
Monday, June 29, 2009

The Stamp Act

-Written By: Marcie Surratt
The Sons and Daughters of Liberty


The First Continental Congress

-Written By: Jorge Granda
The Battle of Lexington and Concord

-Written By: Zach Funk
Loyalists, Patriots, and Neutralists
Throughout the American Revolution, the colonists divided into three separate groups based on where their beliefs stood with the British. There were the Patriots, the Loyalists, and the Neutralists.
In History classes today, the Patriot side of the Revolution is more prominent. The Patriots fought for independence from the British. They wanted independence because they believed the recent laws imposed by the British on the American Colonies violated their rights as British citizens. Examples of this were taxing without consent, quartering soldiers in citizens’ homes, and denying a right to trial. Most of the Patriots lived in the New England Colonies, specifically Massachusetts, and were loosely associated with Presbyterianism. The Patriots highly mistrusted the Loyalists, which caused difficulties throughout the Colonies.
The Loyalists were made up of colonists who were loyal to King George III. Some Loyalists chose not to fight against the British because they were either wealthy, or believed that the British were justified in their actions towards the Colonies. Even if they agreed that the colonists suffered from the British, they still wished for a peaceful settlement with the British government in the end. It was dangerous to be a Loyalist, many of them were attacked and killed by the Patriots. They were sometimes whipped, abused, arrested, had their property destroyed or confiscated, and even tarred and feathered by Patriot rebels. Originally, Loyalists were passive and relied on the British for their protection. However, after they were mistreated by the Patriots, about half of the Loyalists became active. Loyalists tended to be wealthy landowners, American clergymen, or people with close business and political ties to Britain. In addition, they were mostly better-educated in comparison to the Patriots. Loyalists populated New York City as well as the Southern Colonies and were loosely associated with Anglicanism. Around one-third of the colonists made up the Loyalists.
The last group, Neutralists, were simply the people who didn’t want to fight, lived too far away to be able to fight, or believed in the principles of both the Loyalists and the Patriots.



-Written By: Chloe Jamerson
The Differences Between Armies
The American Revolutionary war pitted the forces of the English Army and Navy against the Continental Army, many of whom were part of the volunteer militia and were untrained. The full might of England greatly outweighed the colonials, and with the large size difference, the two sides came up with different tactics.
The English were trained in the traditional fighting sense that dated back centuries to the spear and shield style of fighting that Greeks and Romans used. It is a tactic that worked well with the muskets of the day, which were extremely inaccurate by today’s standards. The movements in formation are used to direct large groups of musket balls towards the enemy, much like a huge shotgun effect. The true mark of a good unit was how well it could take a volley of fire, rather than how well it could give one. Battles were won by mostly who survived, not by who killed the most troops. The distinctive uniforms of the era were designed to be associated with the fearsome reputation of English fighters, not just to make them stand out. The common strategy was to maneuver, fire, have the first rank of men drop back and load while the next rank fired, exchange volleys for a while, and then charge in with bayonets and sabers and finish off whoever was left. They used these older strategies of direct attack and inspiring fear because they were not expecting the Colonials to fight like Native Americans.
The colonials, many of whom had been born in America, were not accustomed to fighting like Alexander the Great, they had fought the Natives for years and had seen how well their guerilla strategies could hold off a larger and better equipped group. They used their surroundings to their advantage and did not have an identifiable uniform until late in the war. They also had the advantage of better firearms. The British used a style of musket commonly referred to as a “Brown Bess,” which was easier to load but less accurate than the American hunting rifles. The Americans compensated for this by staying out of range of the muskets and sniping at the Brits. Warnings were issued in England for officers to make sure they had their affairs in order, for they could be shot through the head when they thought they were out of range. Near the end of the war, the Continental Army adopted a mostly blue uniform and learned how to stand and fight like the British Army, and eventually beat them at their own game.


The Olive Branch Petition

-Written By: Brett Hamilton
As a result of the Olive Branch Petition, the colonists were considered to be committing treason against the British government. This angered the colonists and caused them to change not only their mindset as to how they wanted to be governed, but also their feelings about the British Empire. July 4th would not have been the holiday that it is today, if the events mentioned had not occurred and spawned other continuous factors that helped win the war for America to be it’s own country. In the end, the colonists were able to gain their independence from Great Britain and become what is now known as the United States.

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