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The American Revolutionary War is a major piece of history within u.s. , it's what allowed the state to be sovereign from the rule of Great Britain. Would you believe it if I told you that America wasn't always America? America was once a bunch of colonies under the rule of Great Britain and it stayed like this for a while. The American Revolution was when the colonies had fought for their independence becoming the America it is today. The revolution was a concept among the American people from the mid-1700s, it wasn’t until 1783 when the treaty of Paris was signed ending the long gruesome battles.

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Everything started when in October 1492 Christopher Columbus ended up in Central America on his way to India. He went on a huge theft and murder spree, he took gold, jewellery, people, and a hammock when he returned to Spain to show off his goods and a few undiscovered items to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella this included tobacco, pineapple, turkeys, and a Hammock. Suddenly there was a race to explore this new land. After a couple of centuries of warring with the natives and each other, the Europeans powers had claimed quite a lot of land. This included an area in which both Great Britain as France claimed as theirs. One day the French decided to put a Fort on this shared land and Great Britain didn't like this one bit. They sent an up and coming British colonel by the name of George Washington. With a combined force of British Soldier and native Americans the battle was short but when the French surrendered a Native American by the name of Tanacharison killed the French general Joseph Coulon de Jumonville shouting that the General had boiled and eaten his father. This led to the 7-year war ( a 7 year-long major global conflict). After the 7 war (which Great Britain had won) during a peace negotiation Spain gave up Florida and France gave up ALL its territory in North America, but this came with a cost a 60 million pound cost. Great Britain was broke and in a lot of debt so they decided to go to their colonies and ask for money as a lot of their funds had spent protecting them. The colonies declined and this forced Great Britain to the decision of taxing them. 1764- The sugar act, this forced the colonists to import sugar and molasses exclusively from the British for an extra cost.

1765- The stamp act, It imposed a direct tax on the colonies and required that most printed items to be produced on stamped paper in London. The colonists didn't like this as they didn't have a representative in the parliament which was putting these taxes on them. The colonists started boycotting and any supporters of the British were Harassed. This took a toll on Great Britain and eventually they were forced to repeal the stamp act. In 1766- The declaratory act, Great Britain let the colonists know that THEY were in charge and a year later 1767- Townshend act, the British put a lot of taxes via import duties. They put these taxes on glass, lead, paper, tea, oil and more. The colonists boycotted yet another time and the British were forced to back down yet again, repealing all the taxes apart from the one on tea, but the British weren't done there, they sent 1000 troops to Boston to take control and forced the colonists to pay for them. On March the 5th,1770, the tensions were palpable when a band of colonists heckled a British troop. When more British troops came to support their comrade the colonists started to throw snowballs which then turned to rocks and then oysters. The British were cornered with nowhere to go so they shot their guns killing some fo the people. This event was to be called the Boston Massacre. The anger continued to grow and the citizens became more and more serious. They started burning ships and doing other things like targeting the remaining tax on Tea. December 16th 1773- A band of patriots known as the sons of liberty disguised themselves as native Americas, marched down to Boston Harbor, jumped into one of the merchant ships and in front of thousands of spectators, and started dumping over 10,000 pounds worth of tea into the ocean. The British were disgusted and sent 3000 troops to go occupy the cities meaning Boston and Massachusetts were under the direct rule of Great Britain. The people were very mad and all the other colonies feared that they would be next so they decided to meet up and this is when the colonists started fighting back leading to the main part of the American Revolution.

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On the morning of April 19, 1775, not long after sunrise, shots rang out across the village green of Lexington, Massachusetts. British soldiers were exchanging fire not with their traditional foe the French, but with their own colonists. Eight militiamen were killed, nine wounded, but only one British soldier was wounded. Later that day, in what was later known as, "The shot heard round the world", 400 colonial militiamen engaged 100 British soldiers at Concord, the American Revolution had began. What had led to this point? The American Revolution was not caused by one single event, but instead a series of events that led to the war, however, these issues did not only lead to war, but also shaped the foundation of the United States of America. Some of the causes of the war are laws, taxes, and battles. There were several battles that took place in the American Revolution, and although the outcome of every battle influenced subsequent events, only a few completely changed the war itself. Nonetheless, the topics that we're going to be discussing today are Lexington and Concord, The Intolerable Acts, and The Stamp Act.

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The battle of Lexington and Concord initiated the start of the American Revolution. Tensions had been building between the British and the colonial Americans for years over taxes , and on the night of April 18, 1775, British Redcoats marched on to Concord in order to destroy the Americans store of weapons and ammunition, and Lexington, to capture the rebel leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. However, the colonists were warned by riders including Paul Revere, that the British were approaching Lexington, which gave time for Samuel Adams and John Hancock to escape, and the militia had time to hide their weapons and ammunition. The Battle of Lexington was a very small fight. You could hardly call it a battle, but it's important because it was the battle that commenced the start of the American Revolution. The second day, around 80 local militiamen or Minutemen assembled at Lexington, led by Captain John Parker, and faced a much bigger British force led by Major John Pitcairn. Neither side wanted to attack, and some of them didn't even expect a fight, but in the midst of all that, a gunshot went off forcing the British to attack. The gunshot was the first shot of the American Revolution and the start of the war. It was called the, "shot heard around the world" by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem Concord Hymn. No one is actually sure who fired the first shot or if it was an American or British soldier. Some of the colonists were killed and the others fled.

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After the Boston Tea Party ( a violent reaction to the British tea tax ) , King George III was furious, and he knew that there needed to be serious repercussions for the people of Massachusetts, so the British Parliament passed four laws, that people called the Intolerable Acts because of how harsh they were. One of the laws was the closing of the port of Boston until the Dutch East India company could be repaid for the tea that was dumped in the ocean, and another law was putting the Massachusetts government almost entirely under British control, which as you'd guess, made the colonists infuriated. The full five intolerable acts were:

- Boston Port Act

- Massachusetts Government Act

- Administration of Justice Act

- Quartering Act

- Quebec Act

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The Stamp Act was a tax that was put on the colonists by the British parliament in 1765. It said they had to pay a tax on all sorts of printed materials such as newspapers, magazines and legal documents. It was called the Stamp Act because the colonies were supposed to buy paper from Britain that had an official stamp on it that showed they had paid the tax. The Stamp Act was a tax that the British created to help them get back the money they lost in the French and Indian War. They taxed the Americans and justified it by saying that they protected the colonists in the war and that the Americans were just paying them back for their protection. The Americans did not feel the same. Americans did not have a representative in parliament, which means they did not have a voice in anything. They argued that it was unfair to impose taxes on someone without having representatives to vote for or against it on their behalf. A quote was said about the taxes, it said, “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” -James Otis, Jr. This quote shows that they did not agree with what the British were doing.

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Here are some of the important people in the American Revolution:

- George Washington: Leader of the Continental Army during the revolution.

- Benjamin Franklin: Diplomat, politician, and inventor.

Served both first and second Continental Congress.

Was a diplomat to France trying to get them to become            an ally of the US in the American Revolution.

- Samuel Adams: Leader of the Sons of Liberty in Boston, and he set up the Boston Tea Party and Committees of Correspondence.

- Patrick Henry: Was a fiery speaker that gave speeches criticising the British.

- Mary Otis Warren: Wrote plays criticising the British.

- King George III: King of England during the American Revolution.

- Thomas Jefferson: A colonial leader from Virginia who wrote the Declaration of Independence.

- Haym Solomon: Played an important role in the finances of the American Revolution.

- Paul Revere: Was a silversmith that made an engraving representing the Boston Massacre.

- Thomas Paine: Wrote, "Common Sense", a pamphlet that tried to persuade the colonists to fight for independence.

- Marquis de Lafayette: French officer who helped in training George Washington's Continental Army.

- James Armistead: Was an African American who served as a spy under George Washington and Lafayette. In addition to that, he provided valuable information about Cornwallis at Yorktown that allowed the Americans to defeat the trapped British army.

-  John Paul Jones: Captain of an American vessel in the Navy, and he became a hero when he defeated and captured the much larger British warship, known as the, "Serapis". Even though his ship was damaged, he refused to surrender.

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The Sons of Liberty were a secret political organization in the American colonies that held protests against British taxes and laws before the American Revolution actually begun. The first act that started the Sons of Liberty was the Stamp Act in 1765, and they formed out of a number of small groups of protesters. Irishman Isaac Barre referred to the American colonists as “sons of liberty” when they were arguing against the Stamp Act which is how they came to be called the Sons of Liberty. They had to arrange secret informal gatherings to avoid being caught by the British soldier, and they held those meetings in local taverns such as the, “Green Dragon Tavern” in Boston. Although they mostly had informal gatherings, they had a few formal gatherings that were held at night. In boston, they met under an elm tree in Hanover Square that was called the “Liberty Tree.” In New York, they would signal the location by building a tall pole called the “Liberty Pole.”

You might be wondering why many tax distributors quit their jobs, and that’s because the Sons of Liberty were harassing them. Once the Stamp Act was out, the Sons of Liberty started protesting against it, and they took quick action of harassing the stamp tax distributors, and they also gathered in large groups on the streets to protest. Their protests have may been extreme but they worked and the tax was repealed by the British government. And finally, the most famous action that the Sons of Liberty did was in the Boston Tea Party. In protest to the tea tax, several members boarded trade ships in Boston Harbor and started tossing the British’s tea into the water, and this act actually was a major event leading up to the actual war. A lot of people were in the Sons of Liberty, including Samuel Adams, ( who is considered the founder of the Sons of Liberty ), John Adams, Benedict Arnold, Paul Revere, and many people.

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The typical weapon used by British infantrymen was the Brown Bess a musket that shot a larger bullet. British officers also used to carry a sword/sabre along with a pistol. The Colonists/Americans on the other side used muskets. There was no uniform musket for the army as they didn't have many weapons and the weapons they did have were from their homes. Later they were given french muskets from the French, these guns were lighter and had smaller bullets. A very important weapon used by both sides was artillery both sides used artillery to a great extent to help them during their battles. These weapons could easily change the tide of a battle. The Americans/Colonists also had long rifles which acted as long-range weapons with high accuracy. Now for communication, communication is very important in a battle. It's used to communicate from long distances and can greatly sway the tides of battle. America had a spy network and couriers to get news around the colonies and quickly inform them of current situations. Sadly the British didn't have a very good form of communications and it would take ages for them to get news around and to get their orders. The last thing is medicine, medicine like all the other things is very import if a soldier were sick without even fighting they could die so medicine was a good way to prevent that. At least 17,000 soldiers died from disease on the American side alone, without medicine this number would've been higher. A great use of medicine was by George Washington when he got medicine for smallpox which arguably saved the army. Medicine was a problem for the British and roughly 24,000 people died from the disease. So technology was very important for the American revolution and can easily change the tide of battle.

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Plenty of Wars have started because of economy, nations wanted more power, and could accomplish that with money, and so the entire American revolution started because of economic issues, i say this because during the -French/indian war, which was a time where everyone wanted part of the newly discovered land, called America, named after Amerigo Vespucci. Great Britain, of course, could not let an opportunity to enlarge their empire slide, so they occupied a small of piece of the continent and made it into thirteen colonies, which are: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. A country also known for its might, France, also occupied a portion of  North America, and as a result of wanting to gain the upper hand when it comes to the size of the nations, both countries declared war, along with Spain, who had occupied what is now to be known as Florid. The thirteen colonies who were under the direct rule of Great Britain, were continuously being attacked, so the British empire spent a fortune to protect them, and did a good job at it , and when the time came and the British finally won the war, unfortunately, they were in desperate need of money, and asked the colonies to repay them, but instead, they refused.

So, on 22 March 1765 the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which sought to raise money to pay for this army through a tax on all legal and official papers and publications circulating in the colonies so that Britain would regain even a portion of the money they lost. This enraged the people that are later to be called Americans, and as things evolved, the flame of the war had been ignited.

After the revolutionary war was over, ending with America being recognized as a country by the British, ( because during the time of the war when they signed the Declaration of Independence, it was considered treason by Great Britain) and the Americans gained their official independence, it all came back to economy once again, as the country's economy was left in shambles, as a result to the British Navy having more superiority on seas during the war, destroying most American ships and among them were trade ships, which crippled the flow of American trade and the economy. During 1775 and onwards, the country's per capita incomes ( average income gained by a person in an area/nation) was growing very slowly, and it was not something good for the country’s economy, and as well as the per annum growing at a very slow speed, only 0.38% per annum. Then, between the time of 1800 and 1840, per-capita income in the North grew at a very fast pace, 2.1% per annum in New England, and 1.45% per annum in the Middle Atlantic, but, compared to the growth going on in the north, the south grew only o.43% per annum, which pulled down the American average to a still very impressive 1.26% per annum, while the British per-capita income grew at only 0.45% per annum, which is a lot less than the Americans. The Americans were doing very good economy-wise, up until 1860, when the civil war started, and other economic difficulties showed up to ruin a lot of the progress made by the Americans, and it was then that the era of the civil war started.

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Politically, the founding fathers tried making their country different from the government of Great Britain, who they claimed to be corrupt, therefore, to achieve that, they made the Articles of Confederation (an agreement among the 13 original states that served as  America's first constitution) but, the dream of the founding fathers of functioning a government backfired, and there were many flaws, such as: the state and federal governments had no authority to tax citizens, not to mention that there was no concept of an executive branch. They were first pointed out by Abigail Adams to Thomas Jefferson in 1787,  The letter said that there was serious civil unrest within many areas of the United States and that the government may not be strong enough to suppress rebellions, and guarantee stability. This indicated to the founders that they need a stronger, more centralized government and for that reason, they began the drafting of the Constitution. Ideas of keeping the government checked and balanced started being displayed, which an example of is  James Madison, The Federalist, number 51. This also encouraged the first American party system, being the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, along with the concepts of losing and strict constructionism. These ideas are still part of today's conflict, fought over today where republicans take the side of strict constructionists, believing that the Constitution should be followed word-for-word, and no room for amends, whereas democrats take the side of loose constructionists, believing that there must be room for interpretation. The government’s constitution was made and all they needed was a person to be their leader, the executive branch of the government, so, on April 30, 1789, the first ever president had been elected by the people, and was called by he name of George Washington, who was one of the Founding Fathers, but sadly, his presidency ended on March 4, 1797, when he stepped down as president, because he feared the Americans would view this position as a life time appointment.Overall, the American Revolution stimulated these great political revelations and gave the founders concepts included in the Constitution that they would not have become aware of otherwise, and made the country's political system what it is today.

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With all due respect to white people, their lives stayed the same with no additional rights or any rights taken away from them, whereas women and slaves experienced a varying amount of change. The change for woman was rather minimal because winning the fight for gender equality was about 140 years later, but, this was the beginning of recognition for woman because it was where the fire was ignited for the beginning of gender equality. This was demonstrated when a woodcut with a woman holding a rifle and a gunpowder horn, which shows fighting for freedom along with the men.

It portrays how women can hold the roles that they usually would not have, demonstrating the shifts of social change. As for slaves, they are no longer to be called slaves as those who have fought in the revolutionary war have been awarded their freedom, which was by the time of 1778, where many states, including Virginia, granted freedom to the colored.

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After the American Revolution ended, America was officially granted its independence, formed their own government, made their own money and enhanced their economy, and granted more rights to slaves as well as woman, and from the year 1783 and forth, when the war was officially over, America would develop into the great nation we now know in the present day.

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, https://voxeu.org/article/america-s-revolution-economic-disaster-development-and-equality https://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/591066/Political-Social-and-Economic-Change-after-the-American-Revolution/
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-ushistory1ay/chapter/the-consequences-of-the-american-revolution/

-https://www.ushistory.org/us/12.asp

-https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/parliament-and-the-american-colonies-before-1765/the-stamp-act-and-the-american-colonies-1763-67/
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzALIXcY4pg and -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtYC2jx1LM0
-https://www.coursehero.com/file/p20fqv1/Doc-A-a-woodcut-of-a-woman-holding-a-rifle-and-a-gunpowder-horn-fighting-for/
https://prezi.com/daritd7jx7-z/the-american-revolution/
https://www.cvisd.org/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=7888&dataid=9677&FileName=Important%20People%20of%20the%20American%20Revolution.pdf
https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/09/top-10-battles-revolutionary-war/
https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/battles-of-lexington-and-concord
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/lexington-and-concord
https://www.ducksters.com/history/battle_of_lexington_and_concord.php
https://www.ushistory.org/declaration/related/sons.html
https://www.history.com/news/sons-of-liberty-members-causes