preview

The British-Revolutionary War

Decent Essays

The years prior to the Revolutionary War proved to be a trying time for the early American colonists. The French and Indian War, or Seven Years War, represented the decisive turning point in British-colonial relations. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 ratified Britain’s undisputed control of the seas and shipping trade, as well as its sovereignty over much of the North American continent east of the Mississippi River (Tax Analysts, 2015). During this time, the British parliament posed many taxes on the colonists in an effort to decrease the large debt incurred by many years of fighting. Acts such as the Sugar Act, Currency Act, Stamp Act, Quartering Act, Townshend Act, and the Tea Act, forced the colonists to pay hefty taxes on a number of goods. …show more content…

The intolerable acts forced the cessation of all shipping and trade activity for the colonists in the Boston harbor, renounced the colonist’s ability to try British officials, and enabled the Governor to house British soldiers where he deemed necessary. These acts initiated a revolt by the colonists resulting in the “shot heard around the world”, commencing the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775 at Lexington-Concord. The colonist did not show great marksmanship that day. As many as 3500 militiamen firing constantly for 18 miles only killed or wounded roughly as many as 250 Redcoats, compared to about 90 killed and wounded on their side. Nevertheless, they proved they could stand up to one of the most powerful armies in the world (History.com Staff, 2009). Although heavily outnumbered, the determined militiamen pushed the British Army east to the Boston harbor, where the besiegement of Boston lasted for roughly ten months. The beginning of the war began when General Gage, the British Army Commander, sent two regiments to guard the Charlestown peninsula, while he developed plans for defenses to be built immediately across the Neck and on Bunker Hill (Marrissey, 1993). Over the next two days militiamen gathered around Boston; Gage feeling his position was now too weak withdrew all his forces back into Boston. The first battle of the …show more content…

Boston is a peninsula, surrounded by water with one narrow neck that has accesses to the city. The Heights on Charlestown peninsula and the Heights on Dorchester all played very important roles during the siege. The shallow waters in the Boston harbor kept the main British battleships out of the Boston Harbor, and lead to a ship running aground during the battle of Chelsea Creek. This event produced much needed supplies for the Continental Army. After Gage withdrew all his forces into Boston, he only had two options for deploying his troops. He would have either had to go through the neck of Boston, creating a funnel and slowing down movements, or move them across the harbor by ships. Both options were time consuming and slowed down any offensive the British would take, giving the Continental Army much needed time to reinforce and fortify positions. While the British relied on the narrow neck and it’s Navy in the harbor to prevent the Continental Army from attacking the city, the Continental Army relied on its numbers to keep the British Army in Boston. Dorchester Heights proved to be the decisive factor leading the Continental Army to a victory. The strategic emplacement of artillery on Dorchester Heights forced the British to surrender once the British artillery and navy realized they were unable to elevate their

Get Access