Pre 20th Century Revolutions - Causes, Courses & Consequences

Causes of the American Revolution

Tensions grew after the Seven Years' War ended in 1763. Britain faced huge debts and expected the thirteen American colonies to pay their share through new taxes.

• The Enlightenment: Thinkers like John Locke argued that rulers need the consent of the people, which challenged royal authority.
• The Navigation Acts: These trade laws forced colonists to sell valuable goods like tobacco and sugar only to Britain.
• The Stamp Act (1765): Parliament taxed legal papers, newspapers, and playing cards, which triggered angry street protests.
• The Quartering Act (1765): This law ordered colonial towns to feed and house British soldiers stationed in America.
• No taxation without representation: Colonists argued that Parliament could not tax them because they had no elected MPs in London.

The Road to Armed Conflict (1770–1775)

Public anger turned to violence as the British government tried to crush colonial resistance.

• Boston Massacre (1770): British soldiers fired into a crowd in Boston, killing five civilians.
• Boston Tea Party (1773): Protesting a tea tax, the Sons of Liberty dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbour.
• The Intolerable Acts (1774): Britain shut Boston port, banned town meetings, and placed Massachusetts under direct military rule.
• First Continental Congress (1774): Leaders from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia to boycott British goods and organize local militias.
• Lexington and Concord (1775): War began when British troops clashed with armed colonial minutemen near Boston.

Course of the War (1775–1783)

George Washington took command of the Continental Army, facing a better-trained and better-equipped British force.

• Declaration of Independence (1776): Written mainly by Thomas Jefferson, this document created the United States on 4 July 1776.
• Battle of Saratoga (1777): American troops defeated a British army in New York, proving they could win set-piece battles.
• Foreign help (from 1778): Saratoga convinced France to join the war, sending ships, troops and loans; Spain and the Netherlands later fought Britain too.
• Valley Forge (1777–1778): Washington kept his freezing troops together while Prussian officer Baron von Steuben drilled them.
• Battle of Yorktown (1781): Washington and his French allies trapped General Cornwallis, forcing the main British army to surrender.
• Treaty of Paris (1783): Britain formally accepted American independence and pulled its forces out of the country.

Consequences of the Revolution

The Revolution established a new republic, but the new nation left many of its founding promises unfulfilled.

• A democratic republic: The 1787 US Constitution created an elected president, congress, and supreme court to run the nation.
• Global impact: The victory in America inspired the 1789 French Revolution and the 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion.
• Trade freedom: Scrapping the Navigation Acts allowed American merchants to trade freely with ports around the world.
• Enslavement and injustice: Slavery continued in the southern states, while Native Americans were pushed off their ancestral lands.
• Exclusion of women: Women did not receive the right to vote or hold political office in the new republic.

Key terms

Revolution

A sudden, fundamental change in the political system and government of a country, usually involving force.

Navigation Acts

British laws forcing the thirteen colonies to export their valuable trade goods only to Great Britain.

Stamp Act (1765)

A British tax placed on legal documents, newspapers, and publications across the American colonies.

No taxation without representation

The colonial slogan asserting that London could not tax Americans who lacked MPs in Parliament.

Declaration of Independence

The document adopted on 4 July 1776 announcing that the colonies were breaking away from Britain.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The peace treaty that officially ended the war and recognised the independence of the United States.