American War of Independence
In summary
American independence was the outcome of the conflict between Great Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies. After the Seven Years' War, London imposed new taxes on the colonists, who rejected them in the name of the principle of “no taxation without representation”. The Boston Tea Party (1773) and the punitive laws that followed led to the first clashes, at Lexington and Concord, in April 1775. On 4 July 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence. The victory at Saratoga (1777), which persuaded France to join the rebels, and the British surrender at Yorktown (1781) gave the Americans the upper hand: in the Treaty of Paris of 3 September 1783, Great Britain recognised the independence of the United States.
What you need to know
Victorious over France in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), Great Britain emerged from the conflict heavily in debt. To make its North American colonies share the cost of their defence, Parliament in London introduced one tax after another: the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765) and the Townshend duties (1767). The colonists, who elected no members to Westminster, rejected them in the name of the principle of “no taxation without representation”. Boycotts and riots followed; on 5 March 1770, British soldiers killed five townspeople in the “Boston Massacre”.
In 1773, the Tea Act allowed the British East India Company to sell its tea directly in America, at the expense of colonial merchants. On 16 December, colonists disguised as Native Americans dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor: this was the Boston Tea Party. London retaliated in 1774 with punitive laws, which the colonists called the “Intolerable Acts”: the port of Boston was closed and Massachusetts placed under direct control. In September 1774, twelve colonies sent delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which organised a boycott of British goods.
On 19 April 1775, at Lexington and Concord, near Boston, the first shots between militiamen and British soldiers started the war. In June, the Second Continental Congress gave George Washington command of the Continental Army. On 4 July 1776, it adopted the Declaration of Independence, largely drafted by Thomas Jefferson, which declared that “all men are created equal” and endowed with unalienable rights, among them “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.
The early years were hard for the rebels, who were driven out of New York in 1776. The turning point came on 17 October 1777 at Saratoga, where the British general John Burgoyne surrendered with his army. Convinced that the Americans could win, France signed a treaty of alliance with them on 6 February 1778; Spain in turn went to war against Great Britain in 1779, alongside France. On 19 October 1781, besieged at Yorktown, Virginia, by the troops of Washington and Rochambeau and cut off from relief by Admiral de Grasse's fleet, General Cornwallis surrendered with more than 7,000 men.
The Treaty of Paris, signed on 3 September 1783, recognised the independence of the United States, whose territory extended to the Mississippi. The young republic, first governed by the Articles of Confederation, adopted in 1787 a federal Constitution that is still in force. The first European colony to win its independence, it inspired the French revolutionaries and the independence movements of Latin America; it nevertheless kept slavery and granted no rights to Native Americans. For France, the cost of the war deepened the financial crisis that led to the Revolution of 1789.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica, article « American Revolution »
- Gordon S. Wood, The American Revolution: A History, Modern Library, 2002
- Bernard Cottret, La Révolution américaine : la quête du bonheur, 1763-1787, Perrin, 2003
- National Archives (États-Unis), texte de la Déclaration d'indépendance
Key Events
In protest against the Tea Act, colonists disguised as Native Americans dump 342 chests of East India Company tea into Boston Harbor. London retaliates in 1774 with punitive laws, the “Intolerable Acts”.
The first clashes between Massachusetts militiamen and British soldiers start the War of Independence. In June, the Continental Congress gives George Washington command of the Continental Army.
On 4 July 1776, the thirteen American colonies declared independence from Britain, founding the United States of America.
Surrounded, the British general John Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga with his army. This American victory persuades France to enter the war on the rebels' side.
France recognises the independence of the United States and signs with them a treaty of amity and commerce and a treaty of military alliance. Spain in turn goes to war against Great Britain in 1779.
Besieged by the troops of Washington and Rochambeau, and cut off from relief by Admiral de Grasse's fleet, General Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, Virginia, with more than 7,000 men: it is the last major battle of the war.
Great Britain recognises the independence of the United States, whose territory extends to the Mississippi. The same day, at Versailles, it makes peace with France and Spain.