The American Revolution shaped this country into what it is today. American rights, freedoms, and liberties would not be as they are today if it were not for the revolution. Great Britain had amounted a lot of debt after the French and Indian War. So, as a method to help lessen at least some of the amount they owed, they expected the American colonies to share their costs. Starting in 1763, The British installed a series of acts for taxing the colonies. Even though it was not the worst thing they could have done, considering they helped defend the colonies during the French and Indian War, several colonists were irritated at the taxes. The revolution was caused by King George III’s attempt to raise his country’s revenues by taxing the colonies, which brought protesting by the colonists, who were unhappy with their lack of representation in the government. The colonial resistance brought violence when 5 colonists were shot and killed by English soldiers, in what was known as the Boston Massacre. Even though some colonists, before the war, believed that fighting would be the last resort, this was very clearly not the case for the historic war that started this country. The American Revolution had a total of thirty-seven thousand three hundred twenty-four deaths. This might seem like a small number, compared to the number of deaths in more modern wars, and indeed, it is. The American Revolution lacked as many deaths as other revolutions. This is because of the weaponry used in this war for freedom from the English.
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Although thirty-seven thousand three hundred twenty-four deaths sounds like a big number, the population of the colonists was at about 2.5 million, in which half a million of that number were slaves. This means that out of the whole population in the colonies, this war took about 1.5% of the lives of the colonists. Although this number looks big, it is rather small compared to other wars fought around this time. The primary weapon used in the war was the muzzleloading flintlock musket, along with its attached bayonet. To load the musket, soldiers opened their cartridge boxes, grabbed a cartridge, bit off the end to expose the powder, and poured small amounts into the pan of the lock. They would then close the pan, drop the cartridge into the barrel, remove their rammers, ram it home, return their rammer, and then cock their locks and aim the weapons at the enemies. There were no sights in these guns, just the bayonet lug near the muzzle. The soldiers would just look down the barrel. Soldiers were expected to be able to fire a shot every fifteen seconds for at least four minutes before needing to slow down due to the fouling in the barrel. These guns took a noticeable amount of time to get loaded up and be ready for battle. In addition to its loading speed, the muskets used in the American Revolutionary War used lead balls as its ammunition. As these balls were fired from the musket, they would often come out of the barrel spinning, looking somewhat like a curveball. With the loading time of the musket and the fact that these balls would curve when being fired, to compensate for inaccurate shooting, soldiers would often fire volleys, sending a larger number of balls toward the enemy, in the hopes of at least some of them hitting. In order to fire volleys in unison, soldiers would form into units of two to three ranks, or lines, that were shoulder to shoulder. The units operated like machines, lead by an officer, who would give the orders to load their guns, fire their guns, and move, when necessary. Units could easily turn their lines, move into columns or squares, advance, or turn about, at the direction of their officers. Even though these volleys would fire in mass, the speed of these weapons was extremely slow compared to other weapons. The muskets used in the war were expected to shoot once every fifteen seconds. Adding that fact to the fact that the bullets would not shoot straight and would go out of the barrels being like curveballs explain why the number of deaths was lower than other wars.
The American Revolution was something that completely changed and shaped what is now called the United States of America. It is something that will always and forever be in our history. The outcome of this war was the best possible outcome because it helped build this country. Though seemingly high, the number of deaths in the American Revolutionary War against Britain was relatively low compared to other wars. This is because the weapons used in the combat of these wars were slow and inaccurate. This war will be in lives forever.
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