The American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War also called the American War of Independence started in 1775 and lasted till 1783. This is the war that led to the independence of the greatest country in the world today known as the United States of America. The United States went from a savage land with just the Native American Indians living here when Christopher Columbus first arrived, through the decimation of the Native American settlements and culture, the rule of the thirteen British Colonies to an independent country free from European Rule of any sort in just a few short decades. Could there have been a way for the United States to gain its independence from Britain without so much blood shed?

Events that Ultimately Caused the War of Independence

The animosity that led up to the war had been building and building for around ten years before the start of the war. The colonists were tired of the British government implementing different taxations on them to raise the revenue for the government. The British government was back at home in Great Britain and the thirteen colonies in America did not have and representation in parliament there, as such the British government was implementing taxes on the people without the people voice being heard.

The Stamp Act of 1765

The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first time the British Government put a tax on the colonist of the thirteen British colonies. The British Empire was in a lot of debt that stemmed from the Seven Years War. The Stamp Act of 1765 put a tax on all paper documents throughout the colonies. The colonists were outraged at this taxation imposed on them, their argument was that the tax was unconstitutional and only their representative assemblies were allowed to imply taxes on them, not Parliament. So with some violence, intimidation of key government official and to the Parliament discontent with the situation the tax was repealed in 1766. When the tax was repealed Parliament issued a Declaratory Act at that time giving them the authority to pass whatever legislation Parliament wanted to put into effect in Colonial American.

The Townshend Tariffs of 1767

The Townshend Tariffs of 1767 were created by Charles Townshend then pushed through and approved by the British Parliament. Shortly after the Townshend Tariffs passed Parliament Charles Townshend died and was replaced by Lord North. This new tariff put custom duties on paints, paper, tea, lead and glass. The colonist did not approve of these tariffs and protested against them, but with the passing of the Declaratory Act gave Parliament the authority to put these tariffs into effect. For the most part the protests of the Townshend Tariffs were done mostly in writing to Parliament from people like Samuel Adams and others, not with actual violence from the colonist this time unlike the Stamp Act Protests. To go along with the protests by the colonist, they implemented a boycott on British Trade. The few violent encounters that stemmed from this, namely the Boston Massacre were British soldiers opened fire killing five men was implement by the British trying to enforce the tariffs on the colonists.

The Tea Act of1773

The