American Revolution from 1774 through the Treaty of Paris

The American Revolution was essentially caused by the strict implementation of the Navigation Acts. The English parliament declared that the “relative” freedom of the English colonists in the administration of trade and commerce in the Thirteen colonies was hampering English trade. Added to that, the growing self-autonomy of the English colonists in the New World was making New England vulnerable to attacks of other imperialist powers.

Thus, the parliament decided to enforce additional tariffs on products produced in the Thirteen colonies.The parliament also ordered the shipping of additional British troops in the continent. This infuriated many Americans; most of whom depended on trade and agriculture for living. On April 19, 1775, the first exchange of shots by colonial and British soldiers was heard at Lexington and Concord. The news of the confrontation aroused the 13 colonies to take up arms against the British.

The Continental Congress ordered George Washington lead troops to besiege Boston. On June 17, 1775, the two armies engaged in Bunker Hill. Because of superior arms, the British forced the American colonists to evacuate Boston.The Americans were able to successively capture British detachments in the 13 colonies. By the end of 1775, they controlled New England.

The loyalists in the south and many British officials were forced to flee. On July 1776, the Americans were ready to declare independence. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress was formed. Its first act was to pass a legislation urging the 13 colonies to form a unified Continental Army. It also extended the so-called “Olive Branch Petition” as an attempt of reconciliation to the King.King George III (House of Hanover) refused to accept the demands of the American colonists.

He admonished the British parliament to send a new British army to New England as a payment to the “traitorous attitude” of the colonists. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read in the halls of the Continental Congress (Thomas Jefferson was the main author of the declaration). A constitution was requested by the delegates of the convention. On August 1776, Gen. William Howe and Admiral Richard Howe arrived in New York. His call for peace negotiations was ignored by the Continental Congress.

He was forced to attack the harbor of New York. Washington was successively defeated at Brooklyn Heights, Harlem Heights in Manhattan, and at White Plains. He retreated to New Jersey. Thomas Paine released a new pamphlet (The Crisis) urging all revolutionists to fight the British.

Because many colonists entered as conscripts in the Continental Army (as well as the increase in its supply inventories – contributions from the 13 colonies), Washington regained some of the territories lost to the British after the action in New York.In the winter of 1776-77, he crossed the ice-ridden Delaware and defeated the British (with Hessian mercenaries) at Trenton and Princeton). The British army stationed I New York however captured Philadelphia, the nation’s capital. The parliament ordered the British military commander of Canada to send an army to New England in 1777. However, the second army was trapped and defeated at Saratoga in New York.

The victory encouraged France to join the ranks of the Americans. In 1779, the Spain (which possessed the present-day state of Florida) and Netherlands became allies of both the French and the Americans.The alliance and the successive defeats of the British army forced Sir Henry Clinton to evacuate Philadelphia and reinforce New York. Washington unsuccessfully intercepted the retreating British columns in the Battle of Monmouth Court House. Thus, on February 6, 1778, American and French delegates signed two major treaties: the Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance. France recognized the United States as a nation and pledged to send provisions to the Continental army.

After a year, the British declared war on the Dutch who had been engaging in profitable trade in the Indies, Africa, and in New England.On July 1780, 6000 French soldiers arrived in Rhode Island. They were blockaded by the British fleet. A newly formed British army under Cornwallis was sent to invade Carolina. The invasion though failed and he was forced to retreat to Yorktown.

A few days later, the French fleet blockaded the harbor of the city. After much fighting and the dwindling British supplies, Cornwallis offered a sign of truce to the Americans. Thus, on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed by the US and Great Britain. Thus, ends the American Revolution.