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The American Revolution

Decent Essays

The American Revolution, 169 years in the making, was a long and hard struggle that created a constitutional republic with the greatest large-scale freedom ever seen in human history. The war was partially fought under the declaration “no taxation without representation,” which embodied the Revolutionaries rejection of the British idea of virtual representation in Parliament. Virtual representation meant that English members could effectively represent the colonies in Parliament. The colonies did not agree with this view, and declared that this violated the social contract that gave a government its legitimacy via the consent of the governed. The British boasted the largest and most powerful military force in the world. The Americans had yet to even form an organized military force, and most of the fighting was done local militias. In addition, the American colonies were not experienced in the art of working together as a cohesive unit. If that were not enough, most of the colonists actually opposed the war when it began in Lexington and Concord in 1775. Early in the war, the British continued to reign supreme with military victories. However, the Americans were running on moral successes, which increasingly frustrated the British. In October of 1778, The Battle of Saratoga proved to be a crucial turning point, when the British surrendered while trying to capture the Hudson River Valley. This critical win was what convinced the French to become a much needed ally for

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