After the war ended, the Thirteen Colonies became independent, which meant that the British Empire was no longer in charge of them. They became the first 13 states of a new country, which they called the United States of America.
The war started after years of problems between the British Empire and the colonists of North America after the French and Indian War (also called the Seven Years' War). People in the Thirteen Colonies disliked many of the actions of the British government, such as the Intolerable Acts. For many years, the British government decided the countries that could trade with the colonies instead of letting the colonies decide for themselves. Many colonists wanted free trade.
In 1765, the British Parliament needed money to pay back the debt for the French and Indian War. They passed a Law called the Stamp Act. This law said that colonists had to buy stamps for legal papers, newspapers, and even playing cards, as other British people did. The money from the stamps went to the King. The colonies did not follow this law. The colonies kept refusing to do what the King wanted. The Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre caused people to become more angry about the situation. The British sent more soldiers (who were called Red Coats by the colonists to insult them) to keep control of the colonies and they sometimes had to fight. In 1774, the British passed the Intolerable Acts to punish the colonists in Boston for the Boston Tea Party.
Not all colonists wanted to leave the British Empire. The "Loyalists", or Tories, stayed loyal to Great Britain. They were not going to change their views. The "Patriots", or Whigs, wanted independence. Before the Revolutionary War, most people in America were Loyalists; but after it, most people were Patriots.
Many colonists wrote letters showing how they felt. Thomas Paine wrote "Common Sense", a famous pamphlet about independence from Britain. Other colonial leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson wanted independence.
The first battles of the American Revolutionary War were Lexington and Concord. One of the first major battles was the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. Then, the British controlled Boston. Soon, the Second Continental Congress sent an Olive Branch Petition to King George III, which he rejected, and named George Washington head of the army. Early in 1776, Washington's army drove the British out of Boston.
A few months later, the Continental Army and the British troops under William Howe fought the New York and New Jersey Campaign. During the New York battles, the British started using Hessian troops, who were from Germany. Though the colonists lost New York, which the British would hold it for the rest of the war, Washington was able to hold onto most of his army. Over Christmas, 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware River and defeated the Hessians at Trenton and the British at Princeton.
In 1777, the British attacked Philadelphia, which was the American capital. Two battles were fought over Philadelphia: Brandywine and Germantown. Again, the Americans lost a major city, but Washington was able to keep most of his army. Around then, the thw marquis de Lafayette joined the American Army from his native France. In 1778, the British left Philadelphia.
Between 1778 and 1781, most battles between Washington and the British were inconclusive and had no major effect militarily.
One of the most important battles was the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. American soldiers under Horatio Gates forced a British surrender under John Burgoyne. That led to France and Spain joining the war on the side of Americans, who they thought would win. Both powerful countries fought the British around the world. From 1778 to 1780, there was fighting in the West.
The Scottish commerce raider John Paul Jones also won several naval battles for the Americans over the British, but the French Navy did most of the fighting at sea. The Americans tried to capture Canada several times but failed.
In 1779, the main fighting shifted to Georgia and South Carolina. As the fighting spread northward, General Nathanael Greene led the rebels' campaign. He caused many people in the South to be Patriots instead of Loyalists and won several battles against the British.
In 1781, Washington and French General Jean Rochambeau led an offensive against British troops at Siege of Yorktown in Virginia. When their soldiers lost this battle, the British surrendered to the Americans. However, the British continued to fight the French and Spanish for two years and won in India, Gibraltar and elsewhere.
The American Revolution came to an end in 1783 when a peace treaty was signed in Paris, France. In the Treaty of Paris, British King George III accepted the independence of the colonies and recognized the newly-created nation as the United States of America.
The treaty also gave all the land Britain claimed to own west of the Appalachians as far as the Mississippi River to the new country. The land would eventually become part of the United States and lead to the creation of 35 new states (some of them later rebelled as part of the Confederate States of America) that now make up the contiguous United States. Many Loyalists fled to Canada.
As Is usual for 18th-century wars, casualty figures (killed/wounded/missing/captured) for the American Revolution are poorly known. Unlike American Civil War casualties, which were published in newspapers, Revolutionary War casualty reports are found in local town histories; total casualties of the Revolution are rough estimates.
1775
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the fighting force of the thirteen British colonies in the American Revolutionary War. It was created in 1775 by the First Continental Congress. Most of the army was disbanded in 1783 after the conclusion of the war. The army was officially closed by a resolution of Congress in 1784. A Legion of the United States partly replaced it in 1792, and the United States Army replaced it in 1796.
Congress elected George Washington as the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army when it was formed. He led the army until it was disbanded.
Cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, mild-tasting, white cheese. Sometimes, it is given extra flavor by adding additional seasonings such as puréed garlic, chopped dill, or chopped olives; as well, some cream cheese has small pieces of fruit or other sweet food blended into it. Cream cheese is different from other cheese in that it is not allowed time to mature. It is either made by cream or a mixture of milk and cream.
Cream cheese is often spread on toasted bagels. Waffles with cream cheese and salsa is eaten in some areas of the United States.
Cream cheese is used to make cheesecake, a sweet, rich cake that is served for dessert.
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, a county of England. It is located 9 miles (14 km) east of the Welsh border and serves as the commercial centre for Shropshire and mid-Wales.
The town is very old. It was started around 700 AD. The town centre has almost the exact same medieval street plan and over 660 listed buildings. Many of these buildings have timber framing from the 15th and 16th centuries. There is also Shrewsbury Castle, which was built in 1074, and Shrewsbury Abbey, which was built in 1083. The town centre is almost completely surrounded by the River Severn.
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury and lived there for 27 years.
The population of Shrewsbury is just over 71,000, making it the second largest town in Shropshire, the biggest being Telford.
The town has a railway station and a professional football club, Shrewsbury Town, who compete in League One.
Shrewsbury is twinned with Zutphen, Netherlands.