The American Revolution denotes the social, political and intellectual developments in the American states, which were characterized by political upheaval and war. This happened during the last half of the eighteenth century (Burg, 1). The revolution began in 1763 and lasted up to 1383 when the American Revolutionary war or the American War of Independence ended.
During this time, the thirteenth states of North America, which were colonies of the British Empire, joined effort to fight for their freedom (McNeill, para.1). These states came together and formed the United States of America.
The American people started by rebelling against the government of Great Britain and denying the administration structure and composition. The people rejected the authority of Britain’s Parliament governing them from overseas without local representation.
The British government had imposed many laws on their colonists and imposition of many taxes in order to demonstrate their authority.
The move by the colonizers seemed unpopular to the colonists and a violation of their rights. The colonists made plans to come up with their own congress.
This led them to expel all the royal officials. The American people then made local governments, which they replaced with the British’s ruling apparatus by 1772.
This triggered the British government to send combat troops to dissolve the local governments and impose their direct rule (Lancaster and Plumb, 66). By 1775, the colonies had mobilized their troops and war broke out.
In search for independence, the thirteen British colonies in North America started a war between them and the British government; a war, which was known as the American war of Independence, or the American Revolutionary war.
This war, which started in 1775 and lasted through 1783 ended in a global war between the many great powers of Europe.
The war saw the end of the political revolution of America, where the parliament of Great Britain was rejected as a legitimate governor of the people of America.
By 1776, all the thirteen colonies in North America had succeeded in driving out the colonial governors and declared the colonies states.
They set out their own legislation and this new constitution was used in each state (Mcllwain, 21). Newhampshire ratified its constitution on January 5, 1776 as the first state constitution. Later, the other states like Virginia, South Carolina and New Jersey created their own constitutions to decide what kind of government they needed.
In July 4, 1776, the Continental congress adopted the declaration of independence statement, a day that is celebrated as their Independence Day. On November 15, 1777, a new constitution was passed by the congress for ratification. This document was then ratified on March 1, 1781, a move, which saw the dissolution of the Congress and the establishment of the government of the United, States the following day.
After the defeat in 1776, the British returned between 1776 and 1777 to defend the revolution. In July 1776, the British defeated the continental army of Washington, which was considered as one of the greatest engagement in war. Later, the Americans formed alliances with the other nations like Spain, French, and the Dutch thus defeated the British and forced them to move southward.
The American people did not like laws and taxes to be imposed on them, an issue they considered as infringing their rights and thus had to undergo social, political and intellectual revolution in order for them to regain their independence and rights.
Works Cited
Lancaster, Bruce, and Plumb, John H. The American Revolution. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001. Print.
Burg, David F. The American Revolution. Clark, N.J.: InfoBase Publishing, 2007. Print.
McNeill, J. R. “How mosquitoes helped swarm the redcoats at Yorktown.” Washington post. 2010. Web.
Mcllwain, Charles H. The American Revolution: A Constitutional Interpretation. The Lawbook Exchange Ltd, 2001. Print.