In 1778, the royal army consisted of nearly 50,000 regular troops combined with over 30,000 German (Hessian) mercenaries. George Washington, in contrast, never had more than 20,000 troops under his command at any one time. Most of these American soldiers were young (ranging in age from their early teens to their mid-20s), landless, unskilled, and poor. Others were indentured servants and slaves who were serving as substitutes for their masters and had been promised freedom at the war's end. Also in the Continental army were many women who cared for the sick and wounded, cooked, mended clothes, buried the dead, and sometimes served in combat. What made American victory possible? For one thing, conquering the colonies was an almost impossible task. The sheer geographical size of the colonies made it impossible for British forces to occupy the countryside. Because of their inability to control the countryside, the British found it difficult to protect Loyalists …show more content…
In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, Virginia's royal governor, issued an emancipation proclamation, freeing any slaves or indentured servants willing to serve in the royal army. At least 800 slaves joined Lord Dunmore's forces. But the threat of slave emancipation led many southern slaveholders to support the patriot cause. Perhaps the single most important reason for the patriot victory was the breadth of popular support for the Revolution. The Revolution would have failed miserably without the participation of thousands of ordinary farmers, artisans, and laborers who put themselves into the line of fire. The Revolution's support cut across region, religion, and social rank. Common farmers, artisans, shopkeepers, petty merchants were major actors during the Revolution. Ex-servants, uneducated farmers, immigrants, and slaves emerged into prominence in the Continental
The Patriots were successful in their bid for Independence with the help of good leadership, adaptive strategy and good weapons. All three of these things led to America winning the Revolutionary War.
To start, the victory of the United States had many political reasons, such as Thomas Paine's pamplet "Common Sense" that had not only been one of the most influential pamplets ever written but had also called for a republic. This idea had given America the push they needed into fighting for their independence. Another political reason had been the Declaration of Independence in 1773 for it had, like with "Common Sense", pushed Americans for independence. One more political reason for the U.S. victory in the Revolutionary War would be George Washington himself. Yes, he had lost more battles than he won but with his amazing sense of justice, leadership, patience and especially being a man of wealth from Virginia, Washington had gained back the trust from the colonists to their government.
The American Revolution was the first time any country had fought for independence, and that was a big deal in the 1700s. At the time, Great Britain was considered to be the greatest empire in the nation-how did thirteen little colonies with no military experience defeat this powerful empire? The colonists were very hesitant at first, but with superb leadership, help from the French, and a few errors made by British commanders, the colonies were able to conquer Great Britain and create their own empire.
In comparison however, there were only 3,000,000 people in the whole colonist area in total and one-sixth of them were actually leaning towards the British, namely the pro-British "Loyalist" (Washington and Continental Army, 1967). The American army had around only 10,000 soldiers with basic
The first trend of declining slavery was visible from the first declared emancipation of slaves by Lord Dunmore in November of 1775. By granting freedom to all slaves who would raise arms against the American rebels, Lord Dunmore hoped to bring more troops into his ranks in Virginia. This movement continued following the
The royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, responded to the cries of the slaves and proclaimed that any who were willing to fight in the war with the British army were free to leave their masters. Therefore, to achieve their own revolution, many of the African Americans chose to fight in the army, but many of those never did achieve freedom. Those who chose not to fight with the British, instead decided to flee during the commotion of the war. Some fled to the North where there were rumors of freedom, while others escaped to the southern interiors to seek asylum with the Native
“We do not admire the man of timid peace. We admire the man who embodies victorious effort." 1899, from his book, The Strenuous Life. On December 10,1899 in the treaty of paris the US buys the Philippines for $20 million. Then on July 4th of 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt declares victory in the Philippines. The United States should have annexed the Philippines because the U.S. educated, civilized the Filipinos, the Philippine land brought recourses and economic gain, and the U.S. led the Philippines to a self-government.
After the costly Seven Years’ War, occurring from 1754 to 1763, between the British Empire and the French and their Indian allies, the British Parliament needed a way to gain revenue to pay for the war because they were in debt. This costed a lot because the British government needed to pay for the necessities of war, such as an army and a navy. To do this, the British Parliament decided to issue taxes and passed many acts. Acts such as the Stamp Act, Tea Act, and Sugar Act had terms to them, as well as having adverse effects on the colonists living during the mid to late eighteenth century, mainly the years 1754 to 1775.
The colonies faced insurmountable odds when the American Revolution began, but were able to successfully overcome the most powerful army and navy in the world through contributions such as George Washington’s extraordinary qualities, having knowledge of the lay of the land, gaining foreign assistance, and having the colonist support the cause.
During the 1500s to 1900s, major world powers in Europe and in the Americas took action through revolution in order to shape their society into a more idealistic one. Revolutions led people to question previously accepted thoughts and societal issues, leading to changes in thought and reconstruction of society and its structure. During the Scientific Revolution, scientists questioned the accepted teachings of the ancient Greco-romans and the Church by creating new inventions and innovations. Shifts in thoughts about society and its issues brought significant reforms, such as during the Haitian Revolution, which restructured its form of government and the social hierarchy. The Industrial Revolution brought many unintended consequences, such
The colonists victory against the british in the American Revolution had a lot of parts. Many ask the age old question, how were the colonists able to win against the more powerful british. The colonists during the american revolution were less experienced compared to the british but with help from the french, their battle tactics and the determination of the soldiers they were able to be victorious.
The reason the Americans were able to win was because they learned how to use different strategy in attacking they learned from the Indians. How they would do surprise attacks instead of just doing it the old fashioned way and standing in front and justy shooting people while they were facing each other. Two of the advantages of Briton was that their soldiers knew how to fight and they had people in Britain supplying them with good guns food and what not. On the other hand people here in America did not have a history in fighting they were more like farmers and also they were just now starting their now country or trying to so they did not really have the money to support their troops. Location took a big role in this, more of the colonist people already knew where everything was or how to get around place to place that was a big advantage for the Continental Army because the British soldiers had no idea where they were going or how the read would be, they were just shipped to the new land to fight for their country. Britain did not think they needed any help because they had the best army and the colonist did not know anything about war so they had a strong allie Franch if they would have not helped us we would not have won against the
On the 1st of January 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the emancipation Proclamation. It declared that in certain named rebellious areas and states slaves were “forever free” The purpose of the proclamation was on its face military necessity. It authorised the freed slaves to enlist in the military in attempt to bolster the unions army and navy. It was a significant political and military turning point in the civil war, and ultimately the abolition movement. In source A, Douglas T Miller describes the Emancipation Proclamation as ineffective in the liberation of slaves within America, stating “it actually free few people”.
The Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, thus sought to take advantage of Washington’s declaration by promising freedom to any slaves owned by Patriot masters who would join his Loyalist forces, (Runaway slaves belonging to Loyalists were excluded from his offer). Almost immediately after Dunmore’s issuing of the proclamation in November 1775, men of African descent had joined his Ethiopian regiment. Most estimates put the eventual total number of those who managed to join at no more than 800, but his proclamation inspired thousands of runaways to follow behind the British army throughout the war.
To win the Revolutionary War, there were three crucial factors. First, the unity was solidified when the rebellious consciousness was aroused and thus united the American against the British. Secondly, it was the military force that translated into action the thoughts of rebellion. Lastly, the logistic supports from the grass roots allowed the army to fight without worrying about the food shortages. These factors which constantly affected each other made the united Americans strong and competitive enough to fight with Britain and win the war.