American Independence From the British Perspective | Animated History

although the history of the United States as an independent nation begins with the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 its roots reach back at least 20 more years with the start of the 7 years war the fighting between its two main participants Great Britain and France spread across the globe reaching also their neighboring Colonial possessions in North America by the end of the war France had been beaten leaving the British Empire in control over much of the eastern half of the continent with its biggest competitor defeated Britain now ruled the Seas as well as a third of all European trade by all accounts this was a major win for the burgeoning Empire yet beneath the surface the saes of Victory were weighed down by the anchors of debt amounting to a total of 133 million the debt marked a a significant hit to the British economy and pushed Parliament to take drastic Financial measures the Royal Navy which had helped Britain to victory was to become one of the primary losers in a series of cuts which would see its budget plummet from 7 million in 1762 to 2.8 million in the aftermath of the war and dropping to as little as 1.5 million in 1769 these measures however only accounted for a sliver of the debt and British citizens would be forced to do most of the heavy lifting in the form of a series of new and higher taxes however the Empire would have little time to recuperate just as the Embers of the Seven Years War were dying out a new Wildfire erupted when a confederation of dissatisfied Native American nations in the Great Lakes region took up arms against the American colonists settling in their territory in response the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763 which banned American colonists with the exception of licensed fur Traders from settling west of the alagan fearing a reaction from the disgruntled frontiersmen Britain promptly reinforced its North American Military presence further increasing their debt at a rate of £320,000 a 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Champion or Amazon gift cards with a total value of $20,000 click my link in the description or scan my QR code to get insane bonuses like epic Champion Knight erant and other useful items like energy refills skill Toms and XP boosters King George III the British monarch now found himself in a critical juncture his Empire needed to find a way out of its increasing debt but with his people already heavily taxed and with the budget of critical institutions like the Royal Navy cut to the extreme the only natural recourse seemed to put a shared burden on his American subjects besides it was only fair that the Colonials pay for their way for the added protection they were receiving from the Army the colonists however had grown increasingly distant from their motherland and the Americans would prove unwilling to meekly bow down before the demands of some Far Away King the first signs of dissent came when Britain introduced the Sugar Act in 1764 which taxed sugar molasses as well as other imported products purchased at a cheaper rate from sources outside of the Empire the ACT also forced captains of merchant ships to post bonds and provide exhaustive cargo invoices while also allowing Royal Navy personnel to search and seiz vessels suspected of smuggling goods soon angry Tradesmen were were knocking on London's doors arguing that the Sugar Act was infringing on their right to free trade set out in a previous Charter with the British government many colonists were unaware that the Sugar Act was just the beginning of Taxation efforts in America the Stamp Act was soon introduced requiring citizens to pay taxes on a range of items by purchasing stamps a similar version of this act was already providing close to half of the budget of the government from the pockets of English citizens and would soon raise a large sum from its American subjects as well however these American subjects proved to be of a different mind as mass outrage erupted in the colonies ultimately leading to the ACT being repealed in 1766 the British Parliament worried about losing face and wanting to avoid being seen as losing authority over its American possessions made sure to exchange the Stamp Act with the decory act which stated that Parliament had full control over lawmaking in the American colonies soon another tax on imported items such as tea and glass was introduced under the town shend act further incensing the colonists and leading Samuel Adams to write a letter on behalf of the Massachusetts legislature calling for a boycott of English products until the taxes were repealed like many others Adams was outraged that the parliament believed it had the right to force Americans to pay for the government's expenses without having American representatives in Parliament soon the slogan no taxation without representation would become the battlecry for colonists protesting British attempts to tax the colonies back in Windsor Castle King George followed the developments from America with a remarkable sense of empathy for his dissatisfied subjects while discussing the Stamp Act he stated that it first deprived the Americans by restraining their trade from the means of acquiring wealth and then taxed them Britain's prime minister however Frederick North or Lord North saw things differently and remained a firm proponent of maintaining parliament's right of authority over the colonies which was seen as a vital component of British Liberty the matter of Taxation was now increasingly becoming a matter of power and hierarchy similarly American was soon to transform into allout Rebellion the city of Boston home of public agitator Samuel Adams was known as the Beating Heart of American unrest latent tensions against British rule would come to a head on March 5th 1770 when 400 bostonians harassed and assaulted Eight British soldiers who In the Heat of the Moment resorted to firing their muskets into the crowd injuring six and killing five news about the Boston Massacre as the colonists coined the incident spread like wildfire and only added to the unrest in the city about 4 years later the situation had escalated to the point that parlament felt forced to enact the coercive acts which included the reinforcement of the Boston Garrison by four additional regiments of regulars contrary to the belief that this added military presence would finally quell the rius ials the sight of the hated red coats in the streets and the fact that the British soldiers were to be quartered and supplied by colonists only further angered the American public by February 2nd 1775 the situation in Massachusetts had reached a boiling point as Lord North officially declared the colony to be in a state of rebellion the commander-in-chief of British forces in America General Thomas Gage was promptly ordered to nip the rebellion in the bud by capturing its leaders Gage first moved against a known Rebel ammunition store in the town of conquer in order to deprive his enemy of gunpowder however on April 19th Gage's advancing men walked into a gathering of colonial militia at Lexington Green tensions exploded when an unknown soldier from either side fired his musket prompting the British to fire in Force at the colonial militia word of the incident reached other militia groups in the area and soon the British found themselves ambushed by armed Colonials ultimately resulting in a total of 20% casualties including several key leaders not wishing to lose more of his men in Surprise attacks Gage ordered a retreat after reorganizing his men Gage was ordered to hold on to Boston which would allow the Royal Navy to land reinforcements as Colonial militias laid Siege to the city it was decided that British troops would make a stand at Dorchester Heights and Charlestown to the North of Boston which included The High Ground at Bunker and breeds Hill however the British were up for a bloody surprise when they discovered that the Americans had already set up a series of formidable defenses on breeds Hill casualties mounted as the Infantry assaulted the position and despite coming out on top when the musket fire finally fell silent British losses had been such that the Army would be put on the defensive for nearly a year even the previously empathetic King George had lost his patience lamenting Britain's relatively soft approach to the American colonies as having been a sign of weakness he now urged the might of the British power to Bear down on his rebellious subjects on August 23rd the proclamation of rebellion was officially released to the public at home American assets were frozen while American ships were banned from entering British ports moreover there was was a significant division within the communities of the British colonies many British loyalists who were sympathetic to the crown found themselves in precarious situations facing hostility and often being ostracized by their American neighbors many of them had to flee their homes relocating to Canada or returning to Britain this internal Division and the plight of the Loyalists was a testament to the multifaceted nature of the conflict in the meantime 20,000 regulars were dispatched to America additionally around 10,000 troops often mistakenly called mercenaries were sent from German states most notably the hessin contrary to Common belief these hessin were not individual soldiers For Hire but were part of organized units leased by German princes to the British crown their presence was not a mere commercial transaction but a complex web of political and diplomatic ties the rebels hearing of these reinforcements sent the Olive Branch Petition to London in hopes of preventing a formal war from being declared the petition restated the colonists appreciation for the union of Britain and the colonies and that they had merely taken up arms in response to the unfair measures taken against them as such the Colonials were allegedly more than ready to restore peace if these issues were to be addressed King George however decided decided to ignore the petition and responded to America's Declaration of Independence by accusing the power Hungary leaders in the colonies of having openly rejected the British government and with the ongoing hostilities being the only right response reactions from the British media were mixed with some newspapers praising the Americans bravery While others wrote mockingly about the Declaration supposed pretentious Pros the fighting around Boston continued during the following months until General George Washington finally managed to capture Dorchester Heights on March 4th 1776 forcing General William how who had succeeded Gage as commander-in-chief to evacuate the city having to come up with a new plan the British command decided to focus its efforts on New York in late June after landing his army at Sandy Hook New Jersey Hal called a March toward New York City where they were met by Washington's men during the fighting which took place in the present day Northwest Brooklyn Heights in heavy rain and fog how nearly managed to encircle the Colonials but rough winds on the East River prevented him from closing the Gap close to 10,000 men managed to escape as dense fog masked their Retreat despite having failed to crush the colonial army the Victorious British now felt confident that their military superiority over Washington's makeshift Army would ultimately and inevitably win them the war how in fact was so encouraged by his victory that he initially attempted to get the Americans to restore Peace by retracting the Declaration of Independence when this proposal predictably went nowhere the general moved to secure New York City and destroy the remaining Colonial troops by the end of the year Britain seemed to be poised to win the war their main stumbling block however would come from their arch nemesis the French as the British army failed to deliver the anticipated knockout blow throughout the winter and into the following year France decided to support the Rebellion back in Britain King George worried that the French were planning to make a move against the West Indies which were a key part of British global trade in response 5,000 troops stationed in Philadelphia were withdrawn to reinforce the islands in 1778 marking the start of a major diversion of resources away from the American Mainland to the Caribbean eventually leading to British commanders begging for more soldiers and even prisoners being sent to make up for the lack of Manpower meanwhile the escalating war was starting to wear down on the patience of British citizens who had to deal with ever higher taxes while neighboring Ireland in the meantime suffered in the face of a major recession due to the halt on American Trade yet despite these setbacks at home British forces continued to gain important victories on the battlefield in Spring of 1780 General Henry Clinton attacked Charleston South Carolina the northern theater had stalemated and it was hoped that a campaign in the southern colonies where British loyalists were more common would finally bring the Americans to their knees amidst the war in America the British were also fiercely defending the rock of jalter in Europe commencing in 1779 this great Siege of Gibralter a grueling conflict against Spain and France lasted for nearly 4 years and was the largest Battle of the entire War despite no actual Americans being present while outnumbered and facing Naval blockades the British showcased their military prowess employing Innovative tactics and Engineering Feats like the construction of the jalter galleries or tunnels their tenacious defense eventually led to victory in 1783 solidifying British control over the Strategic Peninsula back in the colonies British military prowess was also present Charleston fell to the British after a 6 week Siege capturing an entire colonial army of about 5,000 men in Bolden Clinton visualized a sweeping pincer strategy against the Americans he designated the southern operations to General Charles Cornwallis and moved North to Marshal the troops around New York the objective was a coordinated Advance with corn Wallace pushing the Americans through the Carolinas and Virginia and Clinton's Army converging from New York by February of 1781 corn Wallace was marching his men through North Carolina he hoped to force General Nathaniel Green's weaker American Army to face him in battle however time for Cornwallis was running out as supplies were wearing thin and his men began suffering from exhaustion on March 14th Green's men were finally located at Guilford courthouse once again British superiority on the Battlefield showed but their victory was bought at a considerable cost with 25% of cornwallis's men having become casualties during the fighting Green in the meantime had managed to escape the field of battle with the rest of his army having run out of patience Cornwallis made the decision to bypass the Carolinas and move straight toward Virginia after reorganizing his men the British ordered a March toward the Inland part of Yorktown here however the situation would take a turn for the worse in SE September a French Fleet managed to penetrate British defenses and block access to the Chesapeake during the Battle of The Capes cornwallis's men were now cut off from reinforcements and resupply and would be forced to dig in and await Relief by September 28th an American Army reinforced with French troops began to lay Siege to Yorktown up in New York General Clinton heading the northern Pinsir remained relatively calm writing about the situation he stated that Cornwallis is safe enough unless a superior Fleet shows itself in which case I despair of ever seeing peace restored to this miserable country his main concern was with Washington's Army whom he believed were preparing to advance on New York with the help of French ships at Staten Island further rumors about the French ships sailing up from the West Indies did little to soothe his concerns and persuaded him to remain cautious rather than hasten his Force to the aid of Cornwallis Washington however had had no intention of attacking New York and was in fact moving his men Southward toward the trapped British Army the situation in York town in the meantime was deteriorating by the day corn Wallace had already abandoned his outer lines but without supplies his men could only hold on for so long on October 19th the defense fell apart as the 8,000 remaining British soldiers laid down their arms although the disastrous defeat at Yorktown was an enormous blow to the British army King George urged his commanders to carry on the fight as if nothing had changed in reality it was clear that the Empire could not hope to reasonably sustain the costs in Manpower supplies and funds that were required to prolong its efforts and to Vanquish the Rebellion moreover the important American victory at Yorktown had likely only emboldened the colonial Spirits in Parliament the writing seemed to be on the wall America was here to stay and the sheer effort it would require to attempt to put the proverbial Eagle back into its cage was simply deemed not worth the cost a few more skirmishes unfolded before the peace negotiations began the Treaty of Paris finalized in 1783 brought an official end to the American war for independence in this pivotal agreement Britain made numerous significant concessions they recognized the United States as a Sovereign Nation and seeded vast territories east of the Mississippi River to the new Republic the Americans were also granted important fishing rights off the coast of New Finland the treaty defined the boundaries between British North America now Canada and the United States setting the Great Lakes region as the northern border of the US additionally Britain returned Florida to Spain having previously captured it and the Mediterranean island of Minorca which the British had held was seated back to Spain on November 25th the last of the British troops departed from New York while the treaty marked the end of the Revolutionary War the sting of losing the American colonies lingered with King George III and the British establishment it would necessitate several tumultuous decades punctuated by conflicts like the War of 1812 before the two Nations established the Dee rooted Alliance they share today thanks again to raid Shadow Legends for sponsoring this video click my link in the description or scan my QR code to get insane bonuses like epic Champion night errant and other useful items like energy refills skill Toms and XP boosters

Channel: The Armchair Historian

Views: 933,908

Keywords: military history, war, battle, the second world war, historical

Id: FBHo6qAeLA8

Length: 21min 39sec (1299 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 04 2023