The 250th Year Anniversary of the Revolutionary War
We are in an era of acknowledging many important anniversaries in our history. We live in the year of 2025 now. It's an interesting time to be alive. Soon, it will be the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolutionary War. During that time of the late 18th century and early 19th century, the world has changed. Many human beings started revolutions to end the concept of monarchies ruling people in an authoritarian fashion. Religious leaders like Baptists, the Enlightenment Movement, and the Scientific Revolution inspired many early Americans to oppose the British Empire. The British Empire back then ruled areas on multiple continents (with slavery, economic exploitation, colonialism, and authoritarianism) including much of the Eastern part of America. The colonists lived in the British Empire for over 100 years back then, while Native Americans were in the Americas for thousands of years. This time saw contradictions. Many colonists felt that they wanted freedom to express their religious, and political views, and have their own families peacefully, but many colonists owned slaves, used genocide against Native Americans, and some were viciously bigoted. Therefore, the American Revolution started in a paradox. The British Empire wanted absolute control over the American colonists, and the colonists were divided. Some colonists wanted to be part of the British Empire, some were neutral, and many colonists wanted complete independence from the British Empire like Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and other people. The Tea Act existed as a tax. The Boston Tea Party were acts done by the colonists to seek a measure of independence from the British Empire. The Redcoats trying to get guns from the colonists in New England started the Revolutionary War. The colonists were nearly defeated by the British, but the Americans had help from the French, the Dutch, Spain, and other nations to cause a miraculous American victory. The American Revolution changed everything and caused people to reckon with the concept of democracy and other human freedoms in a more personal way.
Setting the Stage
To understand the Revolutionary War, you must understand about the history of the Americas. The first human beings in the Americas were Paleo-Native Americans. They came from Siberia about 15,000 - 40,000 years ago during the end of the Ice Age. When the sea level dropped, a land bridge allowed Native Americans to go from Siberia to the Americas hunting massive mammals like Mammoths, mastodons, and giant bison. Native Americans saw a more diverse environment and fauna. They created diverse cultures with tons of languages, civilizations, and spiritual beliefs. There were distinct languages from Algonquian to Siouan. Corn, squash, and beans were grown by many Native Americans. Complex civilizations grew like the Mayans, the Olmecs, the Aztecs, the Incas, etc. There were the Mississippi River Valley cultures too with their own temples and agriculture. Many Native American chiefs had decentralized power, many Native Americans held sacred animals, trees, rocks, and other items, and they owned little private property. As time went on Europeans came into the Americas as early as the time of the Vikings in 1000's A.D. More Europeans came by the 1400s. Europe in the 1400s had chaos and new movements like the Black Plague disease, the Crusades, the Renaissance, warring kingdoms, and their goal of expansion. Many European Empires would promote colonialism, imperialism, and slavery to make their profit grow, advance racism, and seek control over the world's resources. They wanted new trade routes. The Portuguese created the modern day international Maafa among many continents. Slavery existed for millennia among the human race, but many Europeans expanded it to the point of making it completely global, stripping Africans of their language, religion, culture, and family structure. The Maafa lasted from the 1400s to the 19th century. Christopher Columbus came into the Caribbean, and the Spanish Empire expanded into the Americas to conquer the Aztecs too.
Both Africans and Native Americans were slaves, and as time would go on, the majority of the victims of the Maafa would be black Africans. By the 1500's, Spanish explorers expanded North into the Midwest and the Southwest. Also, France and England competed for more resources in America too. Many in the French Empire would have cordial relations with some Native Americans in dealing with trade, and some didn't. Many French explorers and colonies would settle in Quebec, New Orleans, Louisiana in general, and in other places of the Midwest. By the 1600s and 1700s, the New France has expanded. The British Empire tried to make a colony in the 1580s in Roanoke in North Carolina, but they created a sustaining one in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia. These colonies grew at the expense of the human suffering and exploitation of black slaves. Wars happened as Native Americans resisted the goals of the English colonists to gain their lands and resources. There was Powhatan and her daughter Pocahontas (who was captured by the British, converted to Christianity, and married a colonist John Rolfe). The English colonies grown from Georgia to Virginia and all the way to New England. Bacon's Rebellion existed in the 1670s. Both sides were wrong for different reasons. Bacon was wrong to want to exterminate Native Americans in his rebellion. Royal Governor of Virginia William Berkeley was wrong to harm a free press and public education for the common people (as he represented wealthy interests). The Middle Colonies, the Southern Colonies, and the New England colonies grown rapidly in the 1600s and 1700s.
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Nations from Sweden to the Netherlands have slavery and colonies in America plus in the Caribbean too. William Penn was rare being a Quaker who promoted religious freedom and tolerance in setting the groundwork for forming Pennsylvania as we know it. At this time, black Americans and Native Americans were in revolts to stand up for their human rights. The American colonies formed a new culture, distinct from Europe. Black people, white people, Hispanic people, and other groups of people in America back then had banjos, literature, and inventions. The movements of the Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, increased trade, and the English Bill of Rights of 1689 inspired many colonists to promote independence from the British Empire. England relief on the American colonists financially via mercantilism. The French and Indian War changed everything. The American colonists, even George Washington, were heavily used in that War. The French and Indian War was about the British fighting the French with France's Native American allies for lands outside of the Appalachian Mountains. There was the Pontiac's Rebellions, but the British won that war. The colonists after the war wanted more freedom and representation in the British Empire. The British Empire refused to do so in causing more burdens on the colonists to pay down the war debt. Future harsh tax measures by the British Empire contributed to the existence of the Revolutionary War too.
The British Empire's Laws
After the Indian and French War, America was in a crossroads. The Americas were increasingly being conquered by European imperialism. Also, the American colonists were divided on what to do by the late 1700s. Some colonists wanted to stay with the British being Loyalists. Some wanted neutrality, and some wanted overt independence from the British Empire (who were the Patriots). The Redcoats wanted to rule the American colonies forever. The French and Indian war caused the British Empire massive debt, and they wanted the American colonists to pay much of the debt from the war. Back then, the colonists didn't pay that many taxes. The colonists financially benefited from the trade in the British Empire and the human exploitation of African slaves. Many colonists had some political rights from the Parliament. When the British Empire via King George III started to tax the colonists, opposition happened. Great Britain gave many of its citizens the freedom of the press, trial by jury, and due process of common law via the Bill of Rights of 1689. Still, the three branches of the British government were controlled by few of the people, making it not a true democracy. The Monarch won the executive branch, the legislative branch was run by House of Lords and the House of Commons (which was made up of Parliament). The colonies had a two-house legislative, except Pennsylvania. Mostly wealthy men controlled the British government and the American colonists. The colonies had legal documents. Parliament wanted to tax colonists to fund Royal governors and judges. The colonists felt that they are equal members of the Parliament, so they believe that only their elected officials had the right to tax them. These differences grew rapidly. The Brits paid more taxes than the colonists, and new tax laws existed. The Sugar, Quartering, and Stamp Acts were promoted as taxes. Prime Minister George Grenville in 1764 wanted to raise money. The Quartering Act required the colonies to provide housing and supplies for the British troops stationed in America after the French and Indian War. Colonists complained, but most went along with it.
The Stamp Act of 1765 required colonists to pay a tax on almost all printed materials like books, newspapers, books, court documents and deeds, and contracts. This was the first Parliament direct tax inside the American colonies. Many colonists protested the Stamp Act, because they didn't believe that the Parliament could tax them directly. They believed that since they had no represented in Parliament, the Stamp Act was null and void. Some believed that the British officials wanted to undermine American liberty. The colonists wanted to tax themselves. In Britain, many people who paid taxes can't vote which is wrong. The protests and tax resistance from the American colonists increased. Some boycotted, some used intellectual protests, and some used violence. The lawyer in Massachusetts John Adams saw this new protest. Many colonists were inspired by the liberalism of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a secular movement in Europe (that spread worldwide) that viewed human reason, not mysticism, as having the power to improve human societies. Many people in the Enlightenment were Deists and atheists. These scholars included Baron de Montesquieu of France and John Locke of England. They believed that human beings had divinely granted natural rights like life, liberty, and property.
Opposition to King George III's Tyranny
The Enlightenment with people like John Locke believed that a good government protected individual rights. People have the right to protest any government that violated the social contract by failing to protect their rights according to Locke. Patrick Henry, of my state of Virginia, was a young Virginia representative. He drafted a document called Virginia Resolves. He said that only colonial assemblies had the right to tax the colonists. Henry said on May 29, 1765, that the British Parliament acted in an unjust and illegal fashion harming the liberty of British people and Americans alike. The Virginia House of Burgesses agreed with most of Henry's resolves on May 30, 1765 except 2. The Patriots were created by opposition to the Stamp Act. They formed the Sons of Liberty to lead protests. Their famous leader was Samuel Adams of Boston, a cousin of John Adams. Many of them protests and used violence against tax collectors. In August 1765, they tore down the office and damaged the house of a stamp tax collector. I don't agree with that action as dissent should be done without unjust violence. In 1765, the home of Massachusetts lieutenant governor Thomas Hutchinson's home was burned down after he supported the Stamp Act taxes. By the end of the year, every stamp acolelctor in the colonies resigned, so no one could collect the taxes. Other people in New York City promoted a boycott of the Stamp Act by October 1765. Women in the Daughters of Liberty used cloth to substitute British created cloth.
The British repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, so the British via Charles Townshend used an indirect tax on colonists. The Townshend Acts caused protests in Boston. There were riots in Boston over this and the British sent 4,000 troops to occupy Boston by 1768 (after the British seized the merchant ship Liberty for smuggling. The ship was owned by John Hancock, a politician). By night in March 1770, many colonists threw snowballs and rocks at British soldiers guarding the Customs House. The soldiers fired bullets into the crowd killing five colonists. Crispus Attucks was killed, a man of African and Native American ancestry. This was the Boston Massacre. The Patriots investigated the tragic event. By 1773, there were committees of correspondence created by Samuel Adams to promote more colony unity. The British left troops from Boston. They dropped most of the Townshend laws. The tax on tea remained. The Boston Tea Party was a boycott on the tax on tea. The colonists dumped tea in the Boston harbor in the Boston Tea Party. Many of them dressed as Native Americans. The British East India Company wanted taxes on the colonists, even being cheaper than smuggled tea. After the Boston Tea Party, the Parliament formed the Coercive Acts. These laws closed the port of trade until the tea tax was paid, increased the power of the Governor (regardless of what the elected assembly did), and warships and troops were sent to Boston. This was too excessive by King George III.
So, the colonists resisted. The British were housed in the homes of the colonists. There were the Intolerable Acts too. In rural Massachusetts, some colonists did unjust violence (not peaceful dissent) in opposition to these laws like tar and feathering supporters of Parliament and trying to shut down courts. Other colonies opposed the Coercive Acts too. They viewed it as a threat to their freedom. By the fall of 1774, there was the first Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Virginia had delegates like the fiery Patrick Henry. He gave the give me liberty or give me death speech. The New England delegates supported him as being American. Patrick Henry was a Patriot who wanted a total independence from the British Crown. The delegates wanted to boycott all British imports to allow the Parliament to end the Coercive Acts. The Patriots formed new governments to oppose Parliament. In 1774, John Adams said that he lived in a new nation called America. He wanted Americans to unite to defeat the British. By 1774, many colonists still wanted reconciled with the Parliament. That would change. 1775 would start the Revolutionary War for real.
"I am determined to defend my rights and maintain my freedom or sell my life in the attempt."
The Start of the War
The Revolutionary War started on the Spring of April 19, 1775. By this time, the British monarchical government wanted further control over the colonies, and the colonies rejected many of the policies from King George III. After the Coercive Acts were passed, miliary commander General Thomas Gage was named governor of Massachusetts. John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and other colonial leaders created a Provincial Congress to govern Massachusetts without Gage. To the British, this was an act of rebellion and treason. To the Patriots, this was standing up against tyrannical rule. So, Hancock, Adams, and other colonists gathered arms and ammunition. By April 19, 1775, the war happened when Gage sent troops to try to arrest Hancock and Adams in Lexington, Massachusetts. The Redcoats wanted to seize weapons that were stockpiled by the Patriots in Concord. The Patriot Paul Revere rode in the countryside to warn of the British troops coming to Lexington and Concord. The local Patriots united to fight in Boston. The Patriots were in militias made up of farmers and soldiers plus regular people. By the morning, 70 Patriots were on the Lexington Green. The British came and the British commander ordered the militias to leave. Someone fired a weapon. Then, the shooting on both sides occurred which officially started the Revolutionary War. Eight Patriots were dead. The Redcoats went to Concord later. Then, hundreds of minutemen (or Patriot militia members) responded. They fought and the Patriots killed or wounded more than 200 British soldiers. This shocked the United Kingdom. The British traveled to Boston in the late afternoon. In New England, thousands of Patriot soldiers made the British soldiers to stay in Boston. Provincial assemblies of Patriots ruled the New England colonies. Loyalists, or people who wanted to be loyal to the British Empire, fled to Boston. By May 1775, there was the Second Continental Congress held in Philadelphia. Delegates from all the colonies were there. The assembly wanted to unite for the war effort. Armed volunteers from the Middle and Southern Colonies marched north to fight in Boston. Congress gave the command of the new Continental Army to George Washington (he was a colonial officer in the French and Indian War). George Washington was from my state of Virginia, which was the largest and most powerful colony during that time. New England wanted Virginia to make a Patriot victory.
Some more militant members of the Continental Congress wanted to declare independence from British. Yet, most of the colonists weren't ready for that yet. Most colonists back then wanted to remain in the British Empire without paying taxes to the Parliament. By July 1775, Congress wanted a peace offering to King George III to petition the colonists' allegiance to the King but not to Parliament. King George III rejected the offer or petition and sent more troops to Boston. There has been a debate on independence. Most colonists supported the Continental Congress and the boycott of British imports. Yet, a large minority wanted British rule. The Loyalists loved British rule. The Loyalists opposed British tax, but they want to obey the Empire. In 1774, there was a debate between Patriot John Adams and Jonathan Sewell, a Loyalists. Many Loyalists feared that the Patriots would lose as Britain was a large empire. Many Loyalists were farmers, not just wealthy people. Many Loyalists wanted some Patriots to stop shutting down Loyalist newspapers, to punish people who criticized the Patriots' actions, and taxes from the Patriots. John Adams believed that the American Revolution was bigger than the American Revolutionary War:
"...But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war? The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations ... This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution..."
-John Adams
Many Africans and Native Americans supported the Loyalists, because they wanted their land kept out from the colonists and promises of freedom by the British empire. Many of the Patriots were wrong for hypocrisy, and many of the Loyalists were wrong for supporting a colonial British Empire. The British author Thomas Paine wrote his book called Common Sense to support independence. His book helped to grow the movement for independence since January 1776. Thomas Paine was an immigrant from England who was an artisan and tax collector. Thomas Paine rejected the authority of King George III. He wrote in favor of a republican state governments, independence from the UK, and a union of new states. Paine rejected the king's power as disruptive to the common people's power in government. Paine said that the common people should elected the government, not the King. He viewed the king, not Parliament, as the greatest enemy of American liberty. Paine wanted merit, not privilege to allow people to get opportunities. He wanted America to trade with the world after America is free. Then, the historical day came of July 4, 1776.
Early Battles
By 1775 and 1 1776, the Revolutionary War in its infancy. The British Empire was almost four time bigger than the 2.5 million people in the colonies. The UK had massive manufacturing and had more ships and the weapons than the colonists. The colonists knew of the American lands, used guerilla warfare, and were not going to give up their battle plans. The Constitutional Congress printed money massively causing inflation and lacked the authority to pay taxes. The British made many errors in the conflict early on. The British forces underestimated the Patriot forces. The British and the Patriots fought at Bunker Hill. The British lost the battle at Concord previously. There were fortified hills over Boston at Bunker Hill done by the Patriots. The Patriots wanted to drive the British from the seaport. The British commander Lord William Howe wanted a front assault in the middle of the day.
The problem was that the Patriots were readily for Howe's forces being overtly seen with red uniforms on. The British had a bloodbath. The first two charges by the Redcoats failed. The third charge was victorious by the British, but massive casualties existed. The Patriots lost the Bunker Hill battle but won a psychological edge. By January 1776, the Patriots wanted to rule Boston from British occupation. So, Colonel Henry Knox used cannons to aid the Patriots outside of Boston. His men carried cannon hundreds of miles from upstate New York (where Ethan Allen's men captured Fort Ticonderoga). The Patriot shelled Boston and the British ships in the harbor, so the British abandoned the city by March 1776. Lord Howe made the mistake that conquering seaports and major cities would end the war. War is bigger than that. You need the people's support, and the British conquered Philadelphia and New York City for a time, but the Redcoats still lost the war. The Patriots increasingly won the people's minds and hearts. The Patriots used guerilla warfare. Thomas Paine inspired by cause of Americans via his book called The American Crisis. That book was used by George Washington to inspire his soldiers to fight on. The Redcoats used German Mercenaries of the Hessians to fight the Patriots. George Washington was an expert in warfare, so despite losing battles, he organized his troops to fight for another day. Washington won victories which count.
The Declaration of Independence
The date of July 4, 1776, would be remembered by all of us forever and ever. It was the date when the Declaration of Independence would be signed by the Patriots. By the spring of 1776, the movement of independence grown exceptionally. Congress selected a committee to draft a document to declare American independence and the reasons for it. The Second Continental Congress made the Committee of Five (making up of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman) to create the Declaration of Independence. John Adams, who promoted independence, persuaded the Committe of Five to allow Thomas Jefferson to write the document's original draft, which the Second Continental Congress then edited. Thomas Jefferson mostly wrote the Declaration in isolation between June 11-28, 1776, from the home he was renting at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia. The Second Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution to form the consensus of the Congress that the British had no governing authority of the thirteen colonies. The Declaration of Independence listed 27 colonial grievances against King George III and asserting many natural plus legal rights, including the right of revolution.
By July 2, Congress voted that America was free. Two day later, they approved of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted unanimously by the 56 delegated to the Second Continental Congress, who convened at the Pennsylvania State House (which was later called Independence Hall in the colonial era capital of Philadelphia). He was inspired by Paine's ideals and the views of the Enlightenment. He listed the colonies' grievances against the British Empire. He wrote the bold words of:
"...The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. 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..."
Thomas Jefferson's history of being a slave owner and the abuse of Sally Hemings is well known (making Jefferson a notorious racist hypocrite), but those words have inspired multiple revolutions for equality and justice worldwide. There are rights among every human that are unalienable that are given by birth from God that can't be taken away. Many signers of the Declaration of Independence owned slaves (which was wrong), and that document motivated many future defenders of equality and justice like Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglas, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, etc. The ink was signed, but the war had to be won. So, the Revolutionary War continued in 1776 and beyond. This is a special time as no Americans at that time won a victory against the British Empire. The British Empire had the largest military on Earth on multiple continents during that time period. It was a miracle that the Patriots won, but Americans had a triumph after the Revolutionary War. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas wrote the following words of grievances against King George III's actions against the American colonists:
"...He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:.."
"...We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
-The Declaration of Independence.
The Turning Point
The American colonial forces struggled for a time. The Continental Army was running out of food and other supplies. That is why women supplied their husband much aid. Some women secretly fought in the Army like Mary Hays and Deborah Sampson. The British blocked the ports in America. Mary Hayes gave troops water during the battle of Monmouth. The British forces attacked New York City by early 1776. Howe and the Redcoats captured the city of New York City by September 1776. About 30,000 British troops and German troops defeated the Continental forces from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The Americans fled to New Jersey. George Washington saved his army and counterattacked on December 26, 1776. George Washington crossed the Delaware River in the middle of Christmas night. It was surprise attack that defeated more than 1,000 German mercenaries at the Battle of Trenton. This victory increased the spirits of Patriot forces and was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. George Washington in 1777 won more victories because he was a great military leader. Washington's forces won a victory against British General Charles Cornwallis's troops at the Battle of Princeton in New Jersey. Washington had troubles too. He lost more defeated and General Howe of the Redcoats conquered Philadelphia too in the fall of 1777. British General Burgoyne lost to the Patriots in the Battle of Saratoga in New York State. Burgoyne surrendered by October 1777.
By this time, the Revolutionary War expanded into the Deep South in South Carolina, Georgia, etc. The war also spread into the Midwest as far as Detroit and Kentucky. The victory at Saratoga inspired the French to join America to fight the British. The French didn't like the British conquering them after the French and Indian War. The French military General and Patriot supporter Marquis de Lafayette gave military education to Patriot forces. Benjamin Franklin helped to create a strong alliance among America and France. This alliance grew by February 1778. The French Navy and Army helped to defeat British forces. Franklin was beloved in France with his wit and charisma, and he was a genius diplomat. The Spain joined France and America as an ally too in 1779. Spanish governor of Louisiana Bernardo de Galvez gave money and supplies to the Patriots to stop British ships from entering the Mississippi River at New Orleans.
UNSUNG PERSONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY ERA
George Washington's forces had hunger and health issues during the Winter of 1777-1778. So, the Americans had help from a German volunteer named Baron Von Steuben. Some Patriot soldiers in about 3,000 out of 10,000 lacked coats and shoes. Stueben's help was a game changer. By June 1778, the British left Philadelphia to go to New York City. The Patriots fought at Monmouth, New Jersey. There was the frontier war. The Proclamations of 1763 by the British banned colonists to have settlements to the west of the Appalachian Mountains. Many colonists rebelled against that order. The British supported Native American attacks on the colonists to keep the colonists in the East (not because of any particular love for Native Americans). Colonial settlements were attacked by 1777. Many white settlers attacked and killed unjustly neutral Native Americans, disregarded truces, and promoted revenge that existed for over one century. In the Midwest, Colonel George Rogers Clark led the Patriot militia to fight the British. They took the settlements of Kaskaskia and Cahokia by the spring of 1778. Clark with his 175 solders and French settler allies ruled all British posts in Indiana and Illinois. The British with Native American allies recaptured a fort at Vincennes, Indiana. Clark's men recaptured Vincennes after convincing many Native Americans to abandon their British allies. The Ohio River valley was ruled by many Patriots. The Native Americans British forces attack frontier outposts in 1779. Patriot troops responded in an evil, brutal fashion by burning 40 Iroquois towns, destroying the power of the Iroquois Federation. I don't agree with that action. Many Native Americans attacked settlers, forcing many of them to go to the east. Later, the British forces would increasingly fight the Patriots in the South as found in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and in Georgia. That would be the start of the end of the Revolutionary War.
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The End of the War
The end of the Revolutionary War started when the Redcoats increasingly invade the South. The British wanted to endorse the Loyalists of the farmers of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The British promoted a traditional war, but the Patriots regularly utilized unconventional warfare which contributed to the Patriot victory. At first, the British had early victories in the South. By late 1778, the British seized Savannah, Georgia. During the summer of 1780, the British controlled Charleston, South Carolina along with 5,000 Patriot soldiers. The British defeated another Patriot Army at Camden, South Carolina. The Spanish forces helped the Americans out. Spanish leaders under Bernado de Galvez made attacks on British forts in the Guif Coast area. By 1780, the Spanish captured the British fort of Mobile, Alabama. Then, they took Pensacola in 1781 as Pensacola was the British capital of West Florida. Then, the Patriots came back to defeat the British in many places of the South. In the South, there was a civil war where Loyalists and Patriots were fighting and killing each other. Both sides plundered and killed civilians, which I don't agree with obviously. Neighbor against neighbor and family against family were commonplace in the Revolutionary War. The Patriots won a victory at Kings Mountain in South Carolina defeating a Loyalist militia. Many prisoners were executed. Many Loyalists came to the Patriot side. People in the countryside supported the Americans more. So, General Cornwallis of Britian was angry. The Continental Army of the South was led by commanders Nathanel Greene and Daniel Morgan. It was a small but powerful army. By 1781, the Continental Army gave heavy losses to Britian at Cowpens, South Carolina and Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. The British forces in the South would follow the U.S. troops constantly which caused the Redcoats to be further depleted of their resources to carry on their fight. Then, Cornwallis went from North Carolina to my state of Virginia. He led his troops into a trap. By late summer 1781, George Washington marched most of his troops south to trap Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The French fleet supported the Patriots at the Cheasapeake Bay. Cornwallis was trapped by land and sea, so he surrendered his army of 8,000 people at Yorktown on October 19, 1781. The French helped the Americans at the critical time. The British people were sick of the fighting by this time and wanted peace.
In early 1782, a new administration came to power in the UK to make peace. An American delegation with Benjamin Franklin negotiated a treaty with certain terms. This was the 1783 Treaty of Paris that recognized American independence and granted generous boundaries of the United States. Franklin was a great negotiator, and the French strained its relationship with America (as France wanted to run the negotiation process). The war was over. The British betrayed many of its Loyalist allies. Many Loyalists, including black Loyalists were refugees. Many slaves were made slaves again in the British West Indies. The Native Americans were abandoned by the British. Also, the Patriots made unfair treaties with Native Americans that further stole their lands at Fort Stanwix in 1784 and Hopewell in 1785. Many settlers traveled into Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Midwest. African Americans firsthand saw the contradiction of the words of the Declaration of Independence and the reality of slavery against black people. Black Americans joined both the Patriots and the Loyalists in seeking an end to slavery as soon as possible. About 5,000 African Americans joined the Patriots, and about 50,000 African Americans joined the British. Most people who benefited from the war were upper middle class and wealthy landowning white men for the most part. Slavery would gradually be banned in the North, but the South maintained slavery for decades to come.
The Revolutionary War further motivated black people to fight for freedom. Women had little to no rights back then too. The views of the Revolutionary War inspired social revolutions against monarchies in Haiti, Latin America, France, and other places of the world. The Revolutionary War ended an old chapter of American history. It was bloody and imperfect, but authoritarian monarchies are antithetical to democratic freedom. So, the British Empire not ruling America was a good thing. Yet, America had to reckon with its sins of slavery against black people and the genocide of Native Americans. To this day, many Americans whitewash those sins, but we won't. We realize that there are good people and evil people in America. In order for America to reach its true destiny, it must acknowledge its history and fight to institute justice for all for real.
The Aftermath of the Revolutionary War
The aftermath of the American Revolutionary War saw massive changes in America. The war inspired further revolutions in Haiti, France, Latin America, etc. Since early Americans feared the same tyrannical government of the British Empire, they formed the Articles of Confederation. The confederation of states had a weak state government with a cabinet and different rules to govern the people. There were debates on how this would work. Some wanted a direct democracy where people would directly control the voting structure to govern affairs like Thomas Paine has advocated. Conservative Patriots wanted to maintain colonial institutions. Later, America promoted the Republic where the people elect representatives to represent them involving political and legislative issues. Georgia and Pennsylvania had the unicameral legislature where one congress would govern the state without a governor. Most states from Massachusetts to New York had a bicameral legislature or a law-making body with 2 houses (a Senate and a House of Representatives). The Senate was made up of mostly wealthy people and the House was made up of more of the working-class people. Many Patriots wanted all people to vote, and others wanted only wealthy, white landowning men to vote.
This debate would continue to the 20th century. After the Revolution, religious freedom was promoted more with the passage of the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom in 1788, which was drafted by the Deist Thomas Jefferson. Baptists helped to promote religious freedom. Back in the 18th century, many Baptists were placed into prison or oppression for refusal to baptize babies and Baptists promoted the separation of church and state. Massachusetts and Connecticut continued to promote established churches. 1777 was the year when the Articles of Confederation was formed. This confederation of 13 states worked together under the leadership of John Dickinson of Pennsylvania. The federal government was not strong. Each state had its own sovereignty. The federal government was elected among a congress of delegates, not voted by the people (chosen by state legislatures). It limited Congress in many ways like it can't make taxes. America promoted the Northwest Territory expansion into the Midwest. Thomas Jefferson wanted a nation of farmers and the expansion of slavery. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 banned slavery from the territory. That means that new states have to enter the Union as free states not slave states. Spain didn't want American independence to expand. They didn't want America to trade in New Orleans. The British used mercantilism to punish American independence. Britain only traded with America to benefit its interests. The Articles of Confederation was not strong enough to handle economic issues as multiple states were unreliable to handle tax and spend issues. The Shays Rebellion in 1787 was about farmers, led by Daniel Shays (a veteran of the Revolutionary war) to give farmers to settle economic issues (of farmers having trouble paying down debts). Therefore, many Patriots wanted to form a stronger national government to handle disputes among states.
Therefore, the Constitutional Convention was formed in 1787 to make the United States Constitution as we know it. Many people wanted Congress to regulate interstate travel and get taxes. The Federal Convention started in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787. Many delegates from all 13 states were there from Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, etc. Alexander Hamilton wanted a strong federal government. Hamilton was a Federalist. Federalists were right that there should be a strong national government, but many Federalists went over the line like Morris who wanted the President to hold office for life or mimic aristocracy. James Madison wanted a strong federal government but wanted republicanism not a model of British systems. Madison wanted the Virginia Plan where the more people a state had, the more representation it had in Congress. The New Jersey Plan promoted by William Patterson wanted Congress to be represented by equal members no matter how large or small.
There was a Great Compromise done by Roger Sherman of Connecticut where there are 3 branches government, the House is based on a state's population and the Senate is based on equal members regardless of the size of the state. There are federal courts. There is a distinction between federal and state powers. Also, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches were co-equal in power. There was the 3/5 compromise that called black slaves 3/5 of a human which is highly offensive. There were fugitive slave laws that forced Northerners to send escaped slaves back to the South. The Constitution was based on John Locke and other Enlightenment scholars. Then, there was the ratification of the U.S. Constitution which would be hard. The Federalists (led by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison) wanted a strong national government, and the anti-federalists wanted a weaker national government (led by Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, etc.). The Federalists were right that the national government should be strong to protect the rights of people, and the Anti-Federalists were right to advocate a Bill of Rights to make sure that the national government doesn't be tyrannical against the people. The Federalists had support among urban workers, seaport workers, and the Anti-Federalists had support among farmers. The Federalists promoted their ideals in The Federalist essays.
The Founders had diverse views on slavery. There were many Founders who strongly opposed slavery like John Laurens (who was from South Carolina and wanted black soldiers to fight on the Patriot side being free from slavery), John Adams, and Thomas Paine. Many of them owned slaves like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and never freed any of these human beings. Washington had provisions in his will to emancipate his slaves after his death. Benjamin Franklin owned slaves and then later opposed slavery being a leader in the abolitionist movement. Many of them believed in the myth that slavery would just die out by its own volition, but slavery had to be eliminated immediately as slavery is morally wrong and ethically reprehensible. No human has the right to own and oppress another human being period.
The Federalists won the Constitution battle, but the Bill of Rights was added to ensure that freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the right to have a press, the right to a trial, etc. were in existence. Congress passed the Bill of Rights in 1789. The Constitution promoted popular sovereignty, limited government, the separation of powers, federalism, checks and balances, and representative government. The Constitution persists to this very day. The contradiction is that many parts of the Constitution had to be changed and added to right wrongs and fight injustices. To this day, we have people who want to harm the Constitution with reactionary policies. George Washington was elected the first American President by 1789 with Vice President John Adams via the Electoral College. Washington suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and he opposed political parties, but 2 early parties existed (the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans). The Federalists were right on many issues but wrong for supporting the anti-liberty Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 that contributed to Jefferson being elected President by 1800 (against John Adams). That is why we must always fight evil and promote legitimate democratic freedoms in our daily lives. America by 1789 was very imperfect, and it will take heroic Americans to end slavery, to defeat the Confederacy, give women the right to vote (along with other human rights), to advance economic/labor rights, and stand for civil rights decades and centuries after 1789 indeed.
Epilogue
The American Revolution War changed the world in tremendous ways. The war ended in the modern expansion of the United States of America with its paradox of implications. America was birthed in the two sins of the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of black African human beings. I know many people want to whitewash history, but this is the reality of America's true history. Native Americans lived in the Americas first. Later, Europeans, Africans, and other human beings came to the Americas in many different ways. The colonies in the English colonies of North America have grown rapidly since the 1500s. By 1765, the American colonies were a major economic powerhouse. After the French and Indian War, the British Empire was a brutal monarchy. The Monarchy had an autocratic system where there was the British Parliament, but the King still had major political and economic power via mercantilism, the Maafa, colonialism, etc. The British Empire wanted the American colonies to pay taxes to end the debt that was accumulated from the French and Indian War. Parliament promoted more taxes, and many American colonies refused to pay taxes, because they didn't have representation in Parliament. The colonists opposed the Stamp Act. The Townshend Act, the Boston Massacre, and other events caused the colonists to rebel against the taxation policy from Parliament. The Patriots either wanted representation or American independence. The Loyalists were colonists who wanted to stay with the British Empire.
The conflict of the American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783 (tension started to rise up as early as 1765). The colonists formed the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia by late 1774. They organized Patriot resistance in networks of committees. Then, the war started when British forces wanted to disarm local militias in Boston, and the Patriots fired their weapons at the Redcoats by April 1775. The war was on. The 2nd Continental Congress responded by June 14, 1775, to fight the war with George Washington as its commander in chief. The King George III occupied Boston for a time. The Patriot forces were heavily defeated at first, but they showed resiliency with help from the Dutch, the French, and Spanish, and other people. Black Americans joined both sides to desire freedom from the tyranny of slavery. By July 1776, the Second Continental Congress formed the new nation of the United States of America. Its Declaration of Independence was influenced by the philosophies of liberalism, republicanism, the Enlightenment, the 1689 British Bill of Rights, etc. against monarchy and aristocracy. Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal," but he owned slaves. American forces allowed the Redcoats to tire themselves out in the South and other regions of America to cause an American victory. The war ended by September 3, 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed. America had lands east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, and Native Americans heavily got their lands stolen and their treaties broken. America had a group of righteous people who wanted liberty and evil people who wanted slavery, bigotry, xenophobia, racism, sexism, and horrendous divisiveness to reign. We won many progressive victories, but we have a long way to go in 2025. The true essence of America represents us (among those of every color, sex, and background) who love diversity, love justice, believe in equality, and want the world to be better than the past. We truly love America, because we want America to be much greater than it is today. If we didn't care, we would embrace nihilism, but we won't. To love America is to tell the truth about America without whitewashing or sugarcoating its actual history. That is why those evil folks (who a'int got any sense to keep it real) who want to erase or sugarcoat American history are allied with the bigoted anti-DEI movement. Either we have democracy or autocracy and fascism. There is no middle ground. I choose democracy. We desire America to reach into higher heights of excellence along with justice for everyone to be made into a reality. The American Revolutionary War was a very important epoch of world history that must be acknowledged to make America better than the past indeed.
By Timothy
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