Video Lesson

Learning Competencies: After learning this lesson, you will be able to:

• analyze the major causes of the American revolution;
• establish a brief account of the course of the revolution;
• explain the major outcomes of the American Revolution;
• appreciate the war of independence waged by the American people.

Brainstorming Questions

• What comes to your mind whenever you here of the term ‘colonialism’?
• What is your previous information about the causes of war?
• What kind of struggle is a war of independence?

Key terms and concepts

 

In the 18th century, Britain had 13 colonies in North America. The French also colonized parts of North America throughout the 1600s and 1700s.In 1754, war erupted between the English and the French. The conflict was known as the Seven Years War. The fighting lasted until 1763, when Britain and her colonists emerged victorious.

Following Britain’s victory in the Seven Years’ War, tensions rose as Britain sought to recover war costs. In 1765, Parliament passed the Stamp Act, imposing a tax on various documents, which infuriated American colonists. They had never paid direct taxes to the British government and lacked representation in Parliament. Colonists argued this “taxation without representation” violated their natural rights, leading to widespread outrage and resistance. Over the next decade, hostilities between the two sides increased. Some colonial leaders favored independence from Britain. In 1773, to protest an import tax on tea, a group of colonists dumped a large load of British tea into Boston Harbor. George III, enraged by the “Boston Tea Party,” as it was called, ordered the British navy to close the port of Boston. Such harsh tactics by the British further worsened relationships.

In September 1774, representatives from every colony except Georgia gathered in Philadel phia to form the First Continental Congress. This group protested the treatment of Boston.
When the king paid little attention to their complaints, the colonies decided to form the
Second Continental Congress to debate their next move. On April 19, 1775, British soldiers and American militiamen exchanged gunfire in Lexington, Massachusetts. The fighting
spread to nearby Concord. The Second Continental Congress voted to raise an army and
organize for battle under the command of a Virginian named George Washington. The
American Revolution had begun.

The American Revolution was influenced by Enlightenment ideas, particularly those of John Locke. Colonists, feeling denied equal political rights, justified rebellion against King George III, whom they deemed a tyrant violating the social contract. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson. This document, reflecting Enlightenment principles, asserted natural rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It listed grievances against George III and declared the colonies’ separation from Britain, marking July 4th as a national holiday.

The British were not about to let their colonies leave without a fight. Shortly after the publication of the Declaration of Independence, the two sides went to war. At first glance, the colonists seemed destined to go down in quick defeat. Washington’s disparate, poorly trained army faced the well-trained forces of the most powerful country in the world. In the end, however, the Americans won their war for independence.

The colonists’ success in the American Revolution was due to several factors. Their strong motivation to fight contrasted with the British generals’ overconfidence and mistakes. Additionally, the logistical challenges and high costs of fighting a war 3,000 miles from Britain, coupled with growing domestic calls for peace, weakened British resolve. French intervention in 1778, driven by a desire to undermine Britain, was crucial. In 1781, a combined force of about 9,500 Americans and 7,800 French trapped British General Cornwallis at Yorktown, leading to his surrender and securing American independence.

Effects of the American war of independence

• Brought about the liberation of the American people from British colonial rule;
• It also created independent American nation that finally created the United States
  of America ;
• It highly influenced the revolutions in France and Latin America;
• It did not, however, abolish the slavery system.