American Revolution Report
By: Evan Grey
7/8 B
The American Revolution is something that changed and evolved our country. When we gained our independence from Britain, I don’t think anyone would have thought at the time that the Colonies would evolve to become such powerhouse and develop into the country that we have become today. From the acts, to the Boston Massacre, to the Battle of Saratoga, the American Revolution will go down as one of the most memorable events that have occurred in the United States history. I think a majority of the 300 million people that live in the United States today would agree that it was a smart decision to gain our independence from Great Britain.
It all started with the French and Indian war, also known as the 7 years war. Britain fought the French and Indians for territory in North America. The outcome was that the British succeeded and the 13 colonies were created. This put the British in a plethora of debt. In return they would make the Colonists pay taxes on certain goods to pay for the debt they had caused the British. As you would think, this would only be fair. But the Colonists thought it was unfair that they had to pay taxes. It’s funny how to this day, we still complain about paying taxes. These were called acts, given out by the British Parliament and the King of England. The first was the sugar act, and this really brought up the issue of “taxation without representation.” This term was used throughout the time. It meant that they were being taxed without any input and that the British Parliament didn’t get any input from the Colonists. There was also the Stamp Act, the Townshend Act, and the Tea Act, just to name a couple. The Townshend Act put taxes on many things such as glass, paper, and tea. Again upset by taxes, the Colonists organized a boycott of all British goods. A large mob surrounded a group of British soldiers and as the mob grew louder and more threatening, they started to throw objects at the British. One soldier fell to his knees. This is when the British fired into the crowd of people, creating the Boston Massacre. Many civilians died. The Tea act came next, which eventually led to the Boston Tea Party. The tea act made sure that no tea companies, other than the British East Tea India Company, could be brought to the Colonies. This just made things even worse. Many of the colonists sent the ships carrying the tea back to where they came from or they would just let it rot. This led to the Boston Tea Party. Sam Adams led a group of people, disguised as American Indians, to the ships. There, they dumped all of the tea into the harbor. This shocked the King, and created high tension between British and the Colonists. This closed down Boston Harbor.
What occurred next, would start the war between the British and the Colonists. This was called the Battle of Lexington and Concord. The British got word that the Colonists had stored military supplies out in Lexington and Concord. Their goal was to get the supplies and destroy it. The Colonists got word of this and moved the supplies, before the British marched out to go find it and destroy it. At the time, the Colonists never had a real army, and the fighters for the colony were called minutemen. The British marched a good 10 miles, to Lexington and Concord. Being minutemen, they jumped to their feet being warned by many horseback riders, Paul Revere being most famous, yelling, “The British are coming!” As the British walked through, the minutemen shot at the British. This continued for the day, and the Colonists won. This was the start to what would become the Revolutionary War. After the Battle of Bunker hill and other events, the Second Continental Congress met, with many of the colonies having representatives from each colony. This occurred a year into the war. Over the course of a few weeks, we came to a conclusion to write the Declaration of Independence. This states that because of what the British have done to us, we have the right to declare ourselves a free country. While fighting the war, we were trying to get this goal a reality. The fighting became more intense, with both sides’ army’s growing, many battles had occurred. A big turning point in the war that occurred was the Battle s of Saratoga, often mistaken as one battle called the Battle of Saratoga. These two battles happened in September and October of 1777. They were fought outside of Saratoga, New York, on the same ground. The original plan for the British was to go from Canada, through Lake Champlain, Lake George, and so on until they go to Albany, New York. He would meet up with other British Army’s, sent from other directions, then cutting off New England from the rest of the southern Colonies.
. Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution
http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/
http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm#Timeline
http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/UsaHistory/AmericanRevolution/AmerRevolution.htm
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