History of Revolution
Introduction
The United States of America was formally under the colonial rule of Great Britain, and by the time the American Revolution started, the citizens of the thirteen states which became the USA had begun to get tired of the British rule. Discontent and Rebellion grew rampantly during the period, the articulate and the dominant groups in the society rose to oppose what they saw as exploitation of the people. In 1765, for example, without the approval of the colonial government, the representative of the people began to meet on their own to mobilize colonial opinion against the interference of the American affairs by the parliament. From this point onwards things started to go against the colonial masters, this is what came after the first revolt.
The Impact
The reaction against the parliament more so the taxation amendment became violent, the argument “resolution disapproving taxation without representation as a fight against colonial freedoms. Another trigger that led to the rise of Puritan revolution includes the Tea Act in December 1773 which led to the formation of the Boston Tea Party. The colony of Massachusetts was label as a hotbed of disloyal sycophants by the King and his ministers. The Leaders of the party were able to fan public opinion into revolutionary ideologies. Because of the parties’ influence, many citizens joined the movements, mobilization of troops and collection of supplies began to take place. What was fundamentally involved in the American- Revolution is the comprehension, the realization and the fulfillment of the inheritance of freedom and what was to be the American calling (Bailyn, 2017). Although the revolutionary aspect was the best choice the Country had, not everyone supported it, the middle colonies (New York, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) were unenthusiastic about the revolution. Merchants, farmers, some Quakers, and Members of other religion opposed the use of violence and instead supported discussion and negotiation which they said was a proper way of getting things done. The Patriots despite the opposition from the middle colonies grew bigger and bigger as the majority of the citizens were in support of violent revolution from many professionals such as lawyers, the less well-to-do, some merchants and from some of the planters. Support grew abundantly especially when King George III became clear that he had no intention of making a concession. In 1775 the Revolution officially started after the two rivals (the British and the Americans) confirmed only force was the only solution to all the territory disputes (Gordon, 2003).
In April the same year, the battle of Lexington marked the first blood spillage followed closely by the battle of accord. Those wounded and killed at the two battle where 95 Americans and 273 British. The first martyrdom had happened, and this ignited the spirit of American patriotism all over the other colonies. The King’s rejection of the Olive branch petition spearheaded the war plus the newspaper was crowded with columns of arguments and counter-arguments appearing as sermons, letters, extracts from speeches, and official documents (Bailyn, 2017). Besides, the parliament responded with not so tolerant acts with punitive measures which were supposed to cow the rest of the population into obedience, South Carolina for instance, served as the scene of variety and intense conflict, powerful British land, and naval forces moved and attacked Charles town-the capital of the state the only city in the south (Gordon, 2003). In January 1776, Thomas Paine wrote Common sense a brochure that actively served to motivate Americans to fight for their independence. Paine managed to convince the citizens to abandon the monarchy system of governance and replace it with the republic. By spring 1776, all the royal governors had been replaced by makeshift government thanks to the extreme force from the Patriots.
Brinton in the book Anatomy of Revolution compares revolution to sickness; he simply implied that revolution is not a positive phenomenon and is supposed to b avoided and be cured if and when it occurs. The significant gain for the British is when they took over the Charles city which cost the Americans not only the town but also the army south of Washington and also opened South Carolina to invasion. The war followed for more than ten years of steady growth of estrangement between the British monarch and the important section of Northern Territory. Until early in 1778, the conflict only looked a small civil war within the British territory, but afterward, Spain, France, and Dutch joined the colonies against the British. The Americans fought the battle on two fronts the militia and the continental army, the militia were poorly disciplined and had elected leaders who served for a period not exceeding three months while the continental army was gradually increased from 0ne to three years (Home, 2014). By comparison, the British force was a stable and steady professional; they comprised of the idle men from slums in the urban centers, some farm boys, and some volunteers who wanted to evade taxes and fines.
The British adopted a strategy which called for an offensive that was designed to take advantage of the flexible sea power, and by the end of January 1779, the British occupied Florida, St Augustine, and New York. Having failed to realize a decisive advantage over the north, the British headed a combined naval and military expedition southwards. The conflict continued not only as a guerilla war but also a phased into a struggle involving some conventional forces especially when the Americans dispatched a conventional force as well when the American’s dispatched a new army into Carolina (Gordon, 2003). The surrendering of the Cornwallis in October 1781 after they were trapped between the French and the Americans. The war that led to the surrender of Cornwallis was the last known battle during the American Revolutionary war where it saw the French and the Americans signing different treaties with the British.