The Road to Independence: The Cause of the American Revolution

[Music] what caused the American war of independence it is anything but a simple answer as there were many key catalysts that ignited the flame of Independence in the hearts of American colonists eventually bringing the Americans in Great Britain into allout war we will dive into what exactly brought this explosive period in history to fruition as it would go on to change the Dynamics of the world forever this is the cause of the American Revolution [Music] make sure to leave a like turn on notifications and subscribe for more history coming off the heels of the French and Indian War the British emerged triumphant in 1763 acquiring a vast amount of territory these newly found territories increased the regional power for Britain however it also put them into Financial strain after the long seven years war with France prompting the British government's decision to impose new taxes on its colonies in 1765 the Stamp Act was imposed to provide increased revenues to meet the costs of defending the enlarged Empire followed by the town chend acts in 1767 passed by parliament in an attempt to assert authority over the colonies The Acts were resisted with verbal agitation and physical violence including the notorious method of tar and Feathering the unrest would not L up in Boston a small British Army Detachment that was threatened by mob harassment opened fire and killed five people this would become the infamous Boston Massacre the soldiers were charged with murder and were given a civilian trial John Adams was the attorney that successfully defended them three 3 years later another key event would take place with mounting protests on the tax on te taxation without representation and the perceived Monopoly of the East India Company a party of bostonians thinly disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded ships at anchor and dumped about 10,000 British pounds worth of tea into the harbor the Boston Tea Party would show the British that the American colonists were willing to go to whatever lengths in order to not pay taxes civil unrest was at an all-time high in retaliation for Colonial resistance to British rule during the winter of 1774 the British Parliament enacted measures that became known as the Intolerable Acts the oppressive acts became the justification for convening the First Continental Congress later in 1774 called by the Committees of Correspondence in response to the Intolerable Acts the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia 56 delegates represented all the colonies except Georgia delegates met to discuss American America's future under growing British aggression with the idea of War on the rise Virginian Patrick Henry defended strong convictions for equipping the Virginia militia to fight against the British in a fiery speech in a Richmond church with the famous words I know not what course others may take but as for me Give me liberty or give me death all would come to a head a month later on the evening of April 18th 1775 Paul Rivier wrote to Lexington with the news that British soldiers stationed in Boston were about to March into the countryside it was thought they would continue on to the town of Concord to destroy the colonial Armory trailing behind him was a British force of 700 men that was met at Lexington by 77 local minuten when all of a sudden the shot heard around the world was fired although it is unclear who fired the first shot it would spark a skirmish that left eight Americans dead severely outgunned and equipped the Americans were forced to retreat to conquered news of this spread like wildfire in the surrounding towns British troops continued their push to conquered thinking it would be an easy victory at conquered the British were met by hundreds of militia men outnumbered and running low on ammunition the British column was forced to retreat to Boston on the retreating March American snipers took a deadly toll on the British total losses in the Battle of Lexington and conquered numbered 273 British and more than 90 Americans the battle proved that the British weren't invincible and that the idea of Liberty was now a realistic goal to fight for the ways of the old world were coming to an [Music] end with the conclusion of Lexington and conquered the stage was set in which the Americans would enter into a point of no return what would transpire in the coming years was a war with the most powerful military in the world even though the colonies were torn on the prospects of dealing with an allout conflict with great Britain one thing was certain war was [Music] coming

Channel: Historical Atlas

Views: 7,425

Keywords: historical, historic, history, events, past, education, explanation, explained, AmericanRevolution, RoadtoIndependence, RevolutionaryWar, AmericanHistory, BostonTeaParty, DeclarationofIndependence, AmericanRevolutionaryWar, BritishEmpire, BostonMassacre, CausesoftheAmericanRevolution

Id: lwxqDzn3Lms

Length: 5min 18sec (318 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 06 2023