11.1.5

The American War of Independence

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Course of the War of Independence

By the mid-1770s, relations between Britain and the thirteen colonies had deteriorated. The American colonists wanted more independence, which Britain did not want to give.

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'Taxation without representation'

  • ‘Taxation without representation’ became the motto of American colonists after the tea duty.
  • The American people did not think it was fair that the British could introduce taxes without the Americans having a say in Parliament.
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The War of Independence

  • In 1775, war broke out between Britain and the thirteen colonies.
  • France supported the Americans, wanting revenge against the British.
  • Originally, the Americans wanted more say over their affairs, but not to be completely independent.
  • This changed in 1776.
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The Declaration of Independence

  • On 4th July 1776 the colonists signed the Declaration of Independence, in which they stated that they were fighting to be free from British rule.
  • America has been celebrating Independence Day on 4th July ever since.
  • The Declaration of Independence was heavily influenced by Thomas Paine's book Commonsense. Pain argued that the Americans did not owe anything to Britain.
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The Battle of Yorktown

  • The War of Independence dragged on for seven years, but eventually the British were forced to surrender to the colonists in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
  • The peace treaty was signed in 1783.

Jump to other topics

1The Medieval World: 450-1450 AD

1.1Anglo-Saxon England

1.2The Contest for the English Throne

1.3Conquering the Holy Land, 10-96-1396 AD

1.4King John

1.5The Magna Carta & Parliament

1.6The Black Death

2Worldviews

3The Empire of Mali

4The Renaissance & Reformations, 1500-1598 AD

5The British Empire, 1583-1960 AD

6The Peasants' Revolt

7Religion in the Middle Ages

8Slavery, 1619-1833 AD

9The English Civil War, 1642-1660

10The Industrial Revolution, 1750-1840

11US Independence, 1775-1783

12The French Revolution, 1789-1815

13The British Empire, 1857–1930

14Suffrage

15World War 1, 1914-1918

16The Inter-War Years, 1919-1939

17World War 2, 1939-1945

18The Cold War, 1947-1962

19Civil Rights in the USA, 1954-1975

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