AMERICAN REVOLUTION
George III (1760-1820) succeeded his grandfather, George II,and Britain at
that time was in control of the seas and was in a period of domestic stability
and economic expansion. His long reign, however, is remembered most of all
for the loss of the American colonies.
The British govemment put duties on some goods like com, paper and tea to
reduce the public debt. They also decided that the American colonies should
help pay for their defence and imposed the new taxes on them too. These
taxes were the catalyst for the rebellion. The English Parliament removed
some of them, but there remained an import tax on a few products including
tea.
The rebels in America responded by declaring the taxation illegal, as they had
no say in the British Parliament. Their slogan became 'No taxation without
representation'. So, a band of rebels dressed up as Native Americans and
boarded a ship with a cargo of tea in the Boston harbour. They threw the tea
into the ocean in a gesture that became known as the 'Boston T'ea Party"
(1773).
In England the rebels were supported by some intellectuals like Edmund
Burke that recognised the justice of their cause and Thomas Paine's
Common Sanse (1776) that stimulated the desire for a republic.
The War of Independence began in 177S, with the colonists either becoming
"Patriots in favour of independence or "Loyalists who wanted to remain with
Britain.
The Patriots had no organised ary, but they knew the land and had local
support. The British Loyalists had an army, but it was too small to both attack
and defend what it had won, and it was too far away from supplies and
orders.
A deciding factor in the Patriots' victory was the support of the French. The
French fleet prevented the British navy from aiding the Loyalists.
The rebels organised a Congress in Philadelphia to discuss the form of
independence they were fighting for,
On 4" July 1776, the Congress ratified the 'Declaration of Independence. The
document, largely written by Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer from Virginia, was
much more than a statement that the colonies were independent from the
