The American Revolutionary War - Free Paper Example

The 1775 -1783 American Revolutionary War emerged from increasing strains between Great Britain’s 13 North Americans and the royal government (Martin, 2001). According to History.com Editors (2019), the battles between British soldiers and colonial militia in Lexington and Concord initiated the armed conflict in April 1775. The revolutionists waged a full-scale war by the following summer for their freedom. The first phase of the war that occurred from 1776 to 1780 marked its commencement. The majority of these early battles took place in the mid-Atlantic area, an arc from Philadelphia down into western Connecticut’s foothills (Martin, 2001).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

“Common Sense,” published in January 1776, appeared to have significantly influenced and supported the Patriot cause (Jackson, 2017). According to Jackson (2017), Thomas Paine advocated for the dogma of independence in clear and straightforward language. He was conscientiously convinced that freedom was in the best interest of the continent. Paine denounced the monarchy and claimed that people were born to an equal state. Months later, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence (Martin, 2001). Furthermore, Paine donated all the earnings from the pamphlets’ sale to the revolutionary cause (Jackson, 2017).

A series of events caused the Revolutionary War. According to Martin (2001), the most conspicuous event was the British government's attempts to raise revenue by imposing heavy taxes on the colonies. Secondly, the colonists lacked Parliament representation and unequal rights compared to the British. The mob killing of colonists in the Boston Massacre by British soldiers also resulted in resistance. To reassert imperial authority in Massachusetts, the parliament passed the Coercive or Intolerable Acts and a series of punitive measures unbearable to the inhabitants (History.com Editors, 2019).

The Revolutionary War took longer and was the most brutal fight due to the challenges faced. The American’s challenges were associated with being an upcoming nation without resources. Martin (2001) stated that there was no professional militia at the early stages in America. Each colony had to provide its own security. The American militia was poorly trained and poorly armed military forces and could only overcome British troops because of their high numbers (Martin, 2001). On the contrary, the British naval forces were superior and could capture cities along the coastline without resistance.

Challenges faced by the British were related to fighting overseas. There were delayed weapons supplies and reinforcement since requests took a significantly longer time to be gathered and shipped to the Americas (Martin 2001). Important proposals to the British government also took a long time to be approved. Finally, delayed war updates also imposed a more significant challenge to the British government Leadership (History.com Editors, 2009).

References

History.com Editors. (2009, October 29). Revolutionary War. History. Retrieved October 2, 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history

Jackson, I. (2017). An analysis of Thomas Paine's Common Sense. CRC Press. https://www.routledge.com/An-Analysis-of-Thomas-Paines-Common-Sense/Jackson/p/book/9781912128679

Martin, J. P. (2001). A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier: Some of the Adventures, Misgivings, and Sufferings of Joseph Plumb Martin. 1830. Reprint, New York: Signet Classic. https://www.amazon.com/Narrative-Revolutionary-Soldier-Adventures-Sufferings/dp/0451531582