Unit 1: The American Revolution 1775-1783

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

"Do not fire on them unless they fire first, but if they want a war, let it begin here."
- American Captain Parker (Battle of Lexington, 1775)

American Revolution, also called United States War of Independence or American Revolutionary War,  (1775–83), insurrection by which 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing estrangement between the British crown and a large and influential segment of its North American colonies that was caused by British attempts to assert greater control over colonial affairs (for background see United States).


Encyclopedia Britannica Online, s. v. "The American Revolution", accessed May 29, 2013, 
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/617805/American-Revolution

Discussion Questions:
(Respond to each question with a minimum of 150 words)

1. “Americans were still professing their loyalty to George III and their desire for peaceful reconciliation as late as 1775. Had Britain accepted the Second Continental Congress’s Olive Branch Petition, the Revolutionary War could have been avoided.” Support or refute this claim using historical evidence.

2. What did American colonists mean by “No taxation without representation”?

3. Which had a more profound impact on American anti-British sentiment, the 1765 Stamp Act or the 1766 Declaratory Act? Use specific examples from history to support your argument.