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The American Revolution was a political movement that in 1776 created a new nation, the United States of America, ending British control. The British resisted and the American Revolutionary War, (1775-1783) resulted in American victory. For the military history of the war see American Revolutionary War The Revolution involved a series of broad intellectual and social shifts that occurred in American society as new republican ideals took hold in the population. In some states (especially Pennsylvania), sharp political debates broke out over the role that democracy should play in government. The American shift to republicanism and gradually expanding democracy was an upheaval of the traditional social hierarchy; the new republican ethic formed the core of American political values. The revolutionary era began in 1763, when Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War and the military threat to the colonies from France ended. The end of the Revolution is usually marked by the Treaty of Paris in 1783, with the recognition of the United States as an independent nation. References to the "revolutionary era" sometimes stretch to 1789, when the new national government under George Washington began operating. Interpretations about the effect of the revolution vary. At one end of the spectrum is the older view that the American Revolution was not "revolutionary" at all, that it did not radically transform colonial society but simply replaced a distant government with a local one. The more recent view pioneered by historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood and Edmund Morgan is that the American Revolution was a unique and radical event that produced deep changes and had a profound impact on world affairs, based on an increasing belief in the principles of republicanism, such as peoples' natural rights, and a system of laws chosen by the people. Republican ideology The Americans created a political ideology called "republicanism", which was widespread in the colonies by 1775. It was influenced greatly by the Radical Whigs or "country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized that corruption was to be feared. The colonists associated the "court" with luxury and inherited aristocracy, which Americans increasingly condemned. Corruption was the greatest possible evil, and civic virtue required men to put civic goals ahead of their personal desires. Men had to volunteer to fight for their country. For women, "republican motherhood" became an ideal, as exemplified by Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren; the first duty of the republican woman was to instill republican values in her children and to avoid luxury and ostentation. The "Founding Fathers" were strong advocates of republicanism, especially Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. A second stream of thought growing in significance was the liberalism of John Locke, including his theory of the "social contract". It implied the natural right of the people to overthrow their leaders, should those leaders betray the agreements implicit in the sovereign-follower relationship. Historians find little trace of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's influence in America. In terms of writing state and national constitutions, the Americans used Montesquieu's analysis of the ideally "balanced" British Constitution. But first and last came a commitment to republicanism, as shown by many historians such as Bernard Bailyn and Gordon S. Wood. Taxation without Representation By 1763, Great Britain possessed a vast holding on the North American continent. In addition to the thirteen colonies, sixteen smaller colonies were ruled directly by royal governors. Victory in the Seven Years' War had given Great Britain New France (Canada), Spanish Florida, and the Native American lands east of the Mississippi River. In 1765, the colonists still considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown, with the same historic rights and obligations as subjects in Britain. The British government sought to tax its vast North American possessions, primarily to help pay for its past wars, most of the costs of which occurred in Europe. The new tax policies that were implemented served to stabilize the Empire's finances. The policies also aimed to curtail smuggling, especially in the colonies of the West Indies, and to ensure exclusive trade with Britain (a policy known as mercantilism). The problem was that Britain refused to consult with the colonies about taxes, thereby violating the historic British principle of "no taxation without representation." London said the Americans were "virtually" represented, and did not need to be consulted; but most Americans rejected that theory. In theory, Great Britain already regulated the economies of the colonies through the Navigation Acts according to the doctrines of mercantilism, which said that anything that benefited the Empire (and hurt other empires) was good policy. Widespread evasion of these laws had long been tolerated. Now, through the use of open-ended search warrants (Writs of Assistance), strict enforcement became the practice. In 1761, Massachusetts lawyer James Otis argued that the writs violated the constitutional rights of the colonists. He lost the case, but John Adams later wrote, "American independence was then and there born." In 1763, Patrick Henry argued the Parson's Cause case. Clerical pay had been tied to the price of tobacco by Virginia legislation. When the price of tobacco skyrocketed after a bad crop in 1758, the Virginia legislature passed the Two-Penny Act to stop clerical salaries from inflating as well but in 1763, King George III vetoed the Two-Penny Act. Patrick Henry defended the law in court and argued "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience." In 1764, Parliament enacted the Sugar Act and the Currency Act, further vexing the colonists. Protests led to a powerful new weapon, the systemic boycott of British goods. The colonists had a new slogan, "no taxation without representation," meaning only their colonial assemblies, and not Parliament, could levy taxes on them. Committees of correspondence were formed in the colonies to coordinate resistance to paying the taxes. In previous years, the colonies had shown little inclination towards collective action. Prime Minister George Grenville's policies were bringing them together. Stamp Act 1765 Trouble came in three waves. The first wave hit in 1765 and was characterized by massive unrest and rioting throughout the 13 colonies. Parliament under Grenville passed the Stamp Act as a way to finance the quartering of 10,000 troops in North America. Colonists complained the main role of the soldiers troops was to defend the government against the colonists. The Stamp Act taxed everyone by requiring all legal documents, permits, commercial contracts, newspapers, pamphlets, and even playing cards in the colonies to carry a tax stamp purchased from royal officials. Colonial protest was widespread. Secret societies known as the Sons of Liberty were formed in every colony, and used propaganda, intimidation, and mob violence to prevent the enforcement of the Stamp Act. The furor culminated with the "Stamp Act Congress", bringing together delegates from the colonies who sent a formal protest to Parliament in October 1765. Parliament repealed the hated Stamp Act, but pointedly passed the Declaratory Act, asserting its authority over the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” Not one single "stamp" was allowed to be issued . The second wave of protest came in 1767, when Parliament passed the Townshend Acts. This was a tax on everyday goods shipped to the colonies from Britain, including glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea. There was no rioting this time; instead colonial leaders organized boycotts of these British imports. Merchants stopped importing the items, which proved a major blow to merchants and manufacturers in England. In June 1768, the Liberty, a ship belonging to colonial merchant John Hancock and suspected of smuggling, was seized by customs officials in Boston. Angry protests on the street led customs officials, fearing for their safety, to report to London that Boston was in a state of insurrection. The British sent more soldiers to Boston. Tensions continued to mount, culminating in the "Boston Massacre" on March 5, 1770, when British soldiers of the 29th Regiment of Foot fired into an angry mob, killing five. Local agitators, especially Samuel Adams, used the event to stir up popular resistance, but, after the trial of the soldiers, who were defended by John Adams, tensions diminished. Western land dispute The Proclamation of 1763 restricted American movement across the Appalachian Mountains. Regardless, groups of settlers continued to move west. The proclamation was soon modified and was no longer a hindrance to settlement, but its promulgation without consulting Americans angered the colonists. The Quebec Act of 1774 extended Quebec's boundaries to the Ohio River, and seemed to turn the west over to the Catholics in Quebec. By then, however, the Americans had scant regard for new laws from London—they were organizing at the local and colonial level for war. Crises, 1772–1775
Fighting begins at Lexington: 1775
Patriots The revolutionaries, known as Patriots, Whigs, Congress Men or Americans, included a full range of social and economic classes, but a unanimity regarding the need to defend the rights of Americans. After the War, Patriots such as George Washington, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay for example, were deeply devoted to republicanism while also eager to build a rich and powerful nation, while Patriots such as Patrick Henry, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson represented democratic impulses and the agrarian plantation element that wanted a localized society with greater political equality. Loyalists and neutrals While there is no way of knowing the actual numbers, most likely 20% to 30% of the colonists remained loyal to the British Crown; these became known as Loyalists (or 'Tories', or 'King's men'). Loyalists were older, less willing to break with old loyalties, often connected to the Anglican church, and included many established merchants with business connections across the Empire, for example Thomas Hutchinson of Boston. Recent immigrants who had not been fully Americanized were also inclined to support the King, such as recent Scottish settlers in the back country. Native Americans mostly rejected American pleas that they remain neutral. Most groups aligned themselves with the Empire. There were also incentives provided by both sides that helped to secure the affiliations of regional peoples and leaders, and the tribes that depended most heavily upon colonial trade tended to side with the revolutionaries, though political factors were important as well. The most prominent Native American leader siding with the Loyalists was Joseph Brant of the Mohawk nation, who led frontier raids on isolated settlements in Pennsylvania and New York until an American army under John Sullivan secured New York in 1779, forcing all the Loyalist Indians permanently into Canada. A minority of uncertain size tried to stay neutral in the war. Most kept a low profile. However, the Quakers, especially in Pennsylvania, were the most important group that was outspoken for neutrality. As patriots declared independence, the Quakers, who continued to do business with the British, were attacked as supporters of British rule, "contrivers and authors of seditious publications" critical of the revolutionary cause. After the war, the great majority of Loyalists remained in America and resumed normal lives. Some, such as Samuel Seabury, became prominent American leaders. A minority of about 50,000 to 75,000 Loyalists relocated to Canada, Britain or the West Indies. When the Loyalists left the South in 1783, they took about 75,000 of their slaves with them to the British West Indies. Class differences among the Patriots Historians, such as J. Franklin Jameson in the early 20th century, examined the class composition of the Patriot cause, looking for evidence that there was a class war inside the revolution. In the last 50 years, historians have largely abandoned that interpretation, emphasizing instead the high level of ideological unity. Just as there were rich and poor Loyalists, the Patriots were a 'mixed lot', with the richer and better educated more likely to become officers in the Army. Ideological demands always came first: the Patriots viewed independence as a means of freeing themselves from British oppression and taxation and, above all, reasserting what they considered to be their rights. Most yeomen farmers, craftsmen and small merchants joined the patriot cause as well, demanding more political equality. They were especially successful in Pennsylvania and less so in New England, where John Adams attacked Thomas Paine's Common Sense for the "absurd democratical notions" it proposed. Women The boycott of British goods would have been entirely unworkable without the willing participation of American women: women made the bulk of household purchases, and the boycotted items were largely household items such as tea and cloth. And since cloth was still a basic necessity, women would have to return to spinning and weaving—skills that had fallen into disuse. In 1769, the women of Boston produced 40,000 skeins of yarn, and 180 women in Middletown, Massachusetts, wove 20,522 yards of cloth. Creating new state constitutions
Military history: expulsion of the British 1776 The military history of the war in 1775 focused on Boston, held by the British but surrounded by militia from nearby colonies. The Congress selected George Washington as commander in chief, and he forced the British to evacuate the city in March 1776. At that point the Patriots controlled virtually all of the 13 colonies and were ready to consider independence. Independence, 1776
War British return: 1776-1777 The British returned in force in August 1776, engaging the fledgling Continental Army for the first time in the largest action of the Revolution in the Battle of Long Island. They eventually seized New York City and nearly captured General Washington. They made the city their main political and military base, holding it until 1783. They also held New Jersey, but in a surprise attack, Washington crossed the Delaware into New Jersey and defeated British armies at Trenton and Princeton, thereby reviving the Patriot cause and regaining New Jersey. In 1777, the British launched two uncoordinated attacks. The army based in New York City defeated Washington and captured the national capital at Philadelphia. Simultaneously a second army invaded from Canada with the goal of cutting off New England. It was trapped and captured at Saratoga, New York, in October 1777. The victory encouraged the French to officially enter the war, as Benjamin Franklin negotiated a permanent military alliance in early 1778. Later Spain (in 1779) and the Dutch became allies of the French, leaving Britain to fight a major war alone without major allies. The American theatre thus became only one front in Britain's war. Because of the alliance and the deteriorating military situation, Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander, evacuated Philadelphia to reinforce New York City. General Washington attempted to intercept the retreating column, resulting in the Battle of Monmouth Court House, the last major battle fought in the northern states. After an inconclusive engagement, the British successfully retreated to New York City. The northern war subsequently became a stalemate, as the focus of attention shifted to the southern theatre. British attack the South, 1779-1781 In late December 1778, the British captured Savannah and started moving north into South Carolina. They captured Charleston and set up a network of forts inland, believing the Loyalists would rally to the flag. Not enough Loyalists turned out, however, and the British had to fight their way north into North Carolina and Virginia, where they expected to be rescued by the British fleet. That fleet was defeated by a French fleet, however. Trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, the British surrendered their main combat army to Washington in October 1781. Although King George III wanted to fight on, his supporters lost control of Parliament, and the war effectively ended for America. Peace treaty The peace treaty with Britain, known as the Treaty of Paris (1783) gave the U.S. all land east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes. The Native American nations actually living in this region were not a party to this treaty and did not recognise it until they were defeated militarily by the United States. Issues regarding boundaries and debts were not resolved until the Jay Treaty of 1795. Aftermath of war For 2% of the inhabitants of the United States, defeat was followed by exile. Approximately fifty thousand United Empire Loyalists fled to the remaining British colonies in North America, such as the Province of Quebec, (concentrating in the Eastern Townships), Upper Canada (now known as Ontario), Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Worldwide influence The most radical impact was the sense that all men have an equal voice in government and that inherited status carried no political weight in the new republic. Thus came the widespread assertion of liberty, individual rights, and equality which would prove core values to Americans. The greatest challenge to the old order in Europe was the idea that government should be by consent of the governed and the delegation of power to the government through written constitutions. The example of the first successful revolution against a European empire provided a model for many other colonial peoples who realized that they too could break away and become self-governing nations. The American Revolution was the first wave of the Atlantic Revolutions that took hold in the French Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American wars of liberation. Aftershocks reached Ireland in the 1798 rising, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and in the Netherlands. The Revolution had a strong, immediate impact in Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. Many British and Irish Whigs had been openly indulgent to the Patriots in America, and the Revolution was the first lesson in politics for many European radicals who would later take on active roles during the era of the French Revolution. Jefferson's Declaration had an immediate impact on the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen of 1789. The thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment only wrote that common people had the right to overthrow unjust governments. The American Revolution was a case of practical success, which provided the rest of the world with a 'working model'. American republicanism played a crucial role in the development of European liberalism, as noted by the great German historian Leopold von Ranke in 1848: By abandoning English constitutionalism and creating a new republic based on the rights of the individual, the North Americans introduced a new force in the world. Ideas spread most rapidly when they have found adequate concrete expression. Thus republicanism entered our Romanic/Germanic world.... Up to this point, the conviction had prevailed in Europe that monarchy best served the interests of the nation. Now the idea spread that the nation should govern itself. But only after a state had actually been formed on the basis of the theory of representation did the full significance of this idea become clear. All later revolutionary movements have this same goal…. This was the complete reversal of a principle. Until then, a king who ruled by the grace of God had been the center around which everything turned. Now the idea emerged that power should come from below.... These two principles are like two opposite poles, and it is the conflict between them that determines the course of the modern world. In Europe the conflict between them had not yet taken on concrete form; with the French Revolution it did. Nowhere was the influence of the American Revolution more profound than in Latin America, where American writings and the model of colonies, which actually broke free and thrived decisively, shaped their struggle for independence. Historians of Latin America have identified many links to the U.S. model. National debt The national debt after the American Revolution fell into three categories. The first was the $11 million owed to foreigners—mostly debts to France during the American Revolution. The second and third—roughly $24 million each—were debts owed by the national and state governments to Americans who had sold food, guns, and other resources to the revolutionary forces. Congress agreed with some debate that the power and the authority of the new government would pay for the foreign debts. There were also other debts that consisted of promissary notes issued during the Revolutionary War to soldiers, merchants, and farmers who accepted these payments on the premise that the new Constitution would create a government that was likely to pay off the debts of the Revolutionary war. The war expenses of the individual states were another issue. In the 1790s, it was ascertained that the states had contributed US$114,407,297 to fighting the war while the central government had contributed but US$36,742,599. In 1790, Congress combined the state debts with the foreign and domestic debts into one national debt totalling US$80 million. Everyone received face value for wartime certificates, so that the national honor would be sustained and the national credit established. See also Reference Works Surveys Specialized studies Primary Sources Plays and Films about the American Revolution See: List of plays and films about the American Revolution | |||||||||||||||
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