The great revolutions period: the US (1763-1783)

The independence movement: how did it start and how did it develop?

This is one of the most important phases of the American history, which led to the independence of the American colonies from the metropolis. This supposed the first big defeat of Great Britain after the Hundred Years’ War, as well as the beginning of what would be the fall of the overseas British Empire. On the other hand, despite the human loss that North America suffered (70,000), this meant their independence towards the exterior and the beginning of a new era.

George’s III of the United Kingdom reign (1760 – 1820) threatened the renovated colonists’ hopes that emerged with the Treaty of Paris (1763), which established the British control over what previously was French territory, as a consequence of the results of the Seven Years’ War. 

The parliamentary group King’s Friends, supported by George III, set a series of highly restrictive measures towards the American settlers’ rights. These measures, jointly with some other proposals such as the Stamp Act (1765), were the precedent of a series of turbulences that took place in Boston.  All this tension in the relations with the metropolis lead to the boycott of British products, as an answer to the Townshend Acts (1767), which set up new taxes to American imports. The separatist movement began to take shape in the form of the Common Sense pamphlet (1776) by Thomas Paine, preparing the ground for an upcoming revolution in order to proclaim the independence. Despite that, Great Britain did not take any action to contain the growing independent sentiment that was starting to flourish in North America (in the sense of more flexible measures). Maintaining the tea’s taxes, ensuring the East India Company monopoly over the product did not help at all, and it lead to the Boston Tea Party (1773). Colonists attacked merchant ships as an answer to the British oppression over them. The first continental Congress took place in 1774 in Philadelphia.

The delegates from the twelve colonies (Georgia did not send one) elaborated a Declaration of Colonial Rights and decided to suspend commercial relations with Great Britain up till the moment when the colonists’ rights were reestablished.

In April 18, 1775 the first confrontation between the American troops and the Royal troops took place in Lexington (Concord and Bunker Hill battles). It was the beginning of the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783). 


For those interested in the topic, you can find more interesting information here:

www.ushistory.org