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The American Dream and will always be strong

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The colonist formed a revolution against Great Britain as they were treating them unjustly. However did the colonial government treat the loyalist any better?

From the beginning of the revolutionary war those who supported Britain, the loyalist, were treated with cruelty by the colonist.

There are accounts of the loyalist being beating, pelted with rocks, viscously attacked by mobs of colonist.

Loyalist were publicly humiliated and even tarred and feathered, which means they would cover their victim in hot tar and then stick feathers in the tar. They would often parade them around town to publicly humiliate them .

This type of cruelty then began to spread to those who were undecided as the colonist wanted to sway the opinions in order to gain unanimous support.

The colonist claimed liberty and justice for in the declaration of independence, yet that is not how the acted. There was was not liberty for all as those who did not share their opinions were in danger of being treated cruelly. In these terrible accounts of abuse there was no justice present.

http://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/rebellion/text1/loyalists17751776.pdf

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British POV

British troops arrived and were directed towards Boston to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock who were encouraging colonists to revolt.

British officer Lieutenant Col. Smith writes to Massachusetts' Governor Gage Boston "Our troops advanced towards them, without any intention of injuring them"

It was not until they were provoked to the point of protection by the colonists and in confusion they went off, resulting in several fatalities.

The officer talks about when they got to Concord and again tells the governor he "took all possible pains to convince that we meant them no injury, and that if they opened their doors when required to search for military stores, not the slightest mischief would be done."

Lieut. Col. Smith explains how on the march back from Concord they were being attacked from behind walls and foliage by the colonist troops.

He says he saw it as an attempt "to attack the King's troops the first favorable opportunity that offered" and they in fact succeeded in tiring the troops out.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/lexington2.htm

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From the Loyalist Point of View

The revolution was in no way unanimous desire, we know that the loyalist were strongly against it, here is a letter from a loyalist explaining his reasons.

In one letter titled, “Before I leave America” the loyalist explained that he found the dispute against Britain unnecessary. He explained that he is dedicated serving his country but is unable when it is so divided. He wished for the speedy restoration and peace between his country. He believes that when untied the colonies and Great Britain would be a more prospering and happy nation as they could both benefit from each other. He ends by stating that he could not raise his sword against his own country in civil combat.

http://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/rebellion/text1/loyalists17751776.pdf

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The American Dream

Though there was a large amount of violence in the rebellions,

the Revolution was a perfect example of the American spirit

and the American dream. The strive for freedom has been

a very American idea, from the Revolution to the freeing

of the slaves to the Women's Rights movement. America was

found on the principle that every citizen is endowed with

"certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty

and the Pursuit of Happiness." The Revolutionary war was

a break up with Britain, but it was more than that. It was

the colonists developing their sense of liberty and freedom

that they would make sure to be not taken away any longer.

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Paul Revere on his "midnight ride" to warn colonists of the British troops marching.

"The British are coming, the British are coming!"

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The Story of the Regulators

The regulators were a group formed in rebellion against the unfair taxing from the North Carolina colonial government.

The regulators claimed that it was taxation without representation as they were not given any representation in North Carolina because they supported the british empire.

The NC colonial government were at fault for the same thing that they were accusing Britain of.

The Regulators started by non-violent attempt to rationalize with the NC government but to know avail.

They then went to a more violent approach gathering troops and creating a rebel army.

The NC colonial government responded by rounding up the regulators, throwing them in jail and even exciting them.

This conflict between regulators and North Carolina Colonial Government is really a microcosm of the revolutionary war. The NC government acted and responded to the regulators similar to how the British empire reponded to the colonists.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/496263/Regulators-of-North-Carolina

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-revolution/4253

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Women in Combat in 1776 ?!?!?

Deborah Sampson was a women who had disguised herself as a male and had fought for her independence in the Revolutionary War

She grew up in poverty in  Plympton, Massachusetts

She was hired as a servant until age 18 when she became a teacher

After the war broke out she decided to join in as a soldier yet she was not the only female who made the courageous choice in this time period

Though women were not allowed to fight until the 20th century, women still fought as secret soldiers

Sampson was young, poor, and unmarried and she wanted to serve while making some money at the time

While fighting in New York, Sampson was shot in battle. According to Sampson's pension application in 1818, Sampson stated that she received the wound at the Battle of Tarrytown

Sampson was shot again and she survived all her wounds but she came down with fever and was hospitalized. There doctors realized her try identity and sex.

She was given a honorary discharge and returned home to Massachusetts where she eventually married and had three children.

In 1797, Sampson met Herman Mann  who worked with her to publish her biography “The Female Review.”

With the success of her biography and speaking tour, Sampson renewed her campaign and gained the support of Paul Revere, who visited her farm in 1804 and wrote the following letter to Congressman William Eustis on February 20, 1804. Primary Source:

“Sir, Mrs. Deborah Gannett of Sharon informs me, that she has inclosed to your care a petition to Congress in favour of her. My works for manufacturing of copper, being a Canton, but a short distance from the neighbourhood where she lives; I have been induced to enquire her situation, and character, since she quitted the male habit, and soldiers uniform; for the more decent apparel of her own sex; & since she has been married and become a mother. Humanity, & justice obliges me to say, that every person with whom I have conversed about her, and it is not a few, speak of her as a woman of handsome talents, good morals, a dutiful wife and an affectionate parent. She is now much out of health; She has several children; her husband is a good sort of a man, ‘tho of small force in business; they have a few acres of poor land which they cultivate, but they are really poor.

She told me, she had no doubt that her ill health is in consequence of her being exposed when she did a soldiers duty; and that while in the army, she was wounded.

We commonly form our idea of the person whom we hear spoken off, whom we have never seen; according as their actions are described, when I heard her spoken off as a soldier, I formed the idea of a tall, masculine female, who had a small share of understanding, without education, & one of the meanest of her sex. When I saw and discoursed with I was agreeably surprised to find a small, effeminate, and conversable woman, whose education entitled her to a better situation in life.

I have no doubt your humanity will prompt you to do all in your power to get her some relief; I think her case much more deserving than hundreds to whom Congress have been generous.

I am sir with esteem & respect your humble servant,
Paul Revere”

Primary Source: Deborah Sampson’s memoirs “The Female Review” published in 1797

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A monument at Alamance Batteground in rememberance of those who died in the final, violent clash between the Regulators and the colonial government.

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Women in Combat in 1776 ?!?!?

Engraving of Revolutionary War soldier Deborah Sampson. Published in “The Female Review” by Herman Mann, circa 1797

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Deborah Sampson was a secret soldier who lived Plympton, Mass during the American Revolution. Sampson disguised herself as a man and fought in the Revolutionary War.

The following are some facts about Deborah Sampson:

Deborah Sampson's Childhood & Early Life:

Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts to Johnathan Sampson, Jr. and Deborah Bradford.

Bradford was a direct descendant of the Mayflower pilgrim, William Bradford, and Johnathan Sampson, Jr., was a direct descendant of the Mayflower pilgrims Miles Standish as well as John Alden.

Deborah Sampson was the oldest of seven children. The Sampson family lived in poverty due to Johnathan Sampson, Jr's, bad luck and lack of business skills.

According to Sampson's biographer, Herman Mann, who personally interviewed Sampson for his biography on her titled The Female Review, or the Memoirs of an American Young Lady, after Sampson's grandfather died in 1758, her father Johnathan was cheated out of his inheritance by his brother-in-law, which eventually led him to go to sea to seek his fortune:

"He [Johnathan Sampson, Jr.] met with a sad disappointment in his father's estate, occasioned by the ill designs, connivings and infinuations of a brother-in-law. Thus, he was disinherited of a large portion that belonged to him by hereditary right. This circumstance, alone, made such impressions on his mind, that, instead of being fired with a just spirit of resentment and emulation, to supply, by good application and economy, that of which he had been unjustly deprived, he was led into opposite pursuits, which she [Deborah Sampson] laments, as being his greatest misfortune. Such was her father's local situation after his marriage with her mother. She informs, that she had but very little knowledge of her father during her juvenile years. Despairing of accumulating an interest by his domestic employments, his bent of mind led him to follow the sea-faring business, which, as her mother informed her, he commenced before her birth. However great his prospects were, that fortune would prove more propitious to his prosperity and happiness upon the ocean, than it had done on the land, he was effectually disappointed: - For after he had continued this fruitless employment some years, he took a voyage to some parts of Europe, from whence he was not heard of some years. At length, her mother was informed, he had perished in a ship-wreck."

Recent evidence suggests that Sampson's father did not died at sea but had instead abandoned his family and moved to Lincoln County, Maine where he acquired a common law wife named Martha and had two more children. He continued to live in poverty there until he died in 1811 and was buried in a paupers lot in Fayette cemetery.

Unable to provide for her children with her husband gone, Sampson's mother had to place her children in the homes of various relatives and friends.

At the age of ten, Deborah Sampson was then hired out as an indentured servant to the family of Jeremiah and Susannah Thomas.

Jeremiah Thomas was a patriot who heavily influenced Sampson's political opinions and education, according to the book The History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts:

"Mr. Thomas, as an earnest patriot, did much towards shaping the political opinions of the young woman in his charge, who early developed talent and a strong desire for knowledge. Her perceptions were quick and her imagination lively; she soon became absorbed in the stirring questions of the day."

After she was released from indentured servitude at the age of 18, she worked as a local school teacher during summer sessions in 1779 and 1780 in Middleboro.

Deborah Sampson in the Revolutionary War:

In the winter of 1781, Sampson began feeling restless and wanted to travel and explore other pursuits. Knowing that her options as a young woman were limited, she came up with the idea of cross-dressing as a man and sought out the advice of a fortune-teller to get some insight into her future, according to her biography The Female Review:

"Whilst she was deliberating on these matters, she privately dressed herself in a handsome suit of man's apparel and repaired to a prognosticator [fortune-teller]. This, she declares, was not to stimulate, but to divert her inclinations from objects which not only seemed presumptuous, but impracticable. She informed him she had not come with an intention to put entire confidence in his delusory suggestions; but it was partly out of principle, but mostly out of curiosity. He considered her as a blithe and honest young gentleman. She heard his preamble. And it was either art or accident, that he told her, pretty justly, her feelings - that she had propensities for uncommon enterprises, and pressed to know why she had held them in suspension for so long. Having predicated that the success of her adventures, if undertaken, would more than compensate a few difficulties, she left him with a mind more discomposed than when she found him. But before she reached home she found her resolution strengthened. She resolved soon to commence her ramble, and in the same clandestine plight, in which she had been to the necromancer. She thought of bending her first course to Philadelphia, the metropolis of America."

Sampson's departure was delayed due to lingering winter weather so, as she waited for spring to arrive, she sewed herself a man's coat, waistcoat and breeches using the Thomas family's sewing patterns and purchased a pair of men's shoes, hat and etc.

It was during this time that Sampson got the idea to instead join the military as a male soldier, according to The Female Review:

"Before she had accomplished her apparatus, her mind being intent, as the reader must imagine, on the use to which they were soon to be appropriated, an idea no less singular and surprising than true and important, determined her to relinquish her plan of travelling for that of joining the American Army in the character of a voluntary soldier. This proposal concurred with her inclinations on many accounts. Whilst she should have equal opportunities for surveying and contemplating the world. She should be accumulating some lucrative profit; and in the end, perhaps, be instrumental in the cause of liberty, which had for nearly six years enveloped the minds of her countrymen."

There is a lot of confusion about when Deborah Sampson actually enlisted in the army. Several sources, including her biography, state that she enlisted in the 1781 while others state it was 1782, according to an article in the Westchester Historian journal:

"Did Deborah become a soldier in 1781 or 1782? This is the question which has puzzled anyone trying to write about her. In petitioning for back pay and for various pensions, Deborah, in different documents, used both dates. Most people have concluded that the 1782 date is correct; using that date, however, creates many problems that have not been satisfactorily resolved by others. Some things in Mann's narrative do not check out, although many things in it appear to be true. The people mentioned existed and can be placed where Deborah said, even when at first her statements may not appear logical. Mann's version of Deborah's story is the only one that hangs together as a whole. The year of Deborah enlistment may never be conclusively resolved, but there is much in Mann's manuscript to support the claim for 1781."

According to her biography, The Female Review, Sampson disguised herself in the coat, waistcoat and breeches she sewed, and traveled to Worcester, Mass in April of 1781, where she enlisted in Captain Webb's company in the 4th Massachusetts Regiment, under the alias Robert Shurtliff.

The war had already moved on to the New York area by the time Sampson enlisted and she was sent to fight as a light infantryman in the Hudson Valley. According to The Female Review, Sampson found war to be exhausting and terrifying:

"She says she underwent more with fatigue and heat of the day, than by fear of being killed; although her left-hand man was shot dead at the second fire, and her ears and eyes were continually tormented with the expiring agonies and horrid scenes of many others struggling in their blood. She recollects but three on her side who were killed, John Bebby, James Battles and Noble Stern. She escaped with two shots through her coat, and one through her cap...She now says no pen can describe her feelings experienced in the commencement of an engagement, the sole object of which is to open the sluices of human blood. The unfeigned tears of humanity has more than once started into her eyes in the rehearsal of such as scene as I have just described."

While fighting in New York, Sampson was wounded in battle. Mann states in The Female Review that she was shot in the thigh during a skirmish with Tory soldiers, but according to her pension application in 1818, Sampson said she received the wound at the Battle of Tarrytown in July of 1781.

After removing the bullet herself, the wound never healed properly and caused her pain and discomfort for the rest of her life. She was wounded again four months later when she was shot through her shoulder.

Although Sampson survived her wounds, she eventually came down with a fever shortly after being dispatched to fight in Pennsylvania and was hospitalized in the summer of 1783.

It was then that the doctor attending to her, Dr. Barnabas Binney, removed her clothes to treat her and discovered the cloth binding her breasts. Binney didn't immediately report her and instead let her recover in peace at his own home with his wife and family.

In September, after Sampson had fully recovered, Binney asked her to deliver a personal letter to General Patterson. Upon delivering it, Patterson informed her that the letter said she was a woman in disguise.

Realizing her secret was out, Sampson admitted she was a woman and asked to be spared punishment for her dishonesty. Patterson was surprisingly supportive and instead said she should be rewarded for her service, according to the Female Review:

"He told her, she might not only think herself safe, while under his protection, but that her unrivalled achievements deserved ample compensation - that he would quickly obtain her discharge, and she should be safely conducted to her friends."

Sampson was given an honorable discharge in October of 1783 and returned home to Massachusetts.

Deborah Sampson After the Revolutionary War:

After her discharge, Sampson married Benjamin Gannett on April 7, 1785. The couple had three children, Earl, Mary and Patience and adopted an orphan named Susanna Baker Shepard. The family ran a small farm in Sharon, Massachusetts but were not very successful at it and lived in mild poverty.

Like many soldiers of the revolution, Sampson had difficulty trying to obtain a pension. After she campaigned unsuccessfully to secure a pension in 1790, she became discouraged and feared Congress would never award her any money for her role in the war.

Although Sampson had kept a journal of her experiences during the war, it was lost in October of 1783 after a boat she was traveling on while returning from Pennsylvania capsized during a storm.

Years later, in 1797, Sampson met Herman Mann who worked with her to publish her biography The Female Review.

Following the publication of the book, Sampson embarked on a public speaking tour throughout eastern New York and New England. During her performances, she dressed in her male uniform and performed maneuvers from the manual of arms.

With the success of her biography and speaking tour, Sampson renewed her campaign for a pension and gained the support of Paul Revere, who visited her farm in 1804 and wrote the following letter to Congressman William Eustis on February 20, 1804:

"Sir, Mrs. Deborah Gannett of Sharon informs me, that she has inclosed to your care a petition to Congress in favour of her. My works for manufacturing of copper, being a Canton, but a short distance from the neighbourhood where she lives; I have been induced to enquire her situation, and character, since she quitted the male habit, and soldiers uniform; for the more decent apparel of her own sex; & since she has been married and become a mother. Humanity, & justice obliges me to say, that every person with whom I have conversed about her, and it is not a few, speak of her as a woman of handsome talents, good morals, a dutiful wife and an affectionate parent. She is now much out of health; She has several children; her husband is a good sort of a man, 'tho of small force in business; they have a few acres of poor land which they cultivate, but they are really poor. She told me, she had no doubt that her ill health is in consequence of her being exposed when she did a soldiers duty; and that while in the army, she was wounded. We commonly form our idea of the person whom we hear spoken off, whom we have never seen; according as their actions are described, when I heard her spoken off as a soldier, I formed the idea of a tall, masculine female, who had a small share of understanding, without education, & one of the meanest of her sex. When I saw and discoursed with I was agreeably surprised to find a small, effeminate, and conversable woman, whose education entitled her to a better situation in life. I have no doubt your humanity will prompt you to do all in your power to get her some relief; I think her case much more deserving than hundreds to whom Congress have been generous. I am sir with esteem & respect your humble servant,
Paul Revere"

The following year Sampson was finally awarded a pension and eventually won a general service pension in 1821.

Sampson died of yellow mountain fever in April of 1827 and was buried in Rock Ridge cemetery in Sharon, Mass. After her death, several statues and monuments were erected in her honor in Sharon and a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution war name after her. Sampson is considered a Daughter of Liberty due to her role in the Revolutionary War.

In 1982, the Massachusetts legislature declared Sampson the official state heroine and declared May 23 "Deborah Sampson Day." On that day, reenactors often dress up in Deborah Sampson costumes and perform demonstrations about her.
Sources:
The Female Review; Herman Mann, Deborah Sampson; 1797
Women and Children First: Nineteenth Century Sea Narratives & American Identity; Robin Miskolcze; 2007
Masquerade: The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson, Continental Soldier; Alfred Young; 2005
The History of the Town of Middleboro, Massachusetts, Volume I; Thomas Weston; 1906
Women in the Military and Armed Conflict; Helena Carreiras; 2008
Writing Early American History; Alan Taylor; 2005
PBS: Freedom: A History of U.S. Biography: Deborah Sampson: www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web02/features/bio/B01.html
Massachusetts Historical Society: A Woman Soldiers in the Revolution: www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/deborah-sampson-soldier-in-disguise-2005-03-01
The Westchester Historian; Deborah Sampson: The Westchester Connection; Jane Keiter; Volume 76, Issue; No.1; 2000: http://www.westchesterhistory.com/index.php/publications/best
Canton Massachusetts Historical Society: Deborah Sampson: www.canton.org/samson/
Sharon Historical Society: Deborah Sampson: sharonhistoricalsociety.org/All_Else/All_Pages/DEBORAH%20SAMPSON.pdf
National Women's History Museum: Deborah Sampson: www.nwhm.org/education-resources/biography/biographies/deborah-sampson/
New York Times; Deborah Sampson: How She Served as a Soldier in the Revolution; October 8, 1898: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9402E3D71139E433A2575BC0A9669D94699ED7CF&oref=slogin

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Deborah Sampson: Woman Warrior of the American Revolution

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Deborah Sampson was a secret soldier who lived Plympton, Mass during the American Revolution. Sampson disguised herself as a man and fought in the Revolutionary War. The following are some facts about Deborah Sampson: Deborah Sampson's Childhood & Early Life: Deborah Sampson was born on December 17, 1760 in Plympton, Massachusetts to Johnathan Sampson, Jr.

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It wasn't just the political leaders of the colonies that wanted a Revolution

1. There was a rebellion of the higher class of the colonies against British aristocrats who refused to accept them as equals

2. There was also a rebellion by merchants and shippers who did not support British trade restrictions

3. There was a conservative revolution, defending traditional liberties against British restrictions

4. There was a radical revolution, inspired by the call for liberty and equality in the Declaration of Independence

They set out to create a society that could serve as a model of freedom for the rest of the world.

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How did it all begin?

Most colonists didn't want part of the revolution & simply wanted reconciliation with Britain.

Parliament declared Boston to be in a state of rebellion.

British soldiers occupied and attacked major cities.

After many fatalities Massachusetts Congress claimed that they were "loyal and dutiful subjects" .

George III of England denied their loyalty and dismissed their attempts to gain his favor

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The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts. On the night of April 18, 1775, hundreds of British troops marched from Boston to nearby Concord in order to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and other riders sounded the alarm, and colonial militiamen began mobilizing to intercept the Redcoat column. A confrontation on the Lexington town green started off the fighting, and soon the British were hastily retreating under intense fire. Many more battles followed, and in 1783 the colonists formally won their independence.

Lead-Up to the Battles of Lexington and Concord

Starting in 1764, Great Britain enacted a series of measures aimed at raising revenue from its 13 American colonies. Many of those measures, including the Sugar Act, Stamp Act and Townshend Acts, generated fierce resentment among the colonists, who protested against "taxation without representation." Boston, the site of the 1770 Boston Massacre and the 1773 Boston Tea Party, was one of the main points of resistance. King George III of Britain ramped up the military presence there, and in June 1774 he shut down the city's harbor until colonists paid for tea dumped overboard the previous year. Soon after, the British Parliament declared that Massachusetts was in open rebellion.

Did you know? Paul Revere never shouted the legendary phrase later attributed to him ("The British are coming!") as he passed from town to town during his midnight ride on April 18, 1775. The operation was meant to be conducted as discreetly as possible since scores of British troops were hiding out in the Massachusetts countryside. Furthermore, colonial Americans at that time still considered themselves British.

On April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren learned from a source inside the British high command that Redcoat troops would march that night on Concord. Warren dispatched two couriers, silversmith Paul Revere and tanner William Dawes, to alert residents of the news. They first traveled by different routes to Lexington, a few miles east of Concord, where revolutionary leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock had temporarily holed up. Having persuaded those two to flee, a weary Revere and Dawes then set out again. On the road, they met a third rider, Samuel Prescott, who alone made it all the way to Concord. Revere was captured by a British patrol, while Dawes was thrown from his horse and forced to proceed back to Lexington on foot.

Fighting Breaks Out in Lexington and Concord

At dawn on April 19, some 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and came upon 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A British major yelled, "Throw down your arms! Ye villains, ye rebels." The heavily outnumbered militiamen had just been ordered by their commander to disperse when a shot rang out. To this day, no one knows which side fired first. Several British volleys were subsequently unleashed before order could be restored. When the smoke cleared, eight militiamen lay dead and nine were wounded, while only one Redcoat was injured.

The British then continued into Concord to search for arms, not realizing that the vast majority had already been relocated. They decided to burn what little they found, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen occupying the high ground outside of Concord incorrectly thought the whole town would be torched. The militiamen hustled to Concord's North Bridge, which was being defended by a contingent of British soldiers. The British fired first but fell back when the colonists returned the volley. This was the "shot heard 'round the world" later immortalized by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson.

After searching Concord for about four hours, the British prepared to return to Boston, located 18 miles away. By that time, almost 2,000 militiamen-known as minutemen for their ability to be ready on a moment's notice-had descended to the area, and more were constantly arriving. At first, the militiamen simply followed the British column. Fighting started again soon after, however, with the militiamen firing at the British from behind trees, stone walls, houses and sheds. Before long, British troops were abandoning weapons, clothing and equipment in order to retreat faster.

When the British column reached Lexington, it ran into an entire brigade of fresh Redcoats that had answered a call for reinforcements. But that did not stop the colonists from resuming their attack all the way through Menotomy (now Arlington) and Cambridge. The British, for their part, tried to keep the colonists at bay with flanking parties and canon fire. In the evening a contingent of newly arrived minutemen from Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, purportedly had a chance to cut off the Redcoats and perhaps finish them off. Instead, their commander ordered them not to attack, and the British were able to reach the safety of Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support.

Aftermath of Lexington and Concord

The colonists did not show great marksmanship that day. As many as 3,500 militiamen firing constantly for 18 miles only killed or wounded roughly 250 Redcoats, compared to about 90 killed and wounded on their side. Nevertheless, they proved they could stand up to one of the most powerful armies in the world. News of the battle quickly spread, reaching London on May 28. By the following summer, a full-scale war of independence had broken out.
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The Battles of Lexington and Concord, fought on April 19, 1775, kicked off the American Revolutionary War (1775-83). Tensions had been building for many years between residents of the 13 American colonies and the British authorities, particularly in Massachusetts.

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Did everyone want to be independent?

As Americans we hear the story or at least assume that the revolution was a unanimous and unified fight against Great Britain however, that was not the case

Not even half of the american population supported the revolution

In fact one third of the population wanted the revolution, One third didn't support the revolution and One third was undecided.

The one third that was still loyal to Britain and still want the protection and perks of being part of British Empire where called loyalist

The loyalist were being abused by the colonist because they had different views

Because of this and the fact that there were not accepted by the colonist they went to Canada. Canada was still loyal to the british empire and it was a safe haven for the loyalist. They wanted the protection of Britain and didn't want to be associated with the revolution.

Loyalist who stayed in the colonies where removed rom positions of power and those who came back to the colonies after the war were denied the write to hold public office

In conclusion the American Revolution was not fully supported by the colonist. While the revolution unified the colonist under a purpose it also equal divided them

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Though many think everyone was in favor of the revolution, this was not the case.

Roughly a third of the colonies actually supported independence, so the trouble

arose for those people to convince the other two thirds. The Revolution was led by

a small group of radicalists who wanted to conserve liberties the British rule

seemed to threaten. These radical ideas led to violence from the supporters of the revolution. Many British supporters were tarred and feathered in public, along with many other violent actions by the radicalists.

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How Did the Underdogs Actually Win?

400,000 colonists fought and within that amount at least 5,0000 African Americans fought at one point

From the colonists population 1% had died during the war

Many times during the Revolutionary war the patriots had thought that they were going to lose the war- The patriots were known as the rebels or the colonists of the thirteen colonies who were rebelling against their motherland Britain in order to gain there independence

When the fall and winter of 1776 arrived the army within Washington almost had collapsed but on the night of Christmas Eve the troops of Washington crossed the Delaware river and defeated the British forces at Trenton and Princeton and put hope back into the hearts of the colonists

George Washington never had more than 20,000 troops under his command at any one time.

Most soldiers were young men without land, skills or wealth as welll as servants and slaves that were promised freedom after the war had ended

In the Continental army were many women who acted as nurses for the sick and wounded, cooked, fixed clothes, buried the dead, and sometimes served in combat.

The layout of the colonies made it not achievable for the British to occupy the countryside

1/3 of the colonies population were loyalists

The loyalists were still loyal to Britain and they did not fight against them because there were too many benefits to being apart of British Empire

They migrated to Canada because because they were being abused by the other colonists

Britain made the mistake of failing to protect them because it was difficult for the British to distinguish rebels and loyalists.

France was an ally to the colonists and the Hessians were an ally to Britain

The Revolution would have failed miserably without the participation of thousands of ordinary farmers, artisans, and laborers who put themselves into the line of fire