The American Revolution didn’t start overnight, it was a very long and strenuous surpassing of events spanning over a decade that led to the Colonist’s decision to separate from the Crown and try to take back their independence.
There were several causes for what became known as the “shot heard round the world” that led to the war and eventually the creation of the United States of America
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It all started from the repercussions of the French-Indian Seven Years War, and the decision for parliament to pass the first levied colonist tax, the Stamp Act of 1765 which would help pay the British war debt and finance the British military occupation in the Americas.
More unjust tax acts continued to follow, including the Townshend Act of 1767, which taxed imported goods, and the Tea Act of 1773, which was imposed to help bail out the British East India Company. There were other such acts, including the Quartering Acts for British Housing and the Stamp Act which motivated the colonists to separate.
What continued the separation movement was the Boston Massacre in March of 1770 in which the British soldiers and Boston civilians fought over simple misunderstandings it was used as propaganda against the British when they were overrun by 200 civilians and painted as the aggressors, which only fueled the flame more. Also, the Boston Blockade which shut down the ports made clear that British control wasn’t going to falter any time soon.
Continued acts of violence and growing tensions combined with acts imposed on the colonists brought a clear and hostile line between the two forces, many then going to join the Sons of Liberty and forward the resistance against the British.
This led to the First Continental Congress, where twelve out of the thirteen colonies' representatives sent a petition to King George III only to be shunned away, which led to a boycott.
What followed was Lexington and Concord in April of 1773, where British soldiers were ordered to apprehend leaders such as John Adams and John Hancock, then arrived at Concord to seize gunpowder but were halted by 77 American militia, where the first shot was fired and America started its war for independence.
The reason American victory was possible was due to multiple reasons, but ultimately it came down to the Colonist having more manpower where they were able to consistently fight for more ground and have more effective attacks with the use of guerrilla warfare from the colonist time spent fighting the Native Americans. The French and Spanish assistance also helped them tremendously, and it secured their hard-fought victory. The colonists had much more willpower and much more of a reason to fight than the British. The British were fighting for a leader, the colonists were fighting for themselves. The British control could not be matched by the colonist's motivation to be free from tyranny.
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