troops from quartering in private

homes.

4th: Protects from unreasonable search and seizure.

5th: No punishment shall exist without due process

of law. It protects against self-incrimination

6th: The right to a speedy trial and trial by jury. The

right to confront one’s accusers and to defense

counsel exist too.

7th: The right to jury trial for civil disputes if over

$20.

8th: It bans cruel and unusual punishment and it

bans excessive bail.

9th: Civil rights are not restricted to those specified

by these amendments.

10th: Powers not granted to the national government

belong to the states and to the people.

The U.S. Bill of Rights

A New Nation

The new nation of the United States of America was influenced by Enlightenment Ideals. The creators of

the Constitution and the early American government knew about history. They studied the works of ancient

Greece and ancient Rome. They understood about the history of England too along with English Bill of

Rights. So, they used many concepts from Enlightenment scholars to create the American government and

the U.S. Constitution. There were political writings like Montesquieu’s “The Spirit of the Laws”, Rousseau’s

“Social Contract”, and John Locke’s “The Two Treaties of Government” that impacted American society and

law. John Locke believed that a government’s power comes from the consent of the people. America

formed a government that is a representative government the Preamble mentions the consent of the

governed. Montesquieu believed in the separation of powers in government. The U.S. government does

have the separation of powers (or three branches of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of

government). Rousseau followed direct democracy and we have many kinds of elections of politicians.

Voltaire wrote about free speech, religious tolerance, etc. and we have the freedom of religion and the

freedom of speech found in the Bill of Rights. Beccaria believed that the accused has rights and he opposed

torture. The Bill Rights gives rights to the accused and it bans cruel and unusual punishment. Torture is

against the Eighth Amendment. Back then and today, the American government has popular sovereignty,

limited government, the separation of powers, and checks and balances. Checks and balances is a concept

of government where one branch of government doesn’t have too much power over another branch of

government. For example, the judicial branch can declare acts of Congress constitutional or

unconstitutional. Congress can impeach judges. The Senate may reject appointment of judges. The

President can sign and executive laws, but the Congress can override the President’s veto. The Supreme

Court can declare executive actions unconstitutional. So, the American government has many complexities

and simplicity at the same time.

Originally, the American government is a federal republic or a government with divided power among the

federal (or national) government and the state plus local governments. By 1789, the Constitution became

the official law of America. The Enlightenment principles spread globally from Europe to the Americas. In

1789, the French Revolution would begin. The Haitian Revolution against France would start in 1791. Black

people in Haiti were tired of slavery and they rightfully rebelled against imperialism and tyranny. By 1804,

Haiti declared its independence being the first black Republic of the Americas. In 1811, Paraguay

proclaimed independence from Spain. In 1818, Chile was independent from Spain. Columbia would be

independent from Spain in 1819. Many of the Latin American revolutions would be influenced by the

Enlightenment principles. Mexico would gain independence from Spain in 1821. Peru would be

independent from Spain in 1821 too. Brazil would be independent from Portugal in 1822 and Bolivia

achieved independence from Spain in 1825. This was an era of Revolutions globally. The world would never

be the same again.

Conclusion

Looking at American history is very eye opening. The Revolutionary War occurred for almost 10 years and

during that short period of time, the world changed forever. Empires globally started to change and even

declined. Life became more filled with change socially, culturally, politically, and economically. Also, the

Revolutionary War dealt with contradictions and hypocrisies. Many of those Founders, who said that all

men are created equal, owned slaves and oppressed Native Americans. I have no respect for George

Washington, and Thomas Jefferson (who has written horribly racist, anti-black commentaries in his

literature), because of obvious reasons. Another contradiction was that the First Amendment promoted the

freedom of speech. Yet, the evil Sedition Act of 1798 (which was passed by John Adams) blatantly and

obscenely violated the freedom of speech & the freedom of the press. The Preamble including the

Constitution back then didn’t apply to black people, Native Americans, women, or poor people. Most of the

leaders of the Revolutionary War were made up of upper middle class and wealthy landowners who

opposed the British Empire. The vast majority of early Americans didn’t express total support for the

American Revolution.

The British Empire should receive no sympathy either, because of their actions of slavery, colonialism,

racism, and other injustices. The British Empire would promote the exploitation of black people in the

Americas and in Africa for centuries. The Conference of Berlin (which was evil) would make it plain about

the European imperialist goals in the Motherland of Africa. Their acts of nepotism are well known plus

greatly documented. The Revolutionary War was miraculous in the sense that early American forces on

many times were almost completely defeated by the Redcoats (i.e. there were early American defeats like

Bunker Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Harlem Heights). The Redcoats were ultimately defeated by many factors like

the following: the alliance of many nations with America, the Americans’ experience in North American

territories, the growing British opposition of the war by even some of the Whigs, the resiliency of the

American forces, and the lack of follow through by the British forces against Americans. Many Black people

fought on both sides. There was also the struggle among the poor and richer Americans. Poorer Americans

opposed the oligarchical system of the wealthier Americans. The birth of the United States of America

literally was created by blood.

The heroic abolitionist Frederick Douglas traveled in America to give lectures on the evil of slavery and was

involved in other abolitionist events. Fredrick Douglas in July 5, 1852 (in Rochester, New York) gave a great

speech, which exposed the hypocrisy of American society. He spoke at the Rochester's Corinthian Hall. He

said the following words:

"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all

other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your

celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity;

your sound of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass fronted impudence;

your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-

givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception,

impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There

is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the

United States, at this very hour."

Mostly white male landowners in America directly benefited from the American Revolution. As Howard

Zinn has written:

“…The Continental Congress, which governed the colonies through the war, was dominated by rich

men, linked together in factions and compacts by business and family connections. These links

connected North and South, East and West. For instance, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia was connected

with the Adamses of Massachusetts and the Shippens of Pennsylvania. Delegates from middle and

southern colonies were connected with Robert Morris of Pennsylvania through commerce and land

speculation. Morris was superintendent of finance, and his assistant was Gouverneur Morris….”

(Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States of America).

In essence, the Constitution was a compromise between the slave owning states of the South and the

North on how to deal with slavery and other matters. Black people, women, Native Americans, poor whites,

and others were not treated as human beings by the racist landowning wealthy elitists who dominated the

political infrastructure of early American society. The political views of the Federalists and the Anti-

Federalist influence our political discourse today. We still have debates on the role of government, on the

concept of human rights, and other civic issues. Numerous early Americans during the 18th and 19th

centuries (who were black, white, Native Americans, Latinos, etc.) had guns on their person and in their

homes. Afterwards, many Americans would go into the wrong path of reaction, the promotion of slavery,

and doing other evils. Also, another group of Americans would be progressive, stand up against slavery, and

fight for justice for all. Their names should be known and honored. Their names include: Ida B. Wels-

Barnett, Frederick Douglas, Helen Keller, Mary Church Terrell, John Brown, Frederick Douglas, Malcolm X,

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Frances Harper, and other courageous human beings. Justice for all is a creed

that many people in the world accept. I believe in that precept too. The Revolutionary War was a different

type of war, but we do learn lessons from it every day. We learn that both sides looked out for their own

interests.

We also realize that imperialism and oppression is wrong when the British Empire does it and when many

Americans do it too. I don’t sympathize with the Redcoats either, because I oppose Monarchy as

monarchy is against democratic freedom and it’s anti-egalitarian by definition. The fight for freedom,

liberty, and justice isn’t over. It is ongoing, but we have faith and hope. We congratulate sincere heroes

who continue to enact social activism in our generation. Bless the good people of America helping the

homeless, educating the youth, and fighting against injustice. Bless the firefighters and rescue workers who

have saved lives in America. Bless the families of America who care for their children and their relatives.

That is the America that we praise and honor as God would want us to do. Like always, we are opposed to

racism, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, ageism, ableism, lookism, anti-Semitism, and any injustice.

Today, we are fighting against poverty, against police brutality, against imperialism, economic inequality

(which advances aristocracy not democracy) and against injustice in general. We have hope that one day

the unyielding creed of “liberty and justice for all” is made real. Not to mention that I am Black and I will

show my Blackness without apology. Black is Beautiful. We want the system of racism/white supremacy to

be gone, so a real system of justice can exist. That is the hope that we cherish and we shall overcome.

By Timothy

Like always, Keep on Going, fight for what is right, Keep the Faith.

THIS IS AMERICA. THIS IS US.