The Sevens’ Year War fought by the French and Indians against the English was the result of imperial competition over the Ohio Country. The French interest lied in gaining Native American allies while the English viewed it as agricultural potential. The war became a global conflict ultimately ending in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris. The French lost the entire interior land of North America eliminating their control while the British gained their land meaning the British control extended from the east to the Mississippi River. Even though the English colonies won the war, it put into motion the impending separation from Great Britain. The Americans declared their first war against Great Britain because of the several imposed taxes made by British parliament and the growing resentment against British hold over the colonies in the late 1770’s. Furthermore, the second war against Great Britain, known as the War of 1812 was declared because of British interference aboard American trading ships and on American soil, and more specifically the British alliance with Native Americans.
Although the Seven Years’ War proved to be triumphant for the English colonies, one of the negative outcomes of it was the economic debt Great Britain had gone into. Great Britain spent a vast amount of money on deploying professionally trained military soldiers to fight against the French and Indians. They were defending the colonies and as the war came to an end believed it was their right to have the colonies pay them back for the war costs. After the war ended, Great Britain had come to the conclusion that the colonists needed to pay up for the costs of the war. Colonists paid taxes, but the money stayed in North America circulating within the colonies. In 1765, Parliament decided that colonists would start paying into the British empire. They extended a tax to the colonies known as the Stamp Act. It impacted the wealthy individuals more than the poor, but it was not a burden tax on the colonists. However, despite this, colonists became concerned because Great Britain was never involved in North America. They feared they would lose the power of independence and therefore, became opposed to this tax. Protests against taxation became violent. For example, Bostonians fueled by anger and alcohol specifically targeted the tax collector. Colonists broke into the tax collector’s office and vandalized it. A few days later the chief justice of the Massachusetts supreme court, Thomas Hutchinson marked it as mob violence only further angering the colonists. Two other high ranking officials were also targeted by the mob violence and ultimately Andrew Oliver ended up resigning. Protests were seen almost everywhere in the colonies resulting in forced resignations. Only a year later in 1766, Great Britain rescinded the Stamp Act.
The resistance against British power only grew as Great Britain remained adamant that it was their right to tax the colonies. The Townshend Acts of 1767-1770 outlined particular items that would be taxed such as paper, glass, tea, and sugar. The protests that occurred due to the Stamp Acts caused Great Britain to take preemptive measures for the implementation of the Townshend Acts. Great Britain sent troops to prevent uprisings, but that did not stop the colonists from protesting. Instead of turning to violence, the colonists decided to boycott the items that were being taxed. Widespread economic boycotts forced parliament to overturn the acts because British businesses lost about 700,000 pounds, the equivalent of $300 million dollars today.
By 1770, the relationship between the colonies and the mother country was very strained. But after the overturn of the Townshend Acts, there was a period of peace between the two. However, Great Britain was determined to tax them. The Tea Act of 1773 singled out the East India trading company and granted them an exclusive right to trade with colonists, specifically giving them a monopoly of tea trade. Many colonists had been actively protesting in Boston and they were determined to take matter into their own hands. Boston protestors known as the Sons of Liberty boarded ships by the docks and had a tea party. They dumped about $4 million dollars in today’s money of tea overboard into the harbor. The following year, the Coercive Acts/Intolerable Acts were implemented as a result. Great Britain attempted to single out and isolate Boston. They closed the Boston port to prevent any ships from going in and out. Great Britain determined Boston held too many town meetings and was too democratic, therefore they limited the number of meetings to one per year. The Bostonians took an opposite approach and did not allow themselves to be silenced. The First Continental Congress was organized where it was decided to have a widespread economic boycott of British goods.
The Intolerable Acts imposed was one critical event that made the war inevitable. The final breaking point for the colonists was Great Britain’s attempt to exert their power and single out Boston. Great Britain demonstrated the consequences for a colony when they stepped out of line. The power trip was not enough to scare the colonists. The First Continental Congress was organized where it was decided to have a widespread economic boycott of British goods. It came down to the battle between two powers, Great Britain and America. On one hand the British empire was established and ruled over the colonies as their mother country and on the other hand the American colonies were growing uneasy with their relationship with Great Britain.
Another critical event was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. Divided support between the colonists showed 2/5 opposing the crown, 1/5 loyal to the crown, and 2/5 undecided. However, according to Paine colonists needed to declare independence from England immediately, needed to unite together in order to become invincible against any military power, and needed to create a new type of government (get rid of kings and aristocracy) known as a republican form of government. The several taxes pushed the colonists to revolt and Common Sense was the first step towards completely separating from the British empire, which proved to be very influential. Furthermore, these two events paved the way for the creation of a new government in order to prevent an unfair leader exerting total power over the people. The influence of these events created a government for people and essentially controlled by the people. A new kind of government proved to be a new hopeful start amongst the Americans.
George Washington was the commander of the American Continental Army and his strategies for warfare proved to be influential for winning the War. The British army’s main problem was their inability to capture the continental army and George Washington himself. The two types of fighting during the war consisted of, main military fights where George Washington’s Continental army would always retreat to avoid defeat while Great Britain’s army would constantly try to capture that army. The second type of fighting was Civil War fights among the colonies where fighting was over dominance and would create overall chaos. The noose symbol represented death due to betrayal and therefore, Great Britain was never able to hold control because loyalty was now with the patriots. The Battle of Saratoga which took place on October 1777, significantly changed the scale and scope of the war. For the first time Americans won the surrender of the British Army with around 5,000 troops having surrendered. Up until 1777, the French were waiting to see if Americans had a chance of defeating British. The came into the Revolution after the Battle of Saratoga and changed everything. They provided troop support, navy, commanders, etc. The British lost monopoly of sea, had to focus on protecting from all sides, and the troops’ playing field was evened out. The Battle of Yorktown proved the British were not strong enough when they surrendered and wanted out of the war.
The War of 1812 was the result of British Interference and Native American’s potential power in the U.S. British often engaged in boarding American ships, confiscating goods, and even kidnapping American sailors. Many British forts were also still present on U.S. soil even though they no longer had no place in America. Furthermore, two Native American brothers known as the Prophet and Tecumseh created an army that would fight alongside the British in the war. While the Prophet focused on spirituality to fix the problems of his people, Tecumseh focused on the military power. Tecumseh wanted to create a Native American alliance between tribes to come together and defend their land. They want to do that as peacefully as possible, but if needed they would resort to military power. By the 1800’s the brothers were appealing to both sides and became very powerful. As a result, these two brothers build a community known as the Prophetstown. By 1811, there were thousands of Native Americans living in and around the town, making the U.S. uneasy.
Political power began moving into new Western states and further into the South where many were vocal of their dislikes of British power in the U.S. and irritated with British policies overseas. War Hawks, as they were known, present in the U.S. only further pressured president Madison to take action against the British and Native Americans. By January 1812, president Madison caves into pressure and declares war on Great Britain.
Americans were triumphant in the War of 1812 due to key battles such as the Battle of Thames that took place on October 1813 and the Battle of Horseshoe Bend that took place on March 1814. The Battle of Thames was especially important because the British abandoned their Native American allies and Tecumseh gets killed. The native Americans lost their leader and without Tecumseh they no longer had the ambition to defeat America. The Battle of Horseshoe was the deadliest for native Americans in U.S. history as it oversaw the complete destruction of their army and finally marked the end of the resistance in the South.
The War of 1812 was not a matter of establishing independence, therefore it should not be considered the second war for American independence. Although America did prove to be triumphant on both wars, the War in 1812 was America’s way of establishing their dominance. For the War of 1812, Great Britain interfered in many U.S. affairs both on American soil and over-seas, which undermined the power of the U.S. as a nation. On the other hand, for the Revolutionary War, the U.S. fought for the separation of powers. It is true that in both wars British influenced the start of the wars, but it is key to note the time periods for when these wars occurred. They took place in two different time periods for the U.S. where before they were completely dependent on the British empire, in 1812 they were their own form of government with a growing economy and society.
In conclusion, the Revolutionary War was fought due to the imposed taxes made by British parliament. The growing resentment against British hold over the colonies in the late 1770’s aided as well. The War of 1812 was declared because of British interference aboard American trading ships and on American soil, and more specifically the British alliance with Native Americans. The American army won because of George Washington’s strategic warfare and the French alliance. British troops were unable to capture George Washington and as the war progressed became weaker and lost. Although these two wars were fought against the British, it demonstrates the journey of becoming independent and growing as a country. Too much power in the hands of one person led to the revolution and it is because of monarchy that a republic government was created.