The American Revolution was in fact revolutionary at it is one of the most important turning points in the history of the United States

The American Revolution was in fact revolutionary at it is one of the most important turning points in the history of the United States. The historical events associated with this revolution gave birth to a new, stronger nation, united a diverse collection of people from different backgrounds with a common purpose, and offered great hope for a brighter future.
The American Revolution was an inspiration to the revolutionary spirit then on. But before this, that is, before 1775, the very idea of individuals below a king fighting against the power of the monarchy and taking the control of government was unfathomable. Even son, the spirit of a new breed of people who were uniquely American, though they may have hailed from various parts of Europe generations ago, could not be easily put down.
The British government was determined to exploit the colonies to generate revenue by imposing heavy tariffs and for various other purposes in its own self-interest. Most people in the colonies could tolerate it no longer, though some chose to remain loyal to the British government. Such oppressive conditions were ripe for a rebellion — for a fierce struggle for independence — though the people at that time were not very familiar with the ways of rebellion and revolution. The thirteen American colonies, representing a population of two and a half million people, were distinct and separate from each other, and were in fact more closely related with London than they are to each other (Plumb & Lancaster 2001). The Revolutionary leaders did not have any organized government, any treasury, or any collection of weapons, yet these men embarked upon a revolution against all odds. The tale of American War of Independence is a tribute to their courage, their vision of future, their dedication to the cause of freedom and their determination to succeed at any cost.
The American Revolution, also known as the American War of Independence, took place between April 19, 1775 and September 3, 1783, beginning with the battle of Lexington and ending with the Treaty of Paris. However, the Revolution had been brewing for a long time before that. This was the struggle in which the thirteen colonies of the British North America won independence from Great Britain. These thirteen original states were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These colonies banded together and emerged as a new country, a new nation — the United States of America — after the Declaration of Independence in 1776 (Americanrevolution.com 2005).
Though the Revolution officially commenced in 1775, it had been brewing for a long time before that. John Adams, one of the Revolution’s leaders who was later to be the second President of the United states, observed in this regard that “The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people, and this was effected from 1760 to 1775, in the course of fifteen years, before a drop of blood was shed…” (Bliven 1958).
In October 1760 George III became the King of England. He was very young, arrogant and would soon be the last British monarch to exercise control over America. It was a time marked by widespread battles between England and France, in Europe, American and Asia. On the North American Continent the French controlled Canada and a large territory in west of the Mississippi rived called Louisiana, which represented a much larger area surrounding Louisiana of today.
In 1760, the British soldiers along with American had been fighting the French and their Indian allies for several years. The French lost the French and Indian War; in 1963 a peace treaty was signed in which the French gave Canada to England. Spain got France’s Louisiana territory. This was good news for the Americans because France stood in the way of American ambitions to expand to the West. However, America’s troubles were just about to begin.
George III was a stubborn king who eliminated an influential Prime Minister William Pitt and virtually dominated the British Parliament by planting a series of weak prime ministers over the years. To begin with, Americans had been loyal to their King for a long time, and continued to be loyal to the King even when they saw elements of British colonial policy to be working against their welfare, as they were still under the impression that it was the Parliament that had passed the laws. Even in 1765, just ten years prior to the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the colonists still considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown, falsely assuming that they enjoyed the same rights and served the same obligations as people of Britain. Although there were occasional clashes, as long as the political leaders in England allowed them an essential degree of political, religious and economic freedom most colonists accepted the British rule (Glasthal 2003). But when the British government began to impose heavy tariffs on its colonies, this stirred up huge discontent among Americans.
The new British Prime Minister George Grenville was a servant of the King though he commanded the support of the House of Commons. After the war, he decided to change the way the colonies were run. His original motive seemed simple, being that the colonists had to pay the costs of their own administration (Countryman 2003). However, the new British policies and tariffs soon began to rub the colonists in the wrong way. First, though the French and Indian War ended, the British government forbade colonists from settling in the newly won territories west of the Appalachian Mountains. And then the Sugar Act of 1764 brought new tariffs and elaborate regulations regarding trade to the colonists. In 1765, a stamp tax is placed on many printed items such as newspapers, legal documents, and licences. According to the Quartering Act of 1766, colonists were required to feed and shelter British troops. The colonial government was also required to provide free supplies to British troops stationed in colonial barracks.
There were all kinds of new tariffs, duties, and trade restrictions, along with harsh laws to enforce them all. It did not take long for the people to realize that Britain was levying unfair tariffs on its American subjects in order to stabilize its own finances and repair its economic deficits. The wars with France created a tremendous debt for Britain. The British did not bother to consult the colonies about tariffs. Taxation without representation became the immediate and straightforward cause of the American Revolution (Axelrod 2000). The bonds of loyalty that extended from England to America were soon undone. The exploitative acts of George III prompted the 13 separate colonies to unite fist in protest, then in resistance, and finally in rebellion which became the American Revolutionary War.
In June 1772, a British warship, Gaspee, which had been involved in enforcing unpopular trade regulations, was burned by American patriots. Later in that year, Samuel Adams began the task of creating new Committees of Correspondence which would soon join together patriots in all 13 colonies, thereby providing a framework for a rebel government. In 1773, the British Parliament passed the “Tea Act” allowing the British East India Company to sell tea without paying the regular colonial tariffs. This posed a threat to the colonial merchants. Americans were outraged that the British government imposed a monopoly, once again making policies without consultation. It further agitated American concerns about the issue of taxation without representation. On December 16, 1773, a gang of local patriots in Boston led by Samuel Adams dressed up as Mohawk Indians, went abroad three cargo ships full of tea that were anchored at the harbor and forcibly broke open the tea chests, dumping their contents in the harbor. It was a definitive act of resistance and spurred many similar acts of sabotage in other seaports (Jansen 2005).
Britain was determined to punish the colonies for their rebellious behavior and imposed a series more stringent measures against the Americans. The most damaging of these “Coercive Acts” or “Punitive Acts” was the Massachusetts Government Act, which deprived the people of the colony of self government. The local officials were replaced by royal officials. The situation thus got continuously worsened until finally a minor battle, the first of American Revolutionary War, broke out in Lexington Town Square between British troops and members of a Patriot militia on April 19, 1775 (Bohannon 2004). This was immediately followed by a larger battle at Concord. Instead of confronting the British troops directly, the Patriot militia men employed the hit-and-run techniques they had first learned in the French and Indian War.
This was followed by the Battle of Bunker Hill, on June 17, 1775. With George Washington in command, the American troops of the thirteen colonies together drove the British away from Boston in 1776. Later that year, on July 2, all thirteen colonies voted for independence and a new nation was born. The Declaration of Independence, crafted by a committed led by Thomas Jefferson, was officially adopted by the congress on July 4. The Declaration of Independence is considered by many to be the most important document in human history (history.org 2005). It proclaimed a new era of human freedom.
In the days that followed, Patriots celebrated and Loyalists who supported the British rule mourned. However the Patriots’ celebrations did not last for long, as the British returned in full force in August. Many armed conflicts followed the next five years, until the British surrendered to Washington in Yorktown Virginia in October 1781. Washington had worked for seven long years for this moment (Sheinkin 2005). King George wanted to fight on, but could not get the support of the Parliament. American independence was later consolidated in the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
The people who led the American Revolution, the Founding fathers of this nation, believed the purpose of government was to serve the people, and not the other way around. They rejected the rule by monarch and created a republic. Over time, the new nation created by the Declaration of Independence was transformed from a group of colonies of farmers and merchants into an industrial and technological giant, the world’s richest and most powerful country.