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How Long Did The Revolutionary War Last ?
The Revolutionary War began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen united former British colonies on the North American continent, and ended in a global war between several European great powers. |
The war was the culmination of the political American Revolution, whereby the colonists rejected the right of the Parliament of Great Britain to govern them without representation. It stretched over the time period of 1775 to 1783. The American Revolution lasted for only 7 years. It is considered to be an anomaly among wars that involve the use of guerilla tactics and ungainly militias. Although there was no dearth of equipment on the part of the British but they lost the war to the passion of the Americans.
The revolutionary era began in 1763. With the view of making the colonies pay an increased proportion of the costs associated with keeping them in the Empire, Britain imposed a series of taxes followed by other laws, which undoubtedly did highlight British authority but proved extremely unpopular. Since the colonies did not have any elected representation in the governing British Parliament, many colonists considered the laws to be illegitimate and a violation of their rights as Englishmen. Additionally, British mercantilist policies benefiting the home country resulted in trade restrictions, which limited the growth of the American economy and artificially constrained colonial merchants' earning potential. In 1772, Patriot groups began to create committees of correspondence, which would lead to their own Provincial Congress in most of the colonies. Within a time frame of two years, the Provincial Congresses or their equivalents rejected the Parliament and successfully replaced the British ruling apparatus in the former colonies, culminating in 1774 with the unifying First Continental Congress.
As a consequence of the Patriot protests in Boston over Parliament's attempts to assert authority, the British sent combat troops. The colonies mobilized their militias and war broke out in 1775. Petitions to the king to intervene with the parliament on their behalf resulted in Congress being declared traitors and the states in rebellion the following year. In 1776, representatives from each of the original thirteen independent states voted unanimously to adopt a Declaration of Independence, which now rejected the British monarchy in addition to its Parliament. In 1777, the Continentals captured a British army, leading to France entering the war on the side of the Americans in early 1778. This alliance with France evened the military and naval strengths, thus balancing power with Britain. Spain and the Dutch Republic, French allies, also went to war with Britain over the next two years.
Although Loyalists were estimated to comprise 15 to 20 percent of the population, throughout the war the Patriots generally controlled 80 to 90 percent of the territory; the British could hold only a few coastal cities for any extended period of time. Two main British armies surrendered to the Continental Army, at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781, amounting to victory in the war for the United States. The Second Continental Congress transitioned to the Congress of the Confederation with the ratification of the Articles of Confederation earlier in 1781.
This war lasted for seven years, with effective American victory in October 1781. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 was ratified by this new national government. This was followed by formal British abandonment of any claims to the thirteen states with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Thus, the revolutionary war put an end to the colonial possessions and the individual colonies developed into an independent nation.
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