The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), American War of Independence, or just in the American Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers, such as the conflict in India and West Africa between Britain and France.
War is the result of the political American Revolution. Galvanized the colonists about the position of the Stamp Act of 1765, imposed by the British Parliament, was unconstitutional. British Parliament insisted on having the right to tax the colonies. The colonists claimed that, because they are British citizens, taxation without representation was illegal. American colonies formed the Continental Congress a unifying and a shadow government in each colony, although it seems to claim allegiance to the king and place in the United Kingdom. American boycott British tea tax imposed directly led to the Boston Tea Party in 1773. London responded by ending the self-government in Massachusetts and placed under the control of the British army to General Thomas Gage as governor. On April 1775 Gage learned that the weapons were gathered in Concord, and he sent British troops to seize and destroy them. Troops and local militia confronted shootout (see Battles of Lexington and Concord). After repeated requests for intervention by the British monarchy to parliament, ending the chance for a compromise when Congress declared a traitor by royal decree, and they responded by declaring the independence of the new sovereign external to the United Kingdom, United States of America, on July 4, 1776. American loyalists refused Declaration, which gained international recognition is limited. Efforts to expand into Quebec and the Floridas rebellion did not succeed.
France, Spain and the Dutch Republic secretly supplied all the equipment, ammunition and weapons to the revolutionaries begin early 1776. After the initial British success, the war became a stalemate. British used their naval superiority to capture and occupy coastal cities, while most of the American rebel-held countryside, where 90 percent of the population live. Britain's strategy relies on mobilizing Loyalist militia, and was never realized. A British invasion of Canada ended with the capture of the British army at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. That the American victory persuaded the French to enter the war opened in early 1778, balance of military forces on both sides. Spanish and Dutch-French-too Republican allies went to war with Britain over the next four years, threatening the invasion of Great Britain and the British military is testing the strength of the campaign in Europe. Spain's involvement resulted in the expulsion of British troops from West Florida, securing the southern United States. The decisive victory of the British navy at the Battle of Saintes France and Spain foiled a plan to drive Britain from the Caribbean, and the Franco-Spanish joint effort to capture the stronghold of British Gibraltar also resulted in a similar defeat.
French involvement proved decisive but costly, damaging the French economy and driving the country into massive debt. A French naval victory in the Chesapeake led to the siege by the combined Continental and French troops that forced the British army to surrender in Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. Battle continued throughout 1782, while the peace negotiations began. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the war and recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the area roughly bounded by what is now Canada in the north, Florida in the south, and west of the Mississippi River. A wider international peace agreement, in which some regions exchanged.
Combatants before 1778
American soldiers and militia
Main article: Continental Army and the Minutemen
Population density in the American colonies in 1775
When the war began, the 13 colonies did not have a professional army or navy. Each colony was sponsored local militia. Lightly armed militias, have little training, and usually do not have a uniform. Units they served for only a few weeks or months at a time, was reluctant to travel far from home and thus not available for extended operation, and do not have the training and discipline of the more experienced soldiers. If used correctly, however, their number could help the Continental forces overwhelm the smaller British forces, the battle of Concord, Bennington and Saratoga, and the siege of Boston. Both sides used partisan warfare but the Americans are effective in suppressing Loyalist activity when British regular is not in the area.
Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress established (on paper) a regular army on June 14, 1775, and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. Development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington used both the regular and the state militia throughout the war.
The United States Marine Corps traces its roots to institutional Continental Marines of war, formed at Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress resolution on 10 November, 1775 date is seen and celebrated as the birthday of the Marine Corps. In early 1776, Washington's army has 20,000 people, with two-thirds enrolled in the Continental Army militia and other third countries. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, both the Continental Navy and Continental Marines disbanded. About 250,000 people become regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of war, but there are never more than 90,000 men under arms at one time.
Small army by European standards of the era, mainly due to limitations such as lack of powder and other logistics capabilities on the American side. It is also difficult for England to transport troops across the Atlantic and they depend on local supply of the Patriots tried to cut. By comparison, Duffy notes that Frederick the Great usually commanded from 23,000 to 50,000 in battle. Both pale in comparison with the army to be fielded in the early 19th century, in which the formation of the troops approached or exceeded 100,000 men.
Loyalist
Main article: Loyalist (American Revolution)
Historians have estimated that about 40 to 45 percent of the colonists supported the rebellion, while 15 to 20 percent remain loyal to the Crown. The rest tried to remain neutral and keep a low profile.
At least 25,000 Loyalists fought on the side of England. Thousands served in the Royal Navy. On land, Loyalist forces fought alongside the British in most battles in North America. Many Loyalists fought in partisan units, especially in the Southern theater.
British military met with many difficulties in maximizing the use of Loyalist factions. British historian Jeremy Black wrote, "In America the war was clear to both royal generals and revolutionaries that organized and significant Loyalist activity would require the presence of British troops." In the South, the use of Loyalists presented the British with "major problems of strategic choice" since it is necessary to widely disperse troops to defend Loyalist areas, it also recognized that there is a need for "maintenance of large concentrated forces able" to resist the attacks of American troops. In addition, the British were forced to ensure that their military actions would not "offend Loyalist opinion", eliminating choices as it tries to "live off the country ', destroying property for the purpose of intimidation, or force the payment of the invaders (" laying them under contribution ") .
British and auxiliaries
Further information: History of the British Army: War of American Independence
In early 1775, the British Army consists of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment continues to increase this number. British officials pointed to the general difficulties, however. General Thomas Gage, in command of British forces in North America when the uprising began, criticized for being too lenient (perhaps influenced by his American wife). Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst refused an appointment as commander in chief because of an unwillingness to take sides in the conflict. Similarly, Admiral Augustus Keppel refused, saying "I can not draw the sword in such a cause." The Earl of Effingham resigned his commission publicly when his 22 foot regiment was posted to America, and the William Howe and John Burgoyne was a member of parliament who oppose the U.S. military solution to insurgency. Howe and Henry Clinton stated that they were not willing participants in the war and was just following orders.
During the war, the British signed a treaty with the German variety, which supplies about 30,000 troops. Germans made up about a third of British troop strength in North America. The Hesse-Kassel Landgraviate from contributing more troops from other countries, and the Germans are known as "Hessians" to America. Revolutionary speaker called German soldiers "foreign mercenaries," and they are humiliated like that in the Declaration of Independence. By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America are more than 60,000, although it is spread from Canada to Florida.
State Secretary at War Lord Barrington and Adjutant General Edward Harvey were both strongly opposed to the war directly on the ground. In 1766 Barrington has recommended the withdrawal of troops from 13 Colonies to Canada, Nova Scotia and Florida. At the beginning of the war he urged the naval blockade, which would quickly damage the trading activity of the colony '.
Black Americans
This 1780 drawing of American soldiers from the Yorktown campaign shows a black infantryman from the 1st Rhode Island Regiment.
African-American slaves and free-served on both sides during the war. It recruited the British slave master's Patriot and the promised freedom to those who served. Due to manpower shortages, George Washington lifted the ban on black enrollment in the Continental Army in January 1776. Small all-black unit was formed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts; many slaves were promised freedom for serving. Another all-black unit came from Haiti with French forces. At least 5,000 black soldiers fought for the cause of the Revolution.
Tens of thousands of slaves fled during the war and joined the British line; others simply moved from the chaos. For example, in South Carolina, nearly 25,000 slaves (30% of the population enslaved) to escape, moved or died during the war impaired. This plantation production is disturbed during and after the war. When they withdraw their troops from Savannah and Charleston, as well as British evacuated 10 000 slaves, now freed. Overall, the UK is estimated to evacuate nearly 20,000 freedmen (including family) with other Loyalists and their troops by the end of the war. More than 3,000 freedmen were resettled in Nova Scotia, the other brought to the West Indies Caribbean islands, and some to England.
Native Americans
Most Native Americans east of the Mississippi River affected by the war, and many communities were divided over the question of how to respond to conflict. Although the tribe little friendly with the Americans, most Native Americans opposed the United States as a threat to their territory. Approximately 13,000 Native Americans fought on the British side, with the largest group comes from the Iroquois, who fielded about 1,500 men. The powerful Iroquois Confederacy destroyed during the conflict, although the Confederation of impartiality, the nations of Seneca, Onondaga, and Cayuga sided with the British. Members of the Mohawk fought on both sides. Many Tuscarora and Oneida sided with the colonists. Continental Army sent Sullivan Expedition in raids across New York to knock out the Iroquois who had sided with the British. During and after the war of friction between the Mohawk leader Joseph Louis Cook and Joseph Brant, who sided with the U.S. and UK respectively, exacerbated divisions.
A watercolor painting depicting a variety of Continental Army soldiers.
Creek and Seminole British allies fought against Americans in Georgia and South Carolina. In 1778, 800 Creeks destroyed the power of the American settlements along the Broad River in Georgia. Creek warriors joined Thomas Brown raid into South Carolina and England assisted during the Siege of Savannah. Many Native Americans engaged in a battle between English and Spanish on the Gulf Coast and up the Mississippi River, mostly in the UK. Thousands of Creeks, Chickasaws, and Choctaws fought in or near major battles like the Battle of Fort Charlotte, the Battle of Mobile and Siege of Pensacola,
Gender, race, class
Pybus (2005) estimates that about 20,000 slaves defected to or captured by the British, of whom about 8,000 died from illness or injury or are taken back by the Patriots, and 12,000 left the country at the end of the war, to freedom in Canada or slavery in the West Indies .
Baller (2006) examines the family dynamics and mobilization to revolution in central Massachusetts. He reported that the culture of war and agriculture are sometimes not compatible. The militia found that living and working on the family farm did not prepare them for the parade during the war and the rigors of camp life. Rugged individualism is contrary to military discipline and supervision. Birth order is often influenced by a man of military recruitment, as young people go to war and the older children took over the farm. One's family responsibilities and may inhibit the mobilization of public patriarchy. Emergency duty and family harvest pull the house apart from the command sergeant humans. Some relatives may Loyalist, creating internal strains. Overall, the historians concluded Revolution effect on the pattern of inheritance of patriarchy and egalitarianism favored.
McDonnell, (2006) shows that serious complications in the Virginia troops were mobilized conflicting interests of different social classes, which tend to weaken the united commitment to the Patriot cause. Assembly balanced the competing demands of elite slave-owning planters, the yeomen good (some have several slaves), and employees are required to have the land, among other groups. Assemblies used deferments, tax, replacement draft, and conscription to resolve the tension. Class conflict unresolved, however, make these laws are less effective. There are violent protests, many cases of embezzlement, and large-scale desertion, so that the contribution of Virginia came to an embarrassing low level. With the British invasion of the country in 1781, Virginia is mired in a class division as a native son, George Washington, made desperate to withdraw troops.
