It’s
been well over two centuries since the American Revolutionary War. As time
passes, we tend to forget the details, and what we learned in school about this
significant event. But even in the prior sentence I’ll bet that most people
would only name July 4, 1776 as the “event”. Those who remember a little more
of their US History might be able to remember that there were other things
besides the writing of the Declaration of Independence that were a part of that
war. They might remember things like the “shot heard ‘round the world” in
Concord. They might remember Washington Crossing the Delaware, or the harsh
winter at Valley Forge. But most people would be hard pressed to give the dates
of some of these other aspects of that war or to tell how many years the war
actually lasted.
In
more recent history there are probably more people who could give the range of
dates for the US Civil War (1861-1865), for WWI (1914-1918) (*3, *4), or for
WWII (1939-1945) (*5, *6), although for the latter ones, we tend to focus on
only the portion where the US was involved. And we now get upset about wars
that aren’t over with quickly, with the war in Iraq lasting 7 years (*7), and
the War in Afghanistan now dragging on in it’s 18th year (as least
as far a US involvement is concerned) (*8).
So,
let me refresh your memory about the American Revolutionary War – the one that
defined us as a nation (at least for my US readers). Here is a brief timeline
of some of the more significant events. (For a fuller list, see *1 and *2).
Pre-conflict
People
might come to different conclusions about what events to attribute to the war.
The timeline in *1 starts in 1629, but the timeline in *2 starts in 1754. But
there is some agreement as to which events were most significant:
· 1764-1765 –
England imposes various acts upon the colonies that make people upset. These
include the Sugar Act (to raise revenue), the Currency Act (preventing the
colonies from producing their own currency), the Stamp Act (putting a tax on a
number of items), and the Quartering Act (requiring citizens to house British
troops).
· 1765 – Delegates
from nine of the colonies meet together for the Stamp Act Congress which adopts
a Declaration of Rights and Grievances.
· 1767 – England
passes the Townshend Acts which place duties on many items imported into the
colonies
· 1770 – The Boston
Massacre – British soldiers had been stationed in Boston since 1768. When some
of them are harassed by local citizens, they fire into the crowd, killing three
and critically wounding two others who later die from their wounds.
· 1773 – The Tea Act
and subsequent Boston Tea Party.
· 1774 – England
passes the Intolerable Acts, more of the same type of oppression as some of the
above.
In
the fall of 1774, the First Continental Congress met with delegates from 12 of
the 13 colonies. They sent a petition to the King asking for the repeal of the
Intolerable Acts.
Armed
Conflict Begins
· April 1775 –
Battles of Lexington and Concord (some of my relatives had a significant part
in this, see *9)
· May 1775 – Second
Continental Congress meets, Fort Ticonderoga captured by Benedict Arnold and
the Green Mountain Boys
· June 1775 – George
Washington named Commander in Chief of the Army
· June 1775 – Battle
of Bunker Hill
· July 1776 –
Declaration of Independence adopted
As
you can see, we had already been fighting for over a year before we finally
adopted a formal declaration. And you can see in the Declaration the listing of
many of the items which preceded the conflict with specific reference to things
like the Quartering Act, and some of the various forms of taxes imposed.
Conflict
Continues
· August 1776 –
British defeat Washington on Long Island, but army manages to escape
· September 1776 –
British occupy New York City
· December 1776 –
Washington crosses the Delaware and captures Trenton
· January-May 1777 –
Army winters in Morristown, NJ
· July 1777 –
Lafayette arrives from France to assist the Americans
· September 1777 –
British occupy Philadelphia
· December 1777 –
Army winters over in Valley Forge, PA
· 1778 – Continued
fighting from NY to GA and west as far as St. Louis
· November 1779 –
Army winters over again at Morristown, NJ (harshest winter of the 18th
century)
The
End Approaches
· July 1780 – French
troops arrive in Newport, RI, to assist
· March 1781 –
Articles of Confederation written
· May 1781 – British
cede Fort Granby SC
· June 1781 –
Augusta, GA recaptured by Americans
· September 1781 –
French fleet drives British naval forces from Chesapeake Bay
· October 1781 –
Cornwallis surrounded by Americans and French and surrenders
· July 1782 –
British evacuate GA
· November 1782 –
British and American sign preliminary Articles of Peace
Cleaning
Up the Pieces
· September 1783 –
Treaty of Paris signed
· November 1783 –
British troops leave New York City
· December 1783 –
Washington resigns as Commander in Chief
· September 1787 –
Constitution signed
· June 1788 –
Constitution adopted
· December
1788-January 1789 – First elections held
· April 1789 –
Congress meets, certifies Washington as first President
· September 1789 –
Bill of Rights approved by Congress
· December 1791 –
Bill of Rights ratified
Synopsis
From
the first shots being fired in Lexington and Concord until the surrender at
Yorktown, the American Revolutionary War lasted nearly seven years. But there
were also eleven years of preliminaries before the actual conflict and another
eight years after that surrender until the United States became an actual
entity and elected their first President – a total of 26 years from beginning
to end, one full generation.
Even
then, the disagreements between the United States and Britain were not totally
resolved. Only a decade after Washington was elected President, France, our
partner in the American Revolutionary War, declared war on Britain, and in
1803, Britain once again began to capture American ships and impress American
sailors into service in the British Navy (*10). This led to a series of Acts by
the US Congress, then the first battle of what was called the War of 1812 was
fought. This second war with Britain lasted about 3 years (again from the US
perspective) and included American troops occupying Toronto, Canada, in 1813
and the retaliatory burning of Washington, DC, in 1814. It was not until
Christmas Eve of 1814 that the Treaty of Ghent was signed – ending the
disagreements and conflict with Britain that had begun in earnest FIFTY years
earlier.
Notes:
*4 –
Fighting ended in 1918, but the Treaty of Versailles was not signed until
January of 1919
*6 –
Conflict began in 1939, but the US did not enter until after Pearl Harbor
attack in December 1941
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