Young Writers Society

Having never been taught anything about the uprising of the thirteen (was it thirteen?) states in the American colonies against the British, I have very bare knowledge about what occured.

I'd appreciate it if someone told me general knowledge about the war, and any partuclar sites that would be useful. I know all you Americans are taught it at school, so help me out!

Specifically it would be useful if you could summarise the general reasons why the states rebelled and the feelings of Americans towards the British at the time.

Thanks in advance!

I give you the US Declaration of Independance, which sites all the reasons, in writing, why the colonies declared independance.

This is probably the best primary source you'll get.

However, if you want answers in more plain English, here it goes:

1. Before the French and Indian war (when England won Canada) the colonies were left alone and werent really taxed. They weren't represented in Parliament, either, but they werent taxed. After the War, King George decided he wanted/had to tax the colonists, and they were not given representation n Parliament when they were being taxed.
2. The King not only taxed the colonists, but taxed them heavily. They taxed Tea with the Tea Act of (I believe 1772?) and the Stamp Act (the King placed a tax on everything that bore the royal stamp--coins, letters, official documents, trade bargians, etc) and I think there was one more, I think it was the "Sugar Act" but I'm not certain. These were called the Insufferable acts.
3. In December (I think it was actually Christmas eve) in 1775, American Colonists demonstrated in the streets against the British Governors/Government, They sent troops to disperse the crowd, and wound up killing some colonists. This was dubbed the Boston Massacre.
4. After the Tea Tax was enacted, American Patriots (Ben Franklin among them) dressed up as Native Americans, boarded British ships, and threw the tea overboard. This was dubbed the "Boston Tea Party" In response, the British blockaded the Harbor.
Soon after, we sent in the Declaration of Independence and the rest is history, as they say.

Thanks a lot Dan, knew part of it but had no idea about the taxing ... mighty kudos to you.

Repression. Rather, as the colonists viewed it. I can send you my notes on pre-revolution stuff if you need more in depth.. (semi, rather, I slackec off some when I wrote them).

And Dan.. molassas act? something like that.. tea tax, the taxes got a bit out of hand.. the fact that the british virtually left the colonies fend for themselves since the Virginia Company.. and then tried to come in and bring order, as they saw it, refused to acknowlegde local officials, renounced local ogvernment in favour of parliment, and then made the coloines royal.. actually, most colonies were formed by independent joint-stock companies, and then the crown took over.. which annoyed settlers.. if there's anything specific just ask.. starting generally (ok, I'm guilty of this, I know) is hard.

There's also the fact there were settlers that weren't english, like the irish, french, spanish.. ok, spanish and french were more in the midwest and south of the current US, and the spanish also in mexico, south america, and eventually california area.. in new england, puritans and seperatits.. so add religion to the mix. also to the list of grivances, mass., plymouth, much of mew england settlers came to escape religious presecution in england, then the english come with the anglican church (I think it was, anyway). mercantilism and the navigation acts..

ok, that's some backround, not up to the 18th century, though. If I can find something good online I'll post it here, ok? oh.. that was confusing. how about question and answer? that might get somewhere. Broad subject, Jack.

Regarding the general feeling of Americans, it was only a minority that actually did not like the British. One third were loyalists (to the crown), one third were neutral, and one third were in favor of independence. Indeed, the Revolutionary War did not even begin with the idea of independence; the colonialists just wanted representation. For a long time, George Washington began meetings with a toast to the King. American Patriots like John Adams often sang "God Save The King." The idea of Independence really only developed after it became clear that the King was going to resist any notion of representation.

Then after the war, there was a huge exodus from the states on the part of British loyalists. So all in all, Americans had a strong affinity for England and the Crown all the way through the war. It was not until the 1800s that America developed an anomosity toward England, and even that disappeared rather quickly.

AP US History, eh, Mesh? Man, those were some good times. I could've gone in deeper, but I felt that Jack just wanted general overall history, not indepth histories of the reasons why the Massachussets Colony seperated from England (Anglican Church repression) and came here, and was so different to that founded by the Virginia company, and all about the inter-colony tariffs and all that jazz. But meh, whatever. Q and A sounds good from this end.

Nate, that was extremely useful!

I'm gonna be getting a few books out on the subject anyway, but I always feel you need some background knowledge to something first, since most history books assume you have some. Thanks a lot guys. They seriously don't teach this subject at all over here, not until univseristy (and then only if you choose it, which I might).

I am writing about the Rev War, as we speak; a 30 pager to say the least. I'm currently heading into the Massacre, as it was coined by Adams. Did you guys know Washington wasn't the first President? Anyway...

Let's see how much I remember, without the use of notes, lol. sabradan is correct, after the French and Indian War, the colonies weren't protected. Britain also was heavily in debt from the nine long years of warfare. Their point of view was if they had to pay tax, they sought the colonies they were protecting should too. King George III also seeked a way to fund their debt. Without approval from the Colonial legislatures, the Sugar Act went into full motion in 1763. While the tax was actually very low, it was more of the fact they were being controlled from someone overseas.

Without going into a full throttle time line, I major events that caused war were Sons of Liberty and their sometimes brute force, the Stamp and Tea Act, Intolerable Acts, Boston Massacre, the Townshend Act and of course the Tea Party(in no order) were the turning points.

I don't think any person wants to have to be forced to obey someone from another land, lol. It is interesting though, you aren't really taught about the war. It's shoved down our throats, lol. But in all honesty, Britain and the US have the strongest history together in my opinion, so I assumed the teachers would have taught the same thing, or something similar.

I would love find a book to see it in the eyes of the Brits. All you hear in the US is how we defeated England. What 99.9% Americans forget is if we didn't have the soldiers guarding and protecting us early on, chances are death could have been high and among other things; no America.

Let's see if I can help... my favorite class Junior year was AP American History, if I can remember anything is the key thing.

1. The Seven Years War or The French and Indian War - this was heavily, heavily expensive. Think about it England had to ship everything over to the Americas. Also France had the Louisiana Territory, so to speak, they had a bigger base. At the end of the war, England was in severe debt, and had to get their money from somewhere. Thus taxation laws were passed in parliament. Also England wasn't just facing France, but Austria and Spain as well.

2. George III was mentally ill, or so the records state as early as 1764. 'The Peace of Versailles, signed in 1783, ensured British acknowledgment of the United States of America. The defeat cost George dearly: his sanity was stretched to the breaking point and his political power decreased when William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister in 1783.' - straight from Britannia

3. Reasons for Taxation: England had to get revenue from somewhere, what better place than the American Colonies which had resources to spare. The Sugar Act was most famous but was actually named the American Revenue Act. The American Colonies were caught off guard, so to speak, they had never been taxed before, why were they being now?

4. Sons of Liberty: In reaction to the Stamp Act passed in 1765, which taxed all legal documents, many prominent Colonists formed this secret society against 'taxation without representation'. They were responsible for The Boston Tea Party.

5. The Boston Massacre - In 1770 there was a clash between armed guards (British) and the colonists. It escalated so much that people were throwing things at the guards. In self-defence one of the guards fired on the crowd. Panic ensued, and at the end 11 colonists were hit, 5 dead including former slave Crispus Attucks. Well when that hit the papers, it spread like wildfire that Lobsters had fired on an unsuspecting public, what with the force of propoganda, drawings of the spectacle were placed in all of the Colonist Gazettes. No matter as if it was in self-defense.

6. Loyalists - There were still many loyalists in America, especially from the South. People that felt like they owed England, since it was their Mother Country, and had given them all they need, food, shelter and such... what was a little reparation.

7. The First Taxation - the first taxation was the Navigation Acts by Grenville (sp) the current Prime Minister Grenville. Which taxed all shipping. The first of these was imposed as far back as 1651 by Cromwell - that cursed roundhead.

8. Navigation Acts and their effect on trade - The harshest was The Molasses Act of 1733. It placed restrictions on things like molasses and sugar from the French West Indies to the colonies. New England enjoyed great trade with the islands, receiving molasses and sugar for flour, stock, lumber, fish which could not be sold to England because of the corn laws. So inessense trade would have died in the northern states if this had been properly inforced. They couldn't trade with England, and now the islands were expensive. The South raised things that could not be duplicated in the UK such as tobacco and rice, so their trade suffered far less.

I hoped this helped. What with what everyone else had to say and with your own research I'm sure you'll be fine.

As for fiction on the subject, Harry Turtledove wrote a very good alternate history called The Two Georges on if the Americans lost the revolution.

CL

fishr wrote:I am writing about the Rev War, as we speak; a 30 pager to say the least. I'm currently heading into the Massacre, as it was coined by Adams. Did you guys know Washington wasn't the first President? Anyway...

I did! I did!

The first president was actually Peyton Randolph, and he was followed by 14 (or was it 12?) "forgotten presidents." Washington wasn't inagurated until 1789.

I'll have to grab my notes to make sure I don't get any dates wrong, but we just covered the American War for Independence. I'll be back...

wait.. what?!?!!? really.. Washington not the first president? where can I find more info on this? Now I have to ask my history teacher about this.. I'll add more about the actual revolution when I have my notes typed (illegible handwriting, anyone?).

wait.. what?!?!!? really.. Washington not the first president? where can I find more info on this? Now I have to ask my history teacher about this.. I'll

It's true Mesh because the Articles of Confederation were so weak.
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774, and the greatest minds in history reformed the Articles. That is of course, if my memory serves me right. I believe the Continental Congress met twice in Philadelphia. It's said John Adams 'single handily' wrote the majority of the Declaration, while Franklin edited Jefferson's first draft. However, Jefferson did most of the writing.

Hmm... Why the heck not. I submit for your approval, part of the Declaration so everyone can see the 'scribbles' from Franklin's editing. Actually, I believe others were involved in editing it before the final draft was finished.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence#Draft_and_Adoption

Peyton Randolph(I forgot myself so I ran a search.)

Peyton Randolph (September, 1721 – October 21, 1775) was the first President of the Continental Congress. He presided from September 5 to October 21, 1774, and then again for a few days in 1775 from May 10 to May 23. He was succeeded in office by Henry Middleton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_Randolph

Anyway, I have the name of the very first President written down somewhere. Part of me still says Randolph wasn't the first, even after running a search. Another name keeps tugging at me, but chances are it was Randolph and I'm confusing him with someone else.

fishr wrote:
I am writing about the Rev War, as we speak; a 30 pager to say the least. I'm currently heading into the Massacre, as it was coined by Adams.

And that 30 paper is now a 96 paper, lol. Not to mention I still haven't written the Massacre yet. Although, I'm learning quite a bit about Samuel Adams, Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty.

Interesting technicality, there. Now, I resolve to do some research of my own on this matter! and outsmart the AP test.. *whistles*

oh, I have a question. Does anyone know where to get information on all of the signers of the decleration, and their descendents? I've tried several books, to no avail, and a few internet searches, but nothing's come up..

Does anyone know where to get information on all of the signers of the declaration, and their descendants? I've tried several books, to no avail, and a few Internet searches, but nothing's come up..

Hmm... Well, there is a site I know of where it gives bios about each of the signers, but of course it doesn't go in depth like their entire life. You'll have to locate authors that devoted their time to a specific signer, such as Hancock.

As for their descendants, are you aware some of the signers have an incredibly LARGE family? I'll use Paul Revere as an example again, since I'm currently more in tune with him. Revere married twice and had twelve children, lol. So, mentioning that, can you imagine how large that family was? There's a book I've been reading if you want to take a peek, Mesh.

Paul Revere's Ride by David Hackett Fishcher. It has tons of information.

And John Adams? His family was pretty large too. I'm only bring it up because to locate all the singers decedents would be an incredible amount of time reading and researching.

Here's the site for the bios of signers:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/

The only thing I can suggest for locating more books, is to run a search on Amazon.com or try your local bookstore like Barnes and Noble or maybe Borders. Most decent bookstores have a US History or Biography section.

I'm still trying to locate a book on Sam Adams, lol. It's driving me nuts. I can't find one in my area. I'm about to give up and go read about Patrick Henry, lmao. At least Henry was comparable to S. Adams in some regards.

Edit, I just noticed this. For the sake of accuracy, since Firestarter wanted information, I caught a minor mistake.

3. In December (I think it was actually Christmas eve) in 1775, American Colonists demonstrated in the streets against the British Governors/Government, They sent troops to disperse the crowd, and wound up killing some colonists. This was dubbed the Boston Massacre.

The Massacre was actually in 1770; March fifth to be exact. In 1775, marked the beginnings of series of the earliest battles such as Lexington and Concord; capturing Fort Ticonderoga (with help from Ethan Allen and The Green Mountain Boys and Battle of Bunker (Breeds) Hill.