Independence of the United States of America: short summary

The greatest power in the world today is the United States, a country that we could call young, since until a few centuries ago it was not independent. The United States achieved its independence at the end of the 18th century, being considered the first American state to achieve independence, and the first world state to embrace liberal ideas. Due to its importance both as a country and as a revolutionary example, in this lesson from UnProfesor we offer you a short summary of the independence of the United States of America.

Index

1. Context of the independence of the United States
2. First years of the US war of independence
3. End of the war and independence of the United States of America

The United States origin We can find it in the Thirteen Colonies, a group of British colonies located in eastern North America that were founded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Thirteen had many things in common, such as their social and political system, so a kind of common spirit was created between all of them. The relationship with Great Britain was good, but a series of events in the second half of the 18th century changed this.

In 1763, one of the great wars in history ended, the Seven Years' War, a great warlike conflict that pitted Great Britain against France, the English being the winners. Throughout the conflict the British received help from the American colonies, but the Americans did not see their help rewarded with economic benefits, which created a large twitching.

All of this led to a series of actions by the Thirteen Colonies. The first of them happened in Boston, a demonstration in which the colonists complained about the high taxes, but the English ignored the situation. The Americans did not want to leave it at that, so in 1773 they met in Boston and boarded three ships that brought tea from Britain, throwing the merchandise overboard. This action was called the Tea Party, and it made the British really care about the situation.

The War of Independence of the United States it was a warlike conflict that began in 1775 and ended in 1783, and the conclusion of which caused the Thirteen Colonies to become independent from Great Britain.

The start of the war occurred in April 1775 when some English soldiers left Boston and went to take a settler arms depot in the town of Concord. In the town of Lexington they faced the colonists and this confrontation started the war. The British took Concord and Lexington, but were soon attacked by volunteers from Massachusetts, which caused the first deaths of the war and soon after the colonist soldiers began the siege of Boston.

One month after the start of the conflict, the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, who assumed the powers of government. Among the measures taken was the appointment of 14 generals, the invasion of Canada, and the appointment of George Washington as commander-in-chief.

The beginning of the war was horrible for the colonists, who had formed an army with many people who were not trained for combat, and who were not friends to obey orders. For this reason, in the first year of the war there were hardly any great victories for the colonists.

All of this did not change the inevitable, and July 4th, 1776 Congress approved the Declaration of Independence of the United States. This was very important, giving real value to the war, and initiating relations with foreign powers as equals. The rights and equalities that the text promulgated made many more people join the settler side, and therefore the war began to turn around.

In October 1776 the first great colonial victory took place, the so-called Battle of Saratoga. In this battle a British army surrendered against the colonists, giving them the optimism they needed. This battle is considered as one of the great reasons for victory in the war.

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To conclude with this summary of the independence of the United States of America we must talk about the end of the war and its consequences.

Victory in the Battle of Saratoga it caused the French and Spanish to recognize the United States as a state, seeking revenge against Great Britain for defeat in the Seven Years' War. For this reason, the United States received great economic aid and a good number of arms by France and Spain, this being one of the main causes of the American victory in the war.

Since that time, the United States achieved a series of great victories, the last of them being in the Battle of Yorktown. In it, the Americans and French encircled the last of the British in Virginia and eventually they surrendered. After this the United Kingdom asked the Americans for peace.

To end the war, the Treaty of Paris was signed, an essential document for the United States, and that had harsh consequences for the English. Some of the agreements of this treaty were the following:

• It recognized the independence of the United States.
• The borders of the United States were delimited.
• Spain, France and Holland recovered and maintained a series of territories.
• Great Britain kept Canada.
• The exchange of prisoners of war was agreed.
• Both states agreed to free access to the Mississippi River.

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