The american revolution and independence

the american revolution and independence ppt revolution américaine.pptx

Introduction:

The Revolutionary War, 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. Conflicts between British troops and colonial forces in Lexington and Concord in 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. France entered the American Revolution on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war into an international conflict. After French assistance helped the Continental Army force the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, the Americans had effectively won their independence, though fighting would not formally end until 1783. -

now let’s start with causes of this american revolution

I. The Causes of the American Revolution

As we saw last week, until 1775, The British did not wish to see the thirteen colonies break away from their realm, yet their colonial policies in the late-18th century was a consistent failure, demonstrating a complete lack of empathy for the American population. 

It all started with the Seven Years war in 1756. The main belligerents were the British and French Empires.  With key but costly victories, the British were able to emerge victorious and to gain large parts of previously held French territory as a result of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, but both suffered because of important debts.

Any French and Native Indian threat to the thirteen colonies was eliminated but the war had led to greater economic hardship in the US.

The divide between the colonies and the British metropole was shown by the implementation of colonial taxation. The British witnessed these tensions when the Stamp Act of 1765 was introduced. Colonists bitterly opposed and forced the British Government to eventually repeal the legislation a year later.

“No taxation without representation” became an iconic slogan, as it summarized the colonial outrage at the fact they were being taxed against their will and with no form of representation in Parliament.

A key cause of the American revolution was also the introduction of Townshend Duties in 1767 and 1768. This was a series of acts that imposed new forms of indirect taxation of goods such as glass, paint, paper, lead and tea. These duties became the main root of spontaneous and violent opposition. The colonists, encouraged by propaganda and posters, organized merchant boycotts. Eventually, the colonial response was met with fierce repression.

Nothing ever suggested that the colonies might consider fighting their British masters until the infamous Boston massacre of March 1770 which was one of the most significant causes of the American revolution.

Soldiers were bombarded with dangerous missiles by the population as a form of revolution. 

The Boston Massacre is often represented as the inevitable start of the revolution, but it seemed like the worst of the crisis was over since it prompted withdrawal of the Townshend Acts. However, radicals such as Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson kept the resentment ticking over.

After that, a switch had been flicked. The British government had a chance to make important political concessions, yet they chose not to, and the opportunity to avert rebellion was lost.

In December 1773, the most famous display of resistance took place when a group of colonists hopped aboard the East India Company trade vessel and poured chests of tea worth close to $2,000,000 in today’s currency of British tea into the sea at Boston Harbour. This act is now known as the ‘Boston Tea Party.

Rather than attempting to appease the rebels, the Boston Tea Party was met with the passing of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 by the British Crown. These punitive measures included the forced closure of Boston port. Town meetings were now also banned, and the authority of the royal governor was increased.

The British lost further support and patriots formed the First Continental Congress in the same year, a body where men from all the colonies were formally represented.

In October 1775 George III, King of Great Britain, stood up in front of his Parliament and declared the American colonies to be in a state of rebellion. For the first time, the use of force was authorized against the rebels. The King made it clear that a major war against his own subjects was about to start. After such a speech, a full-scale war was inevitable.

II. The Declaration of Independence

The unanimous declaration of the thirteen united States of America and United States Declaration of Independence, is a fundamental political text drafted as part of the American Revolution, by which the Thirteen Colonies, a group of frontier colonies forming part of the British Empire in North America, declared their sovereignty over Great Britain on July 4, 1776, to form the "United States of America"

First of all, who is the man or rather one of the main writers behind this declaration?

Thomas Jefferson, was born in 1743 in Virginia and died in 1826  He was an American statesman, principal drafter of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, then Secretary of State, Vice President and third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. 

fun fact, it took Thomas Jefferson three weeks to write the first text. Moreover, some research has shown that although at the time it was intended to appear as a collective work, that Jefferson was the principal drafter. 

let's talk about the declaration of independence itself .The American Declaration of Independence can be divided into three parts:

First of all :An introduction, which affirms the fundamental rights of every human being: "All men are created equal; they are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". The text puts forward a revolutionary principle, that people have the right to dismiss governments that do not respect the above.

then The list of criticisms of the English government: George III is called a tyrant, an absolute despot and an unjust king.This second part creates a real break with English domination.

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