The American Revolution (AQA GCSE History)

Summary 

From the early 1600s, people from England travelled across the Atlantic, took land from the Plains Indians and settled in North America. By 1775, there were 13 separate British colonies in North America with a combined population of around 2.5 million colonists and enslaved people.

Over time, the connection between American-born colonists and England, the ‘mother country’ began to weaken. Many colonists began to resent paying taxes to their colonial masters across the ocean and felt they had outgrown being a simple colony. After several violent incidents that involved British soldiers opening fire on American civilians, the colonies declared independence from Britain. This triggered a war that led to the formation of the United States.

The causes of the American Revolution

• The American Revolution happened both gradually and suddenly

• Its roots went back many years and the resentment grew until it  eventually erupted into bloodshed and then open war

Long-term causes of the American Revolution

• Many colonists had been born in America, had never been to Britain, didn’t know any one from Britain and no longer felt any connection to Britain

• They felt they had outgrown Britain and didn’t feel they needed the protection of Britain’s military

• British troops had fought French soldiers in North America during the Seven Years’ War

  • When the war ended in 1763, Britain was victorious and gained control of North America

  • To pay for the cost of fighting the war, Britain imposed taxes on the colonists

  • This caused great anger as the colonists had no representatives in the British Parliament to speak up for them

• They believed that if they paid tax, they should have some say in the decisions made in Parliament

  • ‘No taxation without representation’ became the central demand of the colonists

Medium-term causes of the American Revolution

• The Navigation Acts were a series of British laws that angered the colonists

  • The Acts meant American colonists had to buy British-made goods even if cheaper or better foreign alternatives were available

• The Stamp Tax of 1765, taxed all paper documents, including newspapers

  • This caused so much anger that it led to rioting

Short-term causes of the American Revolution

• The Boston Massacre of 1770 

  • This occurred when British soldiers opened fired on a crowd of colonists who had started pelting them with snowballs and sticks

  • Around 10,000 angry colonists attended the funerals of the five men who had been killed

• In 1773, colonists calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, boarded British ships in Boston Harbour and threw the cargo of tea into the sea

• This event became known as the Boston Tea Party

  • It led to the British closing the port of Boston until they were paid compensation for the lost tea

• In 1775, a colonist militia opened fire on British soldiers who had arrived to seize supplies of gunpowder in Lexington, Massachusetts

  • The Lexington Incident is often seen as the start of the American War of Independence

The Declaration of Independence

• The 13 colonies unified due to:

  • Britain’s attitude

  • The continued refusal to allow the colonists representation in Parliament

• They appointed George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army in 1775

• Representatives of 12 of the colonies met at a congress in Philadelphia in 1776

  • They published a Declaration of Independence

  • It stated that the 13 colonies were now free from British rule

  • It also declared:

The Battle of Yorktown 1781

• Once they had declared independence, the colonists had to defeat professional British troops with their amateur militias.

  • The British troops were experienced, battle-hardened soldiers who won the early engagements with the American armies

• However, France realised the war was a good opportunity to inflict damage on their British rivals and enemies

  • French money, troops and ships all helped turn the war in the colonist’s favour

• The key battle took place at Yorktown in 1781

  • The British commander was Charles Cornwallis

  • He allowed his troops to be cut off and isolated on a peninsular as they awaited supplies

  • After suffering heavy bombardments and with no hope of reinforcements, Cornwallis had no option but to surrender 

  • He surrendered his 8,000 troops and 214 artillery pieces to the Americans

  •  The Americans won their freedom and the British suffered a humiliating defeat

Impacts of the American Revolution

• The American colonists who remained loyal to Britain moved north to Canada which stayed under British control

• The original 13 colonies became the United States of America

  • George Washington became its first president in 1788

• The number of states soon increased and so did the amount of territory the United States controlled as it expanded west

  • This expansion had devastating consequences for the Native Americans

• The United States became known as the ‘land of the free’ 

  • This became an inspiration for many oppressed people all over the world

  • It inspired the French Revolution and working class people in Britain were inspired by both events

  • However, there was no ‘liberty and justice for all’ 

    • Slavery was not outlawed until 1865 

    • Women weren’t allowed to vote until 1920

• After losing its colonies in America, Britain went on to expand and extend its empire across other parts of the world 

  • It claimed possession of Australia, New Zealand, India and large parts of Africa

• Britain’s relationship with France was negatively affected due to the role France played in supporting the colonists

• The United States developed into the richest and most powerful country in the world by the early 20^th century