Here are some key facts to know on how America was born!
6 - Tax Collection at its worst
Also known as the incident on King Street, the Boston Massacre has always been considered
one of the most significant events that lead to the war.
At the time, colonists characterized the event as a brutal, unprovoked killing of peaceful
protestors by british soldiers.
However, here’s what actually happened.
On March 5th, 1770.
A mob of angry Americans were harassing and threatening a British Soldier who had hit
a colonist during an argument over an unpaid bill.
The British Soldiers had been stationed in Boston in the first place to protect British
officials and loyalists from American mobs, who had grown increasingly violent.
Boston was a key shipping town in the colonies, and was especially hampered by the excessive
taxes unfairly levied by the British government, so the colonists had a legit reason to be
angry.
As the British soldiers tried to protect their comrade, the mob grew and began hurling snowballs
and other objects at the soldiers.
The soldiers opened fire on the mob, ultimately killing five people.
While the crowd dispersed, people across the colonies were outraged, and understandably
so.
The eight soldiers involved were arrested and charged with murder.
However, they were defended by a prominent lawyer named John Adams...who you likely know
as the second president of the United States.
Adams managed to get six of the soldiers acquitted and had two of the soldier’s charges reduced
to manslaughter.
Americans were pissed off after this, and the event became a rallying cry for leaders
such as Paul Revere and Sam Adams.
There’s also reason to believe that the colonists purposely egged on the soldiers,
as they repeatedly yelled “Fire!”
Regardless, the event proved to be a turning point in the revolution.
Public sentiment quickly turned against King George III and the British after that.
Although it was five years before war was declared, the Boston Massacre was a key factor
leading to the colonies declaring their independence.
5 - Pick the winning side
How many times have you heard someone say something along the lines of “This is America!
I can do whatever I want.”
I’m sure, it’s at least once a day.
Granted, we do have a lot of freedom that a lot of people have made sacrifices for.
So naturally, a lot of people would think that the American colonists would have been
tolerant of people who didn’t share their quest for independence, but surprise, surprise,
this was far from the case!
British Loyalists were treated horribly by their patriot counterparts, who among other
grievances, were angry about the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Tea Act of 1773.
Even though the colonies tried to plead their case in front of the King in a civilized and
peaceful manner, their requests went ignored and taxes continued to be levied.
So it’s easy to see why the colonies were so upset.
British soldiers occupying the colonies made life very difficult for the colonists.
With that in mind, It wasn’t uncommon for Patriots to gang up on their neighbors and
intimidate them for remaining loyal to the British or simply remaining neutral.
In fact, the American colonists often rounded up suspected british loyalists to tar and
feather them, a brutal, painful, and humiliating punishment.
While history books often suggest that the punishment was targeted towards British government
officials for enforcing unfair taxes, many of the patriots turned on their neighbors
who didn’t actively support their cause.
Houses were burned, business were ransacked, and people’s lives were threatened.
Land of the free, right?
In one documented instance, John Robert Shaw recalled a group of soldiers kidnapping a
british soldier’s wife, covering her in molasses and throwing feathers at her.
He admitted that he and the other American colonists took great delight in watching her
being victimized.
The colonists subjected to this practice were often paraded around town squares both to
humiliate them and to scare others into submission.
Since it wasn’t meant to kill them, virtually everyone survived, though I’m sure it was
quite painful.
It often left scars since they’d lose some skin during the process, which added to the
humiliation.
It’s worth noting that the practice of tarring and feathering dissenters didn’t start or
end with the American colonists.
It’s a practice that dates back to at least medieval times and was used after the American
revolution as well.
But the colonists, particularly Bostonians unhappy about unfair taxes on tea and stamps,
made this punishment famous.
Loyalists were forced to flee their homes, and leave behind their businesses and life.
And while many active loyalists leaders and british officials told the British crown that
thousands upon thousands of loyalists would take up arms against their neighbors, that
really never happened.
Either out of fear from the patriots or because they simply didn’t want to fight, most loyalists
did nothing to actively stop the Patriots from achieving independence.
Still, during and even after the war, loyalists were often threatened by angry American mobs,
and most of them were forced to flee to the States.
Black slaves and Native Americans often sided with the British as well.
So while the American colonies were right in many ways to stand up to the British Empire
for taxing them without representation, their treatment of their fellow citizens and even
some British officials, who didn’t make these unfair laws, goes against the basic
American principle of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
4 - Spy Rings?
When you think of spies, you probably conjure up images of James Bond, or some sort of cold
war operative.
However spies have existed since pretty much as long as humans have been around, and the
American Revolution was no exception.
Of course AMC’s series Turn has popularized this phenomenon.
The show chronicles the activities of the Culper Spy Ring, which was a real spy ring
during the war.
The spy ring collected all kinds of valuable intel that helped the colonies and their allies
take down the British.
Reporting directly to George Washington, the ring uncovered some vital information.
For example, they found out that Red Coats were planning a surprise attack on the French
army in Rhode Island, and that Benedict Arnold was plotting with the British.
Based out of new york City where the British were headquartered, the Culper spy ring’s
main goal was to monitor the activities of the British Army.
Using a complex network of informants, the group risked their lives to get crucial information
to help win the war.
The group was so top secret, that even Washington himself didn’t know the true identities
of the spies.
It wasn’t until the 1930’s that the general public knew such a ring existed.
While the British had their own spy network as well, the Culper Ring is largely thought
to have outmaneuvered them, significantly contributing to an American victory.
3 - Washington almost out?!
As the first and one of the most popular Presidents in U.S History, George Washington is an American
icon.
He’s the dude on the one dollar bill, his face is on Mt Rushmore, he’s got the US
Capitol named after him, and there are countless books written on him.
So with that in mind, people often think he was a super popular guy back then as well.
And for the most part, he actually was.
He was unanimously elected to be the first President in 1789 and again in 1792.
He’s also famously remembered as being the Commander-in-Chief of the continental army
during the war.
However, it was during this time that a somewhat obscure event known as the Newburgh Conspiracy
almost ousted George Washington.
In 1783, the war was essentially over.
Peace talks were being negotiated by both sides and the army was being dismantled.
Soldiers were pretty upset at the time because they had received little pay and congress
had no funding to pay their pensions.
So an anonymous letter began to circulate at the camp of Newburgh, New York suggesting
that the army should take some sort of action against congress and General Washington.
The officers agreed to a secret meeting to discuss their option.
Much to their surprise, Washington waltzes into the meeting like a bad@ss.
He obviously was able to convince his officers to stop any sort of mutiny without violence.
He then negotiated for the soldiers to receive five years of full pay rather than a lifetime
pension of half pay.
While the conspiracy proved to be futile, some historians think it may have resulted
in a military coup had Washington and congress not intervened.
It’s believed that Major John Armstrong along with members of the Congress of the
Confederation wrote the letter, although that’s never been proven.
Had a coup been successful who knows what would have happened, but it’s probably a
good thing Washington was able to stop any sort of military coup.
2 - Who can pay taxes?
Generally speaking, the main beef the colonies had with the British Empire was taxation without
representation.
However, there may have been other motives behind their quest for independence.
One thing about the colonies is that they were thriving before the war.
Benjamin Franklin credited this economic flourish because of a switch to what’s called, “Colonial
Scrip”.
I’m not gonna go too deep into economics, but this was paper money not backed by silver
and gold.
By going off of a gold or silver standard, the colonies could control the purchasing
power of the currency and basically avoided debt.
As a result, the colonies had a thriving economy.
English bankers, however, urged the King and Parliament to pass laws forbidding using this
paper money in 1751.
A harsher law passed again in 1763.
In lieu of this scrip money, only gold and silver issued by the English banks could be
used.
These laws opened the floodgates of poverty.
People lost their jobs and poverty spread across the colonies like wildfire.
Franklin surmised that the taxes on tea and stamps might not have been a huge problem
if not for the suppression of paper money.
But since these oppressive banking laws hurt the colonies so much, the colonists were already
upset with England when the Stamp and Tea acts were passed.
Founding Fathers such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison all acknowledged
that English Bankers posed a huge threat to their sovereignty, and that without their
own monetary system, peace, morality and prosperity would be impossible.
We may never know for sure, but some have surmised that if England hadn’t passed such
restrictive banking measures, the colonies may not have felt the need to revolt.
After all, money always talks.
1 - ‘Murica had some help
In school, we were all taught that the American Revolution was won by backwood American colonists
using guerilla tactics.
Many people think it was this tactic and grit along with good old fashioned American spirit
that won the war.
And yes, while the militias certainly played a pivotal role in the war, there were actually
a lot of other reasons the colonies were able to declare victory over the British Empire.
First and foremost, an alliance with the French really helped seal the deal.
In case you forgot, Britain and France had some pretty well established beef, and France
was looking to exact some revenge on Britain for the French and Indian War, so they started
sending supplies to the colonies in 1775.
In 1778 they signed a military treaty with the United States, and sent supplies and soldiers,
roughly about 25,000 of them.
On top of that, France declared war against Britain and sought help from Spain and the
Netherlands.
While the colonists and British were duking it out stateside, France and her allies were
ganging up on the British, weakening their troops before they could even get to the States.
Of course, most famously the French Navy created a blockade at Yorktown that prevented the
British Army from escaping, ultimately forcing them to surrender.
It also didn’t hurt that the war broke out during the end of the reign of the British
Empire.
Great Britain sent about 40,000 troops to subdue 2.5 million colonists.
Of that 40,000, most of these guys hadn’t ever seen combat before.
Combine that with the fact that most loyalists didn’t take up arms, like the Crown was
led to believe, the numbers actually favored the Colonists.
And there wasn't really any backup to send over.
But, that’s not to downplay what the colonist’s achieved.
The fact that they could fend off an empire and establish their own, representative government
was as the President would say, “A yuuuuuuge deal.”
We’re all still reaping the benefits to this day.
Here’s what’s next!