The American Revolution (1765 – 1783)

During the 17th century Britain had established thirteen colonies along the Atlantic seaboard of
the North American continent. Collectively, they were known as the Thirteen Colonies. They
were settled primarily by colonists who desired to acquire land for farming, or to establish their
own businesses and small industries. This was especially true for the colonies in the north, while
the establishment of tobacco and cotton plantations using enslaved African labour was the main
activity in the southern colonies.
The Thirteen Colonies were part of Britain’s trade policy
of mercantilism. Laws were passed in England which
regulated trade between all of her colonies and England
and between the colonies themselves. The purpose of the
mercantilist laws was to ensure that all trade was
controlled by Britain and that colonies contributed to her
wealth, by supplying food and raw materials. Britain could
then re-export them to other countries in Europe or use
them to manufacture goods that were sold on the world
market, (including the colonies), which were forbidden to
carry out manufacturing themselves. Britain’s attempt to
enforce these regulations built up resentment among
colonists, who did their best to ignore them and engaged in
illegal trade with other European countries and colonies in
the Caribbean.

The French and Indian War/Seven Years War (1756 – 1763)

Britain and France went to war in North America over the control of land. The presence of
French settlers in Canada and along the
Mississippi river made it impossible for
the British to settle further inland. The
French began to attack British settlements,
sometimes with the aid of the Native
American Indian populations in the
region. The French were defeated in the
war and were forced to give up their
claims to Canada and the lands along the
Mississippi.
After the war the British government
decided to tax the colonists to help recover
the costs. It also argued that the new taxes
would help pay for the future defence of
the colonies. The colonists resented this
however and argued that they had contributed to their own defence, by fighting in the war. They
no longer felt threatened by the French and did not see the need for British troops to remain, plus
they had gained a sense of self-governing over the years, since Britain was so far away and had
largely left them alone previously. They were especially upset about the Proclamation of 1763,
which prevented settlers from moving into the newly won territories to the west and established
10,000 soldiers to patrol and remove illegal settlers from there. It was seen as interference into
their affairs by the colonists.

The protests begin

In 1764 Britain imposed the Sugar Act, which outlawed the importation of foreign rum and put a
tax on imported molasses and luxury goods such as wines, silks and coffee. The aim of the act
was to wipe out smuggling. Warships and soldiers had the right to search premises and ships
suspected of being involved in these activities.
In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed which imposed a tax on over 70 paper products, including
newspapers, pamphlets, licences and legal documents. Customs agents in the colonies were
required to collect this tax.

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Colonial merchants objected to these measures, arguing the taxes ruined their businesses.
Colonial assemblies, journalists, lawyers and clergymen voiced their objections. The ‘Sons of
Liberty’, a secret organization, attacked officials, organised boycotts and destroyed the stamps.
The slogan “no taxation without representation” became popular, meaning that since the colonies
were not given the chance to vote for representatives to sit in the British parliament, Britain had
no right to pass laws taxing them.

The Stamp Act Angry colonists attacking an official

So great was the agitation from the colonies that Britain repealed the Stamp Act and modified the
Sugar Act. To show its authority however, Parliament declared it had the right to make laws
binding on the colonies “in all cases whatsoever.”
The year 1767 saw Britain passing the Townshend Acts. They put duties on colonial imports of
paper, glass, lead and tea from Britain and were designed to pay colonial officials and support
the army in the colonies. Boycotts and protests
resumed, while tax officials and soldiers were harassed
by citizens. On March 5, 1770, troops fired on a crowd
of citizens who had been harassing them in Boston,
Massachusetts. Five persons were killed and this
incident was dubbed the ‘Boston Massacre’. This
further angered the colonists and was seen as evidence
of British tyranny and wickedness.
To quell the rising opposition, Britain repealed the
Townshend Acts, but replaced it with the Tea Act in
1773, which
made imported tea from Britain cheaper than that sold in
the colonies. Protests resumed with a widespread boycott
of tea and a refusal to even unload the tea from British
ships. On December 16, 1773, a group of men from the
‘Sons of Liberty’, dressed as Mohawk Indians boarded
three ships in Boston harbour and dumped the chests of tea
into the sea. This incident became known as the ‘Boston
Tea Party’.
King George III was furious and sought to punish
Massachusetts. He had the parliament pass a series of laws called the Coercive Acts, (known in
U.S. history as the Intolerable Acts) in 1774. These laws ordered the port of Boston closed until
the tea was paid for, restricted the power of local assemblies in the colonies and banned most
town meetings, replaced locally elected officials in Boston with officials from Britain and
allowed for local officials accused of a crime to be tried in Britain rather than in the colonies.
The most hated of these Coercive Acts was the Quartering Act, which required local authorities
to find suitable quarters for British troops in private homes if necessary.

Revolution erupts
Colonial response to Britain’s actions was furious. In September 1774, representatives from 12
of the colonies (Georgia excepting) met in Philadelphia to defend what they saw as their rights
and privileges. Called the First Continental Congress, the members agreed to resist taxation
imposed by Britain and continue the boycott, but did not consider the possibility of breaking
away.

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The event that sparked off war came in April 1775 when General Thomas Gage, the commander
of the garrison in Boston discovered that colonists were amassing gunpowder and weapons at
Concord. He despatched troops to the town to confiscate the armoury. Forewarned of the troop’s
movements (partly due to Paul Revere’s ride during the night), armed colonists called
‘Minutemen’ clashed with the troops at Lexington on April 19, 1775. This incident became
known as “the shot heard around the world.” The troops pushed on to Concord, but by then the
weapons were moved and news had spread about the battle at Lexington. On their way back to
Boston, over 250 British soldiers were killed by rebel units.

Paul Revere’s ride Battle of Lexington

The Second Continental Congress met again in Philadelphia in May 1775. This time all the
colonies were represented and decisions were taken to form an army and make George
Washington its commander. At the same time, attempts were made to avoid further hostilities by
sending a petition to King George III to negotiate an agreement. His response was to declare the
colonies to be in a state of rebellion on August 23, 1775.
The cry for independence grew in the colonies, especially after Thomas Paine’s book Common
Sense was published and widely circulated. In it he attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy
and called for the establishment of a self-sufficient, independent republic. On June 7, 1776
Richard Henry Lee of Virginia called for the colonies to be … “free and independent states” at
the Second Continental Congress. His resolution was passed and Thomas Jefferson was
appointed to head a committee to draft a constitution. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of
Independence was adopted and the United States of America was formed.
Meanwhile, the war continued between the American forces and the British, who were
determined to regain their colonies. For much of the war the British had the upper hand, but the
tide began to turn in Washington’s favour when France and Spain sought revenge for their defeat
by the British in 1763 and declared war on her between 1778 and 1780. When Britain declared
war on Holland in 1780, the strength of forces against Britain was too much. She found it
increasingly impossible to resupply her troops in America. General Cornwallis’ surrender to
Washington at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 marked the final British defeat in the war. In 1783
Britain signed the Treaty of Paris in France, recognizing the independence of the United States of
America.

Impact of the revolution on the USA and the Caribbean

The USA

 The USA became the first country to successfully break away from its mother country. This
success was to have an impact on later revolutions, especially in France.
 Over 100,000 persons who were loyal to Britain left, many voluntarily. Some of these loyalists
migrated to the British colonies in the Caribbean, such as Barbados.
 France, Holland and Spain joined the war against Britain, giving great assistance to the
American cause. France even provided troops and weapons to the Americans and a French
general, the Marquis de Lafayette provided personal military training to Washington’s troops.
 The USA became a republic, that is, a government elected by its people. A president was
elected every four years.
 The government consisting of two legislatures (law making bodies) known together as the
Congress was formed. They were the House of Representatives and the Senate, which were
both elected by the population.

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 A constitution was written that guaranteed a federal form of government. Each former colony
became a state with its own elected governor, legislature and courts. The states governed
themselves except for larger matters, such as foreign affairs and the postal service.
 A system of separation of powers between the executive (president), legislature (Congress) and
judiciary (courts) arms of government was adopted, in order to maintain a system of checks
and balances. This was to ensure that no part of government could abuse its powers over the
people.
 A Bill of Rights was adopted, guaranteeing certain freedoms to the population. These included
the freedoms of worship, speech, press, to hold public meetings, freedom from arrest without
trial and the right to a trial by jury.

The Caribbean

 St. Eustatius, a tiny Dutch colony in the Lesser Antilles became the first territory to recognize
the USA as a new nation in 1776. Britain was so upset by this; it invaded and held the colony
between 1781 and 1784.
 Trade between the Caribbean colonies and the USA was disrupted as Britain enforced a
blockade on American ships entering the Caribbean.
 The cost of running plantations, freight charges and insurance increased in the Caribbean.
 Starvation among the enslaved Africans developed, as they were so dependent on imported
food given to them by their masters. This was especially so for Barbados.
 Some of the loyalist supporters from North America migrated to colonies such as Jamaica,
Dominica and the Bahamas.
 The Baptist faith was introduced to the Caribbean by freed African American ex slaves who
first came to Jamaica in 1783. They spread their brand of preaching among the enslaved
Africans.

Contributions of key personalities to the American Revolution

King George III

Britain had been fighting a colonial war against France

since 1756 with military success but at high financial cost.
George appointed Lord Bute to negotiate the Treaty of
Paris in 1762 to end the Seven Years War. Lord North who
became Prime Minister was determined to make the
colonies pay for their own security. The Stamp Act of
1765 levied a tax on every official document in the British
colonies and high customs duties introduced. These were
mostly repealed in the face of American protests, with the
exception of the tax on tea. In 1773 colonists threw chests
of tea overboard in Boston harbour in a protest known as
the ‘Boston tea party’.

The American War of Independence began in April 1775

when colonists fought British troops at Lexington. George Washington was appointed
commander of the Continental Army. On 4 July 1776 the Continental Congress under leadership
of John Hancock declared independence. Fighting continued until 1781 when the British were
defeated by Americans and French at Yorktown. In the Treaty of Paris in 1783 Britain agreed to
recognise American independence. King George took the loss badly and considered abdication
before facing the political and military realities.

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George Washington
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution,
Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and
served in the Virginia Assembly. But like his fellow planters,
Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and
hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother
country grew, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to
the restrictions.
When the Second Continental Congress assembled in
Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington was elected
Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. He realized
early that the best strategy was to harass the British. Ensuing
battles saw him fall back slowly, then strike unexpectedly.
Finally in 1781 with the aid of French allies, he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Washington soon realized that the nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning
well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at
Philadelphia in 1787. When the new constitution was ratified, he was unanimously elected
President.

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was one of the earliest and most fervent

supporters of the cause of American independence from
Great Britain. He was elected to the Virginia Assembly in
1768 and joined its radical bloc, led by Patrick Henry and
George Washington. In 1774, Jefferson penned his first
major political work, "A Summary View of the Rights of
British America," which established his reputation as one of
the advocates of the American cause. In 1775, Jefferson
attended the Second Continental Congress, where the most
significant work fell to Jefferson himself.

In June 1776, the Congress appointed a five-man committee

(Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston) to draft a
Declaration of Independence. The committee then chose Jefferson to author the declaration's first
draft. Over the next 17 days, Jefferson drafted one of the most beautiful and powerful testaments
to liberty and equality in world history. The document opened with a preamble stating the natural
rights of all human beings and then continued on to outline specific grievances against King
George III that absolved the American colonies of any allegiance to the British Crown. Although
the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776 had undergone a series of revisions
from Jefferson's original draft, its immortal words remain essentially his own: "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."

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams (1722-1803) was a political leader in the

American Revolution and a signer of the Declaration of
Independence. He found his calling as a colonial activist, a
member of the Massachusetts legislature, a protestor of the
Stamp Act of 1765, and an organizer of the 1767 non-
importation agreement. Adams succeeded James Otis as the
leader of the extremist Patriots, and he wrote a Circular
Letter condemning the 1767 Townshend Acts as taxation
without representation.

Adams was a prolific propagandist against British policy

throughout the pre-revolutionary period. Along with John Hancock, Adams formed the Sons of
Liberty. He also took the lead in forming colonial Committees of Correspondence to foster inter-
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colonial communication and mobilization, and then served in the Continental Congress from
1774-1781.

John Adams

He quickly became identified with the patriot cause, initially

as the result of his opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765. He
wrote a response to the imposition of the act by British
Parliament. In it, Adams argued that the Stamp Act deprived
American colonists of the basic rights to be taxed by consent
and to be tried by a jury of peers. Two months later Adams
also publicly denounced the act as invalid in a speech
delivered to the Massachusetts governor and his council.

In 1770 Adams agreed to represent the British soldiers on

trial for killing five civilians in what became known as the
Boston Massacre. He justified defending the soldiers on the
grounds that the facts of a case were more important to him than the passionate inclinations of
the people. He believed that every person deserved a defence, and he took the case without
hesitation. During the trial Adams presented evidence that suggested blame also lay with the
mob that had gathered, and that the first soldier who fired upon the crowd was simply responding
the way anyone would when faced with a similar life-threatening situation. The jury acquitted six
of the eight soldiers, while two were convicted of manslaughter. Reaction to Adams's defence of
the soldiers was hostile, and his law practice suffered greatly. However, his actions later
enhanced his reputation as a courageous, generous and fair man.

In 1770, Adams was elected to the Massachusetts Assembly and was one of five to represent the
colony at the First Continental Congress, in 1774. When Congress created the Continental Army
in 1775, Adams nominated George Washington as its commander-in-chief.

In May 1776, Congress approved Adams's resolution proposing that the colonies each adopt
independent governments. On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded Richard Henry Lee's resolution of
independence, and backed it passionately until it was adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776.
Congress appointed Adams, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R.
Livingston and Roger Sherman, to draft the declaration.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was born in England in 1737. He received little

formal education, but did learn to read, write and perform
arithmetic.

Paine arrived in America as the conflict between the colonists

and England had reached a fever pitch, although events had not
yet become violent. After the battles of Lexington and Concord
(April 19, 1775), Paine argued that America should not simply
revolt against taxation, but demand independence from Great
Britain entirely. He expanded this idea in a 50-page pamphlet
called "Common Sense," which was printed on January 10, 1776.

Worded in a way that forced the reader to make an immediate

choice, "Common Sense" presented the American colonists, who were generally still undecided,
with an argument for full-scale revolt and freedom from British rule. "Common Sense" forced
the issue on the streets, making the colonists see that a grave issue was upon them and that a
public discussion was needed. Once it initiated debate, the article offered a solution for
Americans who were disgusted and alarmed at the presence of tyranny in their new land, and it
was passed around and read aloud often, bolstering enthusiasm for independence and
encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army.

Paine wrote "Common Sense" in an unadorned style, relying on biblical references to speak to
the common man, as would a sermon. Within just a few months, the piece sold more than
500,000 copies.

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During the ensuing war, Paine served as volunteer personal assistant to General Nathanael
Greene, travelling with the Continental Army. While not a natural soldier, Paine contributed to
the patriot cause by inspiring the troops with his 16 "Crisis" papers, which appeared between
1776 and 1783. "The American Crisis, Number I" was published on December 19, 1776, and
began thusly: "These are the times that try men's souls." Washington's troops were being
decimated, and he ordered that the pamphlet be read to all of his troops at Valley Forge, in hopes
of inflaming them to victory.

Sons of Liberty

A well-organized organization shrouded in secrecy

established to undermine British rule in colonial America and
was influential in organizing and carrying out the Boston Tea
Party. Membership was made up of males from all walks of
colonial society but was notorious in recruiting seedy
characters looking to cause trouble. Boston patriot Samuel
Adams is often credited as being the founder and leader of the
Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty was most likely
organized in the summer of 1765 as a means to protest the
passing of the Stamp Act of 1765. Their motto was, “No
taxation without representation.” As tensions in the American
colonies intensified on the eve of the Revolution, chapters of
the Sons of Liberty were formed all over the Thirteen Colonies.

The Sons of Liberty were influential in orchestrating effective resistance movements against
British rule in colonial America on the eve of the Revolution, primarily against what they
perceived as unfair taxation and financial limitations imposed upon them. Through the use of
mob rule, tactics of fear, force, intimidation and violence such as tar and feathering, the
stockpiling of arms, shot and gun powder, they effectively undermined British rule, paving the
way to America’s independence. The Sons of Liberty as an organization disbanded at the
close of the American Revolution.

The lasting legacy of the Sons of Liberty to the history of the American Revolution was the
December 16, 1773 orchestration of the Boston Tea Party.