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This Is Ricky's Web Site This page was last updated on 07/05/01.
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Chain Reactions For My Social Studies Class Folk music of the American Revolution The Scooby Doo/X Files Conspiracy Monty Python And The Holy Grail Sound Clips |
American Revolution "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." - Declaration of Independence note: Any of the links below will take you to the history channels web site where you can find much more information on this subject than i have American Revolution 1775-83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies that were to become the United States won independence from Britain. By the middle of the 18th cent., differences in life, thought, and economic interests had formed between the colonies and the mother country. The British government, favoring a policy of Mercantilism, tried to regulate colonial commerce in the British interest, and provoked colonial opposition. The Stamp Act passed by Parliament in 1765 roused a violent colonial outcry as an act of taxation without representation. The Townshend Acts (1767) led to such acts of violence as the Boston Massacre (1770), the burning of the H.M.S. Gaspee (1772), and the Boston Tea Party (1773). In 1774 Britain responded with the coercive Intolerable Acts. The colonists convened the Continental Congress and petitioned the king for redress of their grievances. Fighting erupted on Apr. 19, 1775, at Lexington And Concord, and was followed by the capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British, the battle of Bunker Hill, and the unsuccessful colonial assault on Quebec (1775-76). The Continental Congress appointed (1775) George Washington to command the Continental army and, on July 4, 1776, adopted the Declaration Of Independence. Many colonists, however, remained pro-British Loyalists. The colonial victory in the Saratoga Campaign (1777) helped forge a French-American alliance (1778), bringing vital aid to the colonists. Following the terrible ordeal of Washingon's army at Valley Forge and the indecisive battle of Monmouth (1778), the war shifted to the South during the Carolina campaign (1780-81). The surrender (Oct. 1781) of Gen. Cornwallis at the close of the Yorktown Campaign ended the fighting, and the Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized the U.S. as a nation. Thirteen Colonies In U.S. history, the British North American colonies that joined together in the American Revolution and became the original states of the U.S. They were: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Boston Massacre 1770, incident prior to the American Revolution in which five members of a rioting crowd were killed by British soldiers sent to Boston to maintain order and enforce the Townshend Acts. Boston Tea Party Boston, Mass., Dec. 16, 1773, a protest against the British tea tax retained after the repeal of the Townshend Acts. Angry colonists disguised as Native Americans boarded three tea ships and threw the tea into Boston harbor. Continental Congress 1774-89, federal legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation. After England passed the Intolerable Acts, the First Continental Congress met (Sept. 5-Oct. 26, 1774) in Philadelphia and petitioned the king. When the Second Continental Congress met there on May 10, 1775, armed conflict had begun (see Lexington And Concord, Battles Of), but the Congress moved gradually toward independence. It finally created the Continental Army, named George Washington commander in chief, and adopted (July 4, 1776) the Declaration Of Independence Washington, George 1732-99, 1st president of the U.S., commander in chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, called the "Father of his Country"; b. Feb. 22, 1732 (Feb. 11, 1731, O.S.), Westmoreland co., Va., into a wealthy family. He became a surveyor as a young man and was one of the principals of the Ohio Company, whose purpose was the exploitation of Western lands. An officer in the militia, he fought in the last of the French And Indian Wars and was named (1755) commander in chief of the Virginia militia with the rank of colonel. He resigned in 1759, married, and turned his attention to his plantation, Mount Vernon. He was a delegate (1774-75) to the Continental Congress, which named him commander of the Continental forces after the outbreak of hostilities with the British. He assumed command (July 3, 1775) in Cambridge, Mass., and succeeded in capturing Boston from the British (Mar. 17, 1776). Unable to defend New York City (see Long Island, Battle Of), he was forced to retreat successively to Westchester co., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He developed his military skill by trial and error as he went along. On Christmas night, 1776, with morale at its lowest ebb, he and his troops crossed the Delaware R. and defeated the British at Trenton and Princeton, N.J. Less successful in his attempts to defend Philadelphia at Brandywine and Germantown, he spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge in great misery and deprivation. But he emerged with increased powers from Congress and a well-trained, totally loyal army. After the battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), his fortunes improved and subsequent victories preceded the surrender of Gen. Cornwallis on Oct. 19, 1781 (see Yorktown Campaign). Washington retired to Mount Vernon, but his dissatisfaction with the new government (see Confederation, Articles Of) led him back into public life. He presided over the second Federal Constitutional Convention (1787), where his prestige and reputation were incalculable in the adoption of the Constitution Of The United States. He was chosen unanimously as the first president and took office on Apr. 30, 1789. His efforts to remain aloof from partisan politics were unsuccessful, and the influence of Alexander Hamilton moved him increasingly toward conservatism. His second term, openly Federalist, was bitterly criticized by the Jeffersonians. Sickened by the partisan struggles, he refused a third term and retired for the last time to Mount Vernon in 1797. He died two years later, universally regarded as the one without whom the American Revolution and the new republic could not have succeeded. His wife, Martha Washington, 1731-1802, was born Martha Dandridge in New Kent co., Va. Her first husband, by whom she had two children, was Daniel Parke Custis, who died in 1757, leaving her one of the wealthiest women in Virginia. She and Washington had no children. Saratoga campaign In the American Revolution, a series of engagements fought (June-Oct. 1777) in New York. To split the colonies along the Hudson, the British planned a three-pronged advance on Albany-S from Canada, N from New York City, E along the Mohawk R. The northern force never arrived. The eastern force, under Barry St. Leger, besieged Fort Stanwix (Aug. 3) but, frightened by a rumor (Aug. 22), retreated to Canada. Coming south, John Burgoyne captured Ticonderoga (July 6), but was later defeated in a raid on Bennington (Aug. 14-16). Burgoyne halted near Saratoga Springs, where American forces, under Horatio Gates, prevented him from breaking through at Freeman's Farm (Sept. 19) and Bemis Heights (Oct. 7). Outnumbered and surrounded, Burgoyne surrendered (Oct. 17). This was the first great American victory, and probably the decisive battle, of the Revolution. Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 1735-1805, English general. He led British forces in the American Revolution, and his defeat in the disastrous Yorktown Campaign ended the fighting. Later he was governor general of India (1786-94, 1805) and viceroy of Ireland (1798-1801). Yorktown campaign 1781, the closing military operations of the American Revolution. After his unsuccessful Carolina campaign (1780-81), Gen. Cornwallis retreated into Virginia, fortified Yorktown, and awaited reinforcements from Sir Henry Clinton in New York. Clinton delayed, however, and the French fleet under Adm. de Grasse blockaded Chesapeake Bay. Generals Washington and Rochambeau rushed south with French troops, while Steuben and Lafayette maintained a brilliant holding action. Unable to escape, Cornwallis surrendered on Oct. 17, 1781, thereby bringing victory to the rebellious Colonies. |
