American Revolution
The American Revolution was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain and the United States which the colonies founded. The movement began as a rebellion demanding reform and evolved into a revolution resulting in a complete separation that entirely replaced the social and political order. These changes were the outcome of the associated American Revolutionary War and the consequential sovereign independence of the former colonies as the United States. The Second Continental Congress, as the provisional government, established the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief in 1775. The following year, the Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July. Throughout most of the war, the outcome appeared uncertain. However, in 1781, a decisive victory by Washington and the Continental Army in the Siege of Yorktown led King George III and the Fox–North coalition in government to negotiate the cessation of colonial rule and the acknowledgment of American sovereignty, formalized in the Treaty of Paris in 1783. The Constitution took effect in 1789 and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791.
Discontent with colonial rule began shortly after the French and Indian War in 1763. Even though the colonies had fought in and supported the war directly with funds and materiel, the British Parliament imposed new taxes to ostensibly compensate for wartime costs, and transferred control of the colonies' western lands to British officials in Montreal. Representatives from several colonies convened in New York City for the Stamp Act Congress in 1765; its "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" argued that this taxation without representation and other policies violated their rights as Englishmen and therefore defied the British constitution. In 1767, though the Stamp Act was repealed, tensions flared again following Parliament's passage of the Townshend Acts. In an effort to quell the mounting rebellion, King George III deployed British troops to Boston, where they killed antagonists in the 1770 Boston Massacre. In December 1773, the underground Sons of Liberty orchestrated the Boston Tea Party, during which they dumped chests of taxed tea owned by the British East India Company into Boston Harbor. Parliament responded by enacting a series of punitive laws, which effectively ended self-government in Massachusetts, but also intensified support for the revolutionary cause among Americans.
In 1774, twelve of the Thirteen Colonies sent delegates to the First Continental Congress; the Province of Georgia joined in 1775. The First Continental Congress began coordinating Patriot resistance through underground networks of committees largely built on the foundations of the Sons of Liberty. In August 1775, King George III proclaimed Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. The British attempted to disarm the colonists, resulting in the Battles of Lexington and Concord, sparking the Revolutionary War. The Congress created the Continental Army which then surrounded Boston, forcing the British to withdraw by sea in March 1776, leaving Patriots in control in every colony. In May 1776, Congress voted to suppress all forms of Crown authority, to be replaced by locally created authority, and each colony created a state constitution. On July 2, the Congress passed the Lee Resolution, affirming their support for joint independence, and on July 4, 1776 they unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, having evolved into a revolution now basing their claims on universal rights and famously proclaiming that "all men are created equal". The Second Continental Congress soon after began deliberating the Articles of Confederation, an effort to establish a multi-state self-governing coordinating body capable of negotiating international treaties and prosecuting the war.
The Revolutionary War continued for another five years during which France ultimately entered, supporting the revolutionary cause. On September 28, 1781, Washington commanded the Continental Army's capture of a British army under General Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown, leading to the collapse of King George's control of Parliament. Consensus in Parliament soon shifted to the war ending on American terms. On September 3, 1783, the British signed the Treaty of Paris, ceding to the new nation nearly all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes. The United States became the first nation to establish a federal republic with a written constitution based on the principles of universal natural rights, consent of the governed and equality under the law, albeit with significant democratic limitations compared to later evolution of the concept.
Origins
After the Glorious Revolution in Great Britain and subsequent revolts it inspired in Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland between 1688 and 1692, Great Britain unofficially adopted a policy of "salutary neglect," whereby the colonies were largely left to govern themselves. As a result of this new policy, as well as the ideals of liberty which had been borne out of the Glorious Revolution, there emerged new government systems ; religious institutions ; and occasionally, attitudes towards slavery, although the latter of these three was less common. This British policy reverted significantly after the French and Indian War, prompting the Thirteen Colonies to restore greater autonomy from Britain. The British political establishment, especially after taking massive swaths of land from the former territories of New France, pursued a policy of greater control over colonial affairs. After the American Revolution one Patriot, Capt. Levi Preston of Danvers, Massachusetts, who was asked why the Americans rebelled against England, responded: "...we always had governed ourselves, and we always meant to. They didn't mean we should."1651–1763: Evolution of colonial policy
The Thirteen Colonies were established in the 17th century as part of the English Empire and became parts of the British Empire after the union of England and Scotland in 1707.Political power, affiliation and loyalty
The development of a unique American identity can be traced to the English Civil War and its aftermath. In that period the Puritan colonies of New England supported the Commonwealth government responsible for the execution of King Charles I. After the Stuart Restoration of 1660, Massachusetts did not recognize Charles II as the legitimate king for more than a year after his coronation. In King Philip's War, the New England colonies fought a coalition of a few Native American tribes without military assistance from England, thereby contributing to the development of a uniquely American identity separate from that of the British people.In the 1680s, Charles and his brother, James II, attempted to bring New England under direct English control. The colonists fiercely opposed this, and the Crown nullified their colonial charters in response. In 1686, James finalized these efforts by consolidating the separate New England colonies along with New York and New Jersey into the Dominion of New England. Edmund Andros was appointed royal governor and tasked with governing the new Dominion under his direct rule. Colonial assemblies and town meetings were restricted, new taxes were levied, and rights were abridged. Dominion rule triggered bitter resentment throughout New England. When James tried to rule without Parliament, the English aristocracy removed him from power in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This was followed by the 1689 Boston revolt, which overthrew Dominion rule. Colonial governments reasserted their control after the revolt. The new monarchs, William and Mary, granted new charters to the individual New England colonies.
After the Glorious Revolution, the British Empire became a constitutional monarchy with sovereignty in the King-in-Parliament. Aristocrats inherited seats in the House of Lords, while the gentry and merchants controlled the elected House of Commons. The king ruled through cabinet ministers who depended on majority support in the Commons to govern effectively. British subjects on both sides of the Atlantic proudly claimed that the unwritten British constitution, with its guarantees of the rights of Englishmen, protected personal liberty better than any other government. It served as the model for colonial governments. The Crown appointed a royal governor in each colony to exercise executive power. Property owners elected a colonial assembly with powers to legislate and levy taxes, but the British government reserved the right to veto colonial legislation.
Mercantilism
With little industry except shipbuilding, the colonies exported agricultural products to Britain in return for manufactured goods. They also imported molasses, rum, and sugar from the British West Indies. In 1651, Parliament passed the first in a series of Navigation Acts, which restricted colonial trade with foreign countries. The British government pursued this policy of mercantilism in order to grow its economic and political power. According to mercantilism, the colonies existed for the mother country's economic benefit, and the colonists' economic needs took second place. The Thirteen Colonies could trade with the rest of the empire but only ship certain commodities like tobacco to Britain. Any European imports bound for British America had to first pass through an English port and pay customs duties. Other laws regulated colonial industries, such as the Wool Act 1698, the Hat Act 1731, and the Iron Act 1750.Colonial reactions to these policies were mixed. The Molasses Act 1733 placed a duty of six pence per gallon upon foreign molasses imported into the colonies. This act was particularly egregious to the New England colonists, who protested it as unconstitutional taxation without representation. The act increased the smuggling of foreign molasses, and the British government ceased enforcement efforts after the 1740s. On the other hand, certain merchants and local industries benefitted from the restrictions on foreign competition. The limits on foreign-built ships greatly benefitted the colonial shipbuilding industry, particularly in New England. Some argue that the economic impact was minimal on the colonists, but the political friction that the acts triggered was more serious, as the merchants most directly affected were also the most politically active.