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O ye that love mankind! Yet that dare oppose, not only tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. What do the quotations suggest were the fundamental causes of the American Revolution? Describe the political and constitutional views of the colonists. What is their view of Parliament's right to tax the colonies? Do you think colonists from different sections and different social classes share the same political ideas?

Would you describe the colonists' grievances as calm and carefully reasoned or as exaggerated and paranoid? Which were the largest British colonies in ? How did the 13 American colonies compare in size to Britain's other New World possessions? Why do you think 13 of the colonies would band together in and declare independence-and not more or fewer? Ethnic Division of the Colonial Population, English Why do you think that the colonies were able to create relatively peaceful multicultural societies?

How evenly was wealth distributed in the American colonies, in your view? Was it more evenly distributed in urban or rural areas? Digital History. Andrew Burnaby, Reading 2: The revolution was effected before the war commenced. Attempts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies notably the Stamp Act of , the Townshend Acts of and the Tea Act of met with heated protest among many colonists, who resented their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Colonial resistance led to violence in , when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists, killing five men in what was known as the Boston Massacre. After December , when a band of Bostonians dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded British ships and dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party , an outraged Parliament passed a series of measures known as the Intolerable, or Coercive Acts designed to reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts.

This First Continental Congress did not go so far as to demand independence from Britain, but it denounced taxation without representation, as well as the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent.

It issued a declaration of the rights due every citizen, including life, liberty, property, assembly and trial by jury. The Continental Congress voted to meet again in May to consider further action, but by that time violence had already broken out.

On the night of April 18, , hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord, Massachusetts in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoats. When the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, delegates—including new additions Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson —voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief.

The engagement, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill , ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause. The British evacuated the city in March , with Howe and his men retreating to Canada to prepare a major invasion of New York.

By June , with the Revolutionary War in full swing, a growing majority of the colonists had come to favor independence from Britain. On July 4 , the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence , drafted by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson.

That same month, determined to crush the rebellion, the British government sent a large fleet, along with more than 34, troops to New York. British strategy in involved two main prongs of attack aimed at separating New England where the rebellion enjoyed the most popular support from the other colonies. Washington rebounded to strike Germantown in early October before withdrawing to winter quarters near Valley Forge.

The American victory Saratoga would prove to be a turning point of the American Revolution, as it prompted France which had been secretly aiding the rebels since to enter the war openly on the American side, though it would not formally declare war on Great Britain until June The American Revolution, which had begun as a civil conflict between Britain and its colonies, had become a world war.

The battle effectively ended in a draw, as the Americans held their ground, but Clinton was able to get his army and supplies safely to New York.

A joint attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island , in late July failed, and for the most part the war settled into a stalemate phase in the North.

The Americans suffered a number of setbacks from to , including the defection of General Benedict Arnold to the British and the first serious mutinies within the Continental Army. Supported by a French army commanded by General Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau, Washington moved against Yorktown with a total of around 14, soldiers, while a fleet of 36 French warships offshore prevented British reinforcement or evacuation. Trapped and overpowered, Cornwallis was forced to surrender his entire army on October Through aiding the American colonists during the French and Indian War, the British government amassed an enormous debt thanks to the cost of raising, supplying, and funding an army on foreign soil.

Expecting the Americans to shoulder some of the financial burden, Parliament levied several acts of taxation as a means to soften the blow. The Sugar Act , the Stamp Act , and the Townshend Acts were merely some of the unpopular pieces of legislation placed upon the American colonies for the purpose of raising funds to pay the French and Indian War debt.

Years of unrest and discord followed. The Americans maintained that Parliament could make laws, but insisted only their elected representatives could tax them. The English felt that Parliament had supreme authority over the colonies. The Americans formed Committees of Correspondence, and later, a Continental Congress, to find solutions, but could not find common ground with the English. When fighting broke out in , American revolutionaries determined that separation was the only means of obtaining liberty and justice.

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, , formally dissolving the colonies' relationship with their mother country, and plunging the continent into war.

The colonists living in the British North American colonies who rebelled against the authority of the crown were known as patriots, revolutionaries, continentals, colonials, rebels, Yankees, or Whigs. Those who lived in the colonies and remained faithful to the Crown were known as loyalists, Royalists, King's Men, or Tories. British authority and soldiers likewise acquired several monikers throughout the course of the war and were synonymously referred to as the British, the Crown, Great Britain, lobster backs, and regulars.

What were the populations of the two sides? Great Britain had 8 million residents in , and the 13 colonies about 2. The four largest American colonies were Virginia , , Pennsylvania , , Massachusetts , , and Maryland , The majority of the war was fought in New York, New Jersey, and South Carolina, with more than separate skirmishes and battles occurring in each of these three colonies.

However, engagements were fought in every one of the original thirteen colonies, with additional military actions taking place in the modern-day states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Alabama, and Florida.

How much territory did the British control during the war? Though difficult to quantify with numbers and acreage, there can be little doubt that the British forces occupied geographically and geopolitically important areas throughout the course of the war.

They held several important Canadian forts and cities in Nova Scotia, Ontario, New Brunswick; remaining in control of these areas even following the American Revolution.

The British also controlled many key cities within the American colonies, with New York serving as its major base of operations for the duration of the war. They also temporarily possessed the cities of Boston and Philadelphia and held Savannah and Charleston until So, in essence, the British were only able to maintain power in areas with a strong military presence, i.

What are the major battles of the Revolutionary War? October 10, — The Battle of Yorktown , Va. In terms of numbers: 40, soldiers fought in the Battle of Long Island , making it the largest battle.

In terms of casualties, at Long Island the Americans lost 2, men, the British and Hessians about Brandywine produced 1, American and British and Hessian casualties. Some engagements involved large numbers of prisoners, such as Yorktown, in which the British surrendered over 8, soldiers. In Charleston, S. Other battles had the highest percentages of men lost.

At Cowpens, S. In both of these battles most of the losses were prisoners. The crushing defeat of the Continental Army at the battle of Camden, S. Approximately 1, continental troops were killed and wounded, while the British suffered casualties.

Yes, there were actually many sieges of cities, towns, and forts throughout the course of the war. The list below represents a sampling of the major sieges. American aggressor: Vincennes In. British aggressor: Savannah Ga. There was, perhaps surprisingly, a substantial amount of fighting which occurred far from the North American soil.

American warships and privateers also raided British merchants and warships throughout the Atlantic, and even fought naval battles around the British Isles. Furthermore, thanks to the military alliance formed with France in , and later joined by both Spain and the United Netherlands, land and sea battles were fought against Great Britain in the Caribbean, Europe, and as far away as India.

The opening of this global conflict was vital to the colonists in North America. The British were forced to divert important resources and manpower away from the colonies, giving the Continental Army a fighting chance against them in their war for independence.

Over the course of the war, about , men served in the Continental Army, though never more than 48, at any one time, and never more than 13, at any one place. The sum of the Colonial militias numbered upwards of , men. France also dispatched a substantial force to North America beginning in , with more than 12, soldiers and a substantial fleet joining the Colonial Americans by wars end.

At its peak, the British Army had upwards of 22, men at its disposal in North America to combat the rebellion. An additional 25, Loyalists, faithful to Great Britain, participated in the conflict as well. Nearly 30, German auxiliaries, or Hessians, were hired out by German princes and served alongside the British for the duration of the war.

Throughout the course of the war, an estimated 6, Americans were killed in action, 6, wounded, and upwards of 20, were taken prisoner. Historians believe that at least an additional 17, deaths were the result of disease, including about 8,—12, who died while prisoners of war. Unreliable imperial data places the total casualties for British regulars fighting in the Revolutionary War around 24, men.

This total number includes battlefield deaths and injuries, deaths from disease, men taken prisoner, and those who remained missing. Approximately 1, Hessian soldiers were killed, 6, died of disease, and another 5, deserted and settled in America afterward.

What other nationalities were involved? The American Revolution was a truly global conflict, with battles being fought in North America, the Caribbean, and Europe. The British were aided by both loyal Native American tribes, and Hessian troops from various German principalities. The American patriots were aided by an even larger coalition of European Powers which included France, Spain, the United Netherlands, and officers of various European nations.

Because it was cheaper to hire auxiliary soldiers than muster their own, the British government hired professional German troops called Hessians.