What led to the American Revolution

The American Revolution began in 1775 as an open conflict between the United Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain. Essentially, it began as a disagreement over the way Great Britain governed the colonies and the way the colonies thought they should be treated. Americans felt they deserved all the rights of Englishmen. The British, on the other hand, thought that the colonies were created to be used in ways that best suited the Crown and Parliament.

List of Factors Leading to the American Revolution

· The men and women who colonized the New World did so because they desired opportunity for themselves and their kids and desired a level of freedom.

· The formation of colonial legislatures (ˈledʒɪsleɪtʃəz) gave the colonist a feeling of independence from British rule in that they were able to pass their own laws and muster troops.

· Prior (ˈprʌɪə - до) to the end of the French and Indian War Britan pretty much did not interfere with the American colonist and were very lax нестрогий with many of the regulations that were in place. This all changed after the French and Indian War and the need of the British to raise money to pay their war debts.

· A cultural movement took place in Europe in the late 1600s and 1700s called the Enlightenment просвещение. Writers involved in this movement such as John Locke wrote about such issues as limited government and consent of the governed. This movement influenced the thinking of many of the founding fathers as they began to seek liberty and freedom from the control of the British.

List of Events Leading to the American Revolution

· Sugar Act (1764). This British law charged duties on sugar imported by the colonies. Several other products were also taxed.

· Currency Act (1751 and 1764). Several Acts which regulated the issuing of money by the American colonist.

· Stamp Act (1765). This British law required certain printed materials including newspapers in America be on paper produced in Britan and stamped with a revenue (ˈrɛvənjuː) stamp.

· Quartering Act (1765). This act forced the colonist to provide food and shelter for British soldiers when needed.

· Townshend Acts (1767). A series of acts passed By Britan beginning in 1767 that taxed the colonies.

· Boston Massacre ˈbɒstən ˈmasəkə (1770). An angry mob of colonist confronts kənˈfrʌnts British soldiers in Boston.

· Tea Act (1773). This act basically gave the British East India Company a monopoly məˈnɒp(ə)li on tea trade in the Americas.

· Boston Tea Party (1773). In response to the Tea Act patriots dressed as American Indians dump British tea into Boston Harbor ˈhɑːbə.

· Intolerable Acts (1774). A series of laws also called the Coercive kəʊˈəːsɪv Acts passed by Britan in response to the Boston Tea Party.

The American Revolution

The Revolutionary War (1775-83), also known as the American Revolution, arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.

Causes: Attempts by the British government to raise revenue ˈrɛvənjuː доход by taxing the colonies (notably the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Acts of 1767 and the Tea Act of 1773) met with protest among many colonists, who resented негодовать their lack of representation in Parliament and demanded the same rights as other British subjects.

Biggest clashes столкновения preluding ˈprɛljuːd war: Boston Massacre (1770), Boston Tea Party (1773) (более подробно билет 13)

The tensions were only rising as the offended colonialists were forming secret organizations (among students, navy, African slaves, and other groups as merchants ˈməːtʃ(ə)nt куацы and artisans ремеслиник). During the first couple of years, before the first major battle, the American forces were mainly represented by people who weren’t military trained, but were certainly sure in their desire to gain independence from Britain. Many historians tend to think that this very drive led the colonialists to win against the well-trained numerous British army.

Major events: The First Continental Congress (September 1774, key figures - George Washington, John and Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Jay) demanded independence from Britain, denounced осуждали taxation without representation представительство, issued a declaration of the rights.

On April 19, colonial militiamen mɪˈlɪʃəmən ополченцы clashed with British soldiers in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, marking the start of the Revolutionary War.

The Second Continental Congress (May 1775, Philadelphia, the same as in the first one + Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson) voted to form a Continental Army, with Washington as its commander in chief tʃiːf главнокомандующий. The independence of the Parliament was declared.

On June 17, colonial forces inflicted нанести heavy casualties on the British regiment ˈrɛdʒɪm(ə)nt полк of General William Howe at Breed’s Hill in Boston. The engagement бой, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, ended in British victory, but lent encouragement to the revolutionary cause.

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence, drafted созданную by a five-man committee including Franklin and John Adams but written mainly by Jefferson.

Turning point: The Battle of Saratoga in 1777. American soldiers forced a British surrender сдаться. This led to France and Spain joining the war on the side of Americans. These powerful countries fought the British around the world.

The American commerce ˈkɒməːs raider ˈreɪdə налетчик John Paul Jones also won several naval battles over the British, but the French navy did most of the fighting at sea. The Americans tried to capture Canada several times, where many British military bases were located.

In 1781, Washington and French general Jean Rochambeau led an offensive вел наступление against British troops in Yorktown, Virginia (the Battle of Yorktown). When their soldiers lost this battle, the British surrendered.

End of war: The American Revolution came to an end in 1783 when a peace treaty договор was signed in Paris, France. In the Treaty of Paris, the British King, George III accepted the independence of the colonies and recognized the newly created nation as the United States of America.

The treaty also gave all the land which was west of the Appalachians ˌapəˌleɪ(t)ʃ(ə)n as far as the Mississippi River to the new country. This land would eventually become part of the US, and lead to the creation of 35 new states that now make up the contiguous United States.

 

15. The Declaration of Independence was ratified in 1776, July 4. It announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.

The idea was to dissolve all political connection between Great Britain and American colonies and be Independent States (have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, etc). The Congress nominated the Committee of Five (Thomas Jefferson – the main author, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman) to compose a declaration of independence. It was important that people resume their original liberty that had been taken away by destructive government. They fought tyranny of the British monarch (Britain was taxing and mistreating the colonies + the colonies had no representative in Parliament to vote or discuss laws) and wanted to establish a new government.

The most important ideas of the document are democracy, freedom, natural human rights, equality and limited government; a ruler should gain authority through the consent kənˈsɛnt

с общего согласия of the governed and protect the people’s rights.

Some of the ideas Jefferson used rested on Mason’s Declaration of Rights and J. Locke’s ideas (in his Treatise of civil government Locke describes the rights of people to life, liberty and property, and Jefferson the declaration of independence emphasizes the right to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness). The paragraph about slavery was deleted.

The document is still important. There are a lot of allusions, quotations of the Declaration of Independence used in newspapers, the document inspired the French during the French Revolution, encouraged the Spanish to overthrow свержение the Spanish Empire.

Very important consequences: the document gave birth to what is known as the United States of America, and it is still symbolic of American democracy and liberty. It allowed the Revolutionary War to be seen as a war between 2 countries instead of a civil war; allowed the Emancipation of black slaves; had a profound effect upon the Bill of Rights (which elaborates разработать the ideas given in the Declaration).

 

 

16. The Constitution of the United States established America’s national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed certain basic rights for its citizens.

Articles of Confederation

America’s first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, was ratified in 1781, a time when the nation was a loose confederation of states, each operating like independent countries. The national government was comprised of a single legislature единый законодательный орган, the Congress of the Confederation; there was no president or judicial branch судебная власть. The Articles of Confederation gave Congress the power to govern foreign affairs, conduct war and regulate currency регулировать валюту; however, Congress had no authority to enforce its requests to the states for money or troops.

In 1786, Alexander Hamilton called for a constitutional convention конвенция to discuss the matter.