American Revolution For Dummies

Steve Wiegand

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781119593492
• eBook ISBN: 9781119593515
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: History of Education
• Index: History

Become an expert on the Revolutionary War

American Revolution For Dummies capitalizes on the recent resurgence of interest in the Revolutionary War period—one of the most important in the history of the United States. From the founding fathers to the Declaration of Independence, and everything that encapsulates this extraordinary period in American history, American Revolution For Dummies is your one-stop guide to the birth of the United States of America.

Understanding the critical issues of this era is essential to the study of subsequent periods in American history … and this book makes it more accessible than ever before.

• Covers events leading up to the war, including the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and the Boston Tea Party
• Provides information on The Declaration of Independence
• Offers insight on major battles, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and Yorktown
• Reviews key figures, including George Washington, Charles Cornwallis, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Alexander Hamilton

If you want or need to become more knowledgeable about the American War of Independence and the people and period surrounding it, this book gives you the information necessary to become an expert on the essential details of the revolutionary period.

Part 1

The Roots of Revolution

IN THIS PART …

Centuries before anyone whistles “Yankee Doodle,” religious and political ideas and events lay the foundation for the American Revolution.

The Old World meets the New, and it’s not always pretty.

The American colonies participate in world wars and begin to feel strains of alienation from the Mother Country.

Chapter 1

A Revolutionary Story

IN THIS CHAPTER

Laying a foundation

Fighting for independence

Crafting a new kind of government

Taking the first steps as a nation

One of the dictionary definitions of revolution is “an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.” Another is “a radical, transformative change.” Yet a third is “a movement in a circular course, returning to its starting point.”

The American Revolution, I think, fits parts of all three of those definitions. Americans certainly overthrew and repudiated the established government under which they had been living. The result was certainly a radical, transformative change for them — as well as much of the rest of the world for centuries to come. And as Americans have moved through the 240-plus years since the Declaration of Independence, we have often revisited our starting point, not only to give us a sense of direction, but to provide ourselves with reassurance we are still on the right track.

But I’d add a fourth definition when it comes to the American Revolution: “The ongoing process of perfecting the best way of governing ourselves.” So, think of this chapter as providing a map for the rest of the book, which shows you where that process has taken us so far.

Setting the Stage

Before there was a United States of America, there were colonies, and before there were colonies, there were continents unvisited by Europeans, and before they could visit, the Europeans had to come through a whole lot of changes.

The changes ran the gamut from new ways of looking at religion to different kinds of governing. The two issues rarely stayed out of each other’s way. Chapter 2 takes a look at how economics, politics, and varying methods of worship combined to push Europeans, particularly those from England, Spain, and France, into a fierce competition to dominate the New World.

Progressing with Pilgrims — and for profit

As England came to dominate the portion of the North American continent now recognized as the United States, settlers took different approaches to settling. Some came to escape religious persecution in the Old World and establish their own little pieces of heaven on earth. Others came for money — or at least the profits that might be made in the new land.

Both kinds of newcomers encountered and endured a host of hardships. That’s what Chapter 3 covers, along with a look at how specific religious groups branched out to form their own distinctive colonies.

Fighting the natives and the home folks

Given the fact that Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries were almost always fighting with each other, it was probably dismally inevitable they would end up at war with the people already in America when they arrived. Chapter 4 follows the clash of cultures in different regions of the new land between the Native Americans and the newcomers.

It also examines early efforts by the various colonies to form alliances — and early rebellions against authorities representing the home country.

Growing up fast

Britain’s American colonies exploded during the first half of the 18th century, in more ways than one. There were spurts in population, economic prosperity, and political clout, all of which were positive signs that things were going well for the colonists.

But negative growth occurred as well: The population of kidnapped and enslaved Africans soared. A series of world wars, some of them directly involving America, took place. When the final war ended, British America had rid itself of the threat posed by the French Empire and was ready to confront a new threat — posed by Britain. That’s all in Chapter 5.

Divorcing the Mother Country

The American colonies generally came out of the French and Indian War in great shape. Millions of acres of virgin land had been won from the French and were ripe for settling. The mother country, Great Britain, was the most powerful nation on earth.

But lurking below the façade of Britain’s greatness were enormous war debts that had to be paid. And since the colonies benefitted from Britain’s protective cloak, British officials thought it natural that the colonists help pick up part of the bills. As Chapter 6 shows, the colonists thought otherwise. A series of taxing efforts by Parliament resulted in a series of downright surly responses from Americans.

Warming up for war

For five-plus years, America and Britain had managed to confine their differences to rhetorical battles and bloodless economic boycotts. But the conflict takes a decided turn to the violent in Chapter 7. There’s a massacre in Boston, along with a tea party.

Then a group of Americans from 12 of the 13 colonies get together in Philadelphia to compare notes and ask the king to knock it off. But tensions grow, until on a crisp clear morning in April 1775, a shot is fired — and heard ’round the world.

Declaring independence

Even after the shooting began at Lexington and Concord, many Americans and Britons held out hope that some kind of reconciliation could be reached before too much more blood was shed. But as Chapter 8 reveals, the American leaders hedged their bets by setting up an army and picking the best general they could find to lead it — even if no one realized they were making such a good pick at the time.

More battles were fought, and the chances of accommodation dimmed. A scuffling writer newly arrived from England fanned the flames for a complete break from Britain. In July 1776, America declared its independence, in what is one of the most important political documents in human history.

Winning a war, the hard way

It certainly looked like a mismatch: the most powerful country on earth, with one of the most experienced and professional military organizations, versus a collection of 13 disorganized colonies that had to basically start from scratch to build an army and navy — and had very few raw materials to start with.

America did have at least one thing going for it, in the person of a military leader who had limited military skills but seemingly unlimited determination. As Chapter 9 shows, George Washington would need every bit of that determination to win a war against Great Britain. This chapter follows the course of battles; the hardships endured by the American forces; the British leaders’ uncanny knack for making blunders at critical times; and how things wound up after more than six years of fighting.

Making it a global affair

The American Revolutionary War didn’t just occur in America. In fact, it was actually a world war, involving at least a half-dozen nations fighting on several continents. Chapter 10 follows the action from India to the Caribbean, and explains how Britain having to fight on fronts all over the globe greatly hampered its efforts to hold on to its American colonies.

The chapter also takes a look at the American rebellion from the British perspective, as well as the leadership team King George III put together to fight the war and the flak he got from those in the British government who opposed it. That opposition, plus the timely and invaluable aid America received from France, led up to remarkably favorable peace treaty for the new United States.

Fighting among ourselves

While the Revolutionary War was a worldwide conflict, it was also a domestic civil war. Many Americans opposed independence from Britain, for a wide variety of reasons. Chapter 11 examines how the difference of opinions had tragic consequences, pitting neighbor against neighbor and even splitting families.

The chapter also looks at how the war and the struggle for independence affected various groups of Americans, including women, African Americans, and Native Americans, and what roles these groups played in the fight. Finally, it covers how the war effort was exploited for financial gain by some Americans, how neglect and exploitation nurtured resentment among the men fighting the war — and why they continued to fight.

War’s Over — Now Comes the Hard Part

Winning the war was only part of the American Revolution. Now a collection of 13 once-dependent colonies had to form some kind of independent nation. Chapter 12 covers the awkward period between the Battle of Yorktown, which ended the major fighting, and the gathering in Philadelphia to create a government system Americans could live with.

Sorting out the Founding Fathers

Before getting to Philadelphia and the Constitutional Convention, Chapter 13 examines the controversy among historians as to who deserves the title Founding Fathers or whether the term is meaningful. Then it gives you mini-profiles of ten, uh, “significant contributors” to the American Revolution.

Drafting new rules — and selling them

It was a long, hot summer of debating, arguing, writing, rewriting, and re-rewriting. The result, as Chapter 14 explains, was the U.S. Constitution, a blueprint for a new system of government. But coming up with the document was only half the battle. In Chapter 15, the other half is waged: selling the idea to the American people and then drafting a Bill of Rights to sweeten the deal.

Getting Government Off the Ground

The men who drafted the Constitution were reasonably thorough about establishing the legislative branch of the new government. But they left some sizeable blanks to fill in when it came to the executive and judicial branches. Chapter 16 fills in the blanks (or at least explains how they filled in the blanks), and covers getting the government financed. I also throw in the rise of party politics and say goodbye to George Washington.

Picking fights over presidents and parties

Choosing George Washington for president was easy; choosing his first two successors was pretty messy, mostly because of the convoluted process established by the Constitution. Chapter 17 covers the mess, along with the rise of political parties in America and a feud with France.

Sorting out the Revolution’s results

The American Revolution made an impact far beyond the new country’s borders. A very brief Chapter 18 summarizes some of the Revolution’s effects elsewhere, as well as the reverberations it has had on U.S. history, and what should be kept in mind about it as the 21st century moves on.

For further reading… .

Think of Chapter 19 as a mini-bibliography. I list some books on the American Revolution from various perspectives and on various parts of the topic. It’s designed to whet your reading appetite — after you memorize this book, of course.

The Good Stuff at the Back of the Book

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: The Roots of Revolution
• Part 2: The Fight for Independence
• Part 3: Now What?
• Part 4: A Nation’s Baby Steps
• Part 5: The Part of Tens
• Part 6: Appendixes
• Index
• About the Author
• Advertisement Page
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement