When war begin in 1775, it seemed clear that Britain would win. It had a large, well-organized land army, and the Royal Navy had no chance on the sea. Many of the British troops in the Revolutionary War were veterans who had fought in the French and Indian War. On the other hand, the Americans had only a collection of undisciplined militiamen who had never fought before. The American navy was small and no match for the thousand ships in the royal fleet.When George Washington stepped into the people who were fighting against British became a actual army which succeed with George Washington help but it wasn't looking so good so it favored Britain. Nonetheless, the Americans believed that they did have a strong chance of success. They had a lot at stake: unlike the British, they were fighting on their home ground protect their own homes and families. though most Americans had no previous military experience, their militia units were usually close bands of men, often neighbors, who served together in defense of their own homes. They elected their own officers,usually men who did have some military training but who also knew the place well. This native officer division was a great source of strength, and as a result, American confidence was generally higher than enthusiasm …show more content…
When American forces won, their victory encouraged France to pledge its support for the United States in the Franco-American Alliance of 1778. A year later, Spain followed suit and also entered the war against Britain. Spain, hoping to see Britain driven out of North America, had tacitly supported the Americans by providing them with munitions and supplies since the beginning of the war. Their entry as combatants took pressure off the Americans, as Britain was forced to divert troops to fight the Spanish elsewhere. Finally, the Netherlands entered the war against Britain in
There was a war fought between the original thirteen colonies and Great Britain around April in 1775. This war was known as The American Revolution and although war was pretty common back then but, this was a different kind of war. The thirteen colonies that were rebelling against their mother country were fighting to become a country where every human has the freedom to do and say what they wanted. Also, they had many new ideas for running a country that many countries had never thought of or that they did not want. These ways of running government had never been tried before and were huge changes to how things were done back then. The American Revolution would end up not only changing the thirteen colonies into America, but it also changed
Once the war had gotten its start, America began making victories. At one point, America’s confidence level was through the roof because of a few naval victories that had been made. There were three American ships which were the Constitution, the United States, and the President. Those three ships were faster, bigger and better armed than their British counterparts. Now the British had quite a few more ships in counting than America did, but their ships were vulnerable in a one-on-one fight with an
For starters the British had more than twice the men that the revolutionary army had, not to mention the Hessian soldiers that the king had hired. On the other hand, the Americans had better leaders and smarter tactics to counter those numbers. On the downside ,the American soldiers couldn't get any supplies or food because they had no money to pay for it. To change matters again, the British leaders never cooperated with each other and were always going behind one another's back. At the end of the war, both sides had many strengths and weaknesses, but it didn't matter because the Americans still
By the year 1776, King George III could not have done anything to avoid war, at that point it was inevitable. There was only one possibility “to avert ‘this American storm’[, it] was to reach an accommodation just as soon as possible” (McCullough 17). It was known by both sides, the British and the Americans, that this could never happen. Neither government would give up their cause in order to stop the war. The Americans were set on gaining their independence from Great Britain and would risk all of their lives in war in order to have it. The British on the other hand would not give up their land that they had in the Americas which
Most people did not expect the colonists with their under trained militia to last long against the British superpower. The colonists did just that. In the night of June 16, 1775, a detail of 1200 troops under orders from Artemas Ward, and led by William Prescott was supposed to entrench themselves on the rise on Bunker Hill, but instead misunderstood the instructions and went to Breed’s Hill by mistake. The next morning, the British were shocked to see Americans threatening them. In the 18th century, British military custom urged that the British soldiers attack the American soldiers, even though the Americans were in a superior position. Major General William Howe, leader of the British forces could easily have surrounded the Americans with his ships, but chose to march his troops up the hill; to the Americans. Howe might have believed that the Americans would retreat in the face of a smashing, head-on attack. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how a person looks at it, William Howe was wrong. The Americans stood their ground, dug in their heels, and stood firm. In the first wave, the Americans waited until they were within forty meters, then opened fire. The British force retreated with their wounded for a second wave. The British rushed up yet again. Again they retreated, suffering a great number of casualties. By the time the
After this battle, in 1778, Vergennes and Louis IVX signed a treaty of friendship and alliance with all the American colonies and once again the French and the British were at war. Later, in 1779, Vergennes accomplished to convince the Spanish to go into the war and the Spanish then joined the battle against the British. But in contrast to France, Spain refused to be on familiar terms with the independence of the United States. Spain did not want to encourage similar anti-colonial revolts in the Spanish Empire. The Netherlands was also an opposing party
On october 19, 1781 the British army surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia. Although the treaty had yet to be signed, American independence had been accomplished. The Patriots had pulled off the most improvable upset by defeating the most powerful military of the day. Although the British had more troops, were highly trained, had more supplies, and a strong navy, the Patriots prevailed. Under the leadership of George Washington along with technological advancements in weaponry, aid from foreign allies, new fighting techniques, coupled with medical innovations and an extensive spy ring, a new nation is born.
1. Popular Support: The Patriot Army needed support from their friends, family and strangers, so that they would feel the support of the people, and know that their nation wished them success throughout the whole war, and would do whatever it took to ensure that. America was a nation in rebellion with the civilians who were passionate about the cause. Even when they could not fight formally, they found many ways to slow the British army from progressing.Some civilians known as rebel Guerillas even went as
The French and Spanish allies that the colonists acquired, were a key element in the winning of the war, who without them, they would have never been able to win. “Britain’s rivals, especially France, helped America” (Mcdougal, 215). Foreign countries such as France started secretly giving money, supplies and men to the Colonies in 1775. Soon after, Spain and the Netherlands also joined in, making it a war where Britain had no major
The Continental Army’s choice of George Washington as their leader of the continental army was critical in ensuring the United States’ victory. While many in the colonies wanted freedom from Britain that was not the case for everyone. Individuals’ motives were largely location dependant. The Battle of Saratoga proved to be pivotal in ensuring the United States’ victory against British forces.
This was the first war fought under the fledgling nation’s government, and no precedent had yet been set on how the country should support its military or how one should be raised and set into action. This war would be one that they could not afford to lose. Many feared that if this happened Britain would require the U.S. to reunite with the former mother country. This was, or course, an unacceptable outcome. Under the presidency of Jefferson, the United States army and navy had been reduced to a handful of battalions and few ships outfitted for
When the French Republic declared war on Britain and Spain in 1792, the international situation became increasingly dangerous for the United States. While trying to remain neutral, the U.S. remained sympathetic toward France because of its hatred for Britain. France and the U.S. had a commercial and military alliance. While not requiring the United States to go to war, expectations were that favorable trade policies and military assistance would be provided. America still had commercial ties with Britain, so neutrality was of paramount importance.
In the late 1700’s, the colonists were controlled by Great Britain in the eastern part of the United States of America today. The British were forcing taxes and laws onto the colonies that they thought were unfair. They declared their independence and the Revolutionary War began. The colonists won in an extremely lucky and perfect setting that then created the United States of America as a nation. The untrained and inexperienced colonists defeated the British with their Guerrilla Warfare tactics, their motivation to fight and with help from their great leaders.
Many factors contributed to the British losing the American Revolutionary War. By the 1770’s the American colonists were not socially, religiously, or culturally connected to Britain. The colonists has their own ways of life and thus were not British by culture. The majority of the colonists had immigrated to America to escape the rigid class structures of Britain and Europe.
The irregular and disorganized British rule of the American colonies in the previous years led to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Most Americans did not originally want to separate from mother England. They wanted to stay loyal to the crown. England’s unwillingness to compromise, mismanagement of the colonies, heavy taxation of the colonists that violated their rights, the distractions of foreign affairs and politics in England and the strict trading policies that England tried to enforce together made the revolution inevitable. The British were definitely expected to win the dispute because they significantly over powered the Colonists in most areas. They had more money, weapons, people, etc. However the American’s prevailed with