6) Discuss the reasons, development and consequences of the War of Independence (1775-1783).

On the road to independence

The Seven Years' War cost Britain a lot of money and a lot of politicians reasoned that colonists should sustain the expenses of the war effort.

The British government, fearing that settlers migrating into

the new lands would provoke wars with the Indians, issued a royal proclamation denying the colonists the right to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. This angered the colonists.

Heavy taxes were introduced on sugar, coffee, textiles and other imported goods, Britain was worried by America's growing economy and possible competition. So she did everything to harass this development. The Quartering Act forced the colonies to house and feed British soldiers. The last of the measures of the new financial system was the amp Act of 1765 which provoked the greatest organized resistance in the colonies. It provided that special stamps were to be attached to all newspapers, pamphlets, leases other legal documents. It aroused the hostility of most of the American population, representatives from nine colonies met and convened the "Stamp Act Congress" demanding that "no taxes ever have been or can e imposed on them", and that it "subjected the rights and liberties of the colonists". Opposition was so widespread that the British government was forced to repeal the Stamp Act. At the same time British soldiers were sent to Boston where tension was high. The most popular slogan of the day was "No”

British government abolished many of the new taxes except that on tea. This led to new confrontation which moved to drive the colonies into war against the Mother Country. On the night of December 16, 1773, a band of men disguised as Mohawk Indians

boarded three British ships lying at anchor in Boston harbour and dumped 342 crates of tea to the waters of the port. They took this step as a form of protest. The British parliament responded by imposing the "Intolerable Acts" and closing the port of Boston to all shipping. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia, the Congress urged colonists to boycott British trade and to collect and store arms and organize units of militias to oppose the British army. Quite soon the growing confrontation broke into open fire.

On April 19,1775 the commander of the English garrison in Boston sent a unit of soldiers to the town of Concord to seize arms stored by the colonists. At the village of Lexington the British troops reached the village of Lexington on their way and encountered a band of 70 Minutemen — so-named because they were supposed to be ready to fight in a minute. Someone fired a shot, and a major exchange of fire took place leaving 8 dead and 10 wounded. This was "the shot heard round the world" which led to the American War of Independence (1775 — 1783). The English easily took Lexington and Concord, but on their way back they were harassed by hundreds of colonists, and when

they finally reached Boston they suffered more than 250 killed and wounded. The Americans lost 93 men.

In May 1775, a second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and assumed the powers of a national government. It formed a Continental Army and Navy under the Command of Colonel George Washington, a planter from Virginia and a veteran of the Seven Years' War. The Congress printed its own paper money and sought to establish diplomatic relations with foreign countries. On July 2,1776, the Congress finally decided "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent

states". Thomas Jefferson, an outstanding democrat from Virginia, together with others,

drafted a Declaration of Independence, which the Congress adopted on July 4, 1776. The Declaration not only announced the birth of a new nation, but also set forth the principles of human freedom.

However, these inalienable rights did apply to millions of Negro slaves, and the institution of slavery continued to exist well into the sixties of the 1860s.

It was one thing to proclaim independence, but another to win independence in the course of resolute struggle. At first the war did not go well for the poorly equipped and trained American army. At times it seemed that the British army of Redcoats would win. Little by little the situation changed when the American army was joined by thousands of volunteers. In October 1777 the British army under General John Burgoyne suffered heavy defeat at Saratoga in northern New York. After this victory France seized the opportunity to humble Britain, her age-old enemy. A Franco-American alliance was signed in February 1778. The Americans began to receive financial and military help from and the French navy supported the Americans at sea.

In 1781 at Yorktown near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay (Virginia) 8,000 British soldiers under General George Cornwallis were surrounded by a French fleet from the and a combined French-American army under George Washington. Soon after the British government asked for peace. Britain finally recognized the independence of the United States by signing the Treaty of Paris in September 1783. All the territories north of Florida which was returned to Spain, south of Canada and east of the Mississippi River formed the United States of America. The 13 colonies were now free independent. The events of the War of Independence are also termed as the lean Revolution because with the formation of the United States a republic was

established as a result of the struggle of the American colonists who overthrew a monarchy based on colonial exploitation and denial of civil and political rights. The American people cherish the democratic gains of the American Revolution. Moreover,

American Revolution had a great impact on the development of events in Europe, helping to trigger the French Revolution of 1789.