American Revolution

The American Revolution (1765-1783) arose when the original thirteen colonies of Great Britain grew discontented over being ruled by a distant monarch with limited self-government. It was a time of unrest, questions of national loyalty and identity, powdered wigs, and buckled shoes. Tensions increased over various issues, especially taxation without representation, particularly in Boston, where the Boston Massacre occurred. In 1773, colonists dressed as Native Americans threw the British East India Company's cargo of tea (one of the taxed items) into Boston Harbor.
The official war for American independence commenced in 1775, at Lexington and Concord. The Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia beginning in 1774 and on July 4, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Other key military events include the encampment at Valley Forge and George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware.
As the founding movement of the United States of America as its own country, the American Revolution has had significant iconographic influence on the nation, particularly currency, commonly incorporating images and personages (the Founding Fathers, as they are known). Much of the heritage tourist industry in the US hinges on colonial and Revolutionary War-era sites and recreating their practices. The musicals 1776 and Hamilton dramatized selected events and individuals. 
In 1976, when the bicentennial anniversary occurred, there was an even greater increase in merchandise and commemoration of the founding events. While Sesame Street that season mostly focused on the bicentennial in terms of government themes and voting, ABC's Schoolhouse Rock interstitials depicted many of the events.
==References==
* Wontkins, representing the colonists and wearing a native feather, tosses tea overboard at "Ye Olde Boston Tea Party" in an early Muppet commercial. A monocled, British-accented Wilkins notes this wouldn't have happened if they'd been drinking Wilkins Coffee.
* The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar is the most notable piece of Sesame Street bicentennial merchandise. While the calendar covers many events and people from American history, the American Revolution figures prominently, with a Muppet version of The Spirit of '76 on the cover. A recreation of Washington Crossing the Delaware, the Boston Tea Party, and others are also included. 
* The 1982 special I Love Liberty features an extended Muppet sketch, largely based on 1776, re-enacting the debates in the Second Continental Congress over the question of independence.
* The second season Muppet Babies episode "Out-of-This-World History" includes a musical overview of the American Revolution, incorporating Yankee Doodle, The Liberty Bell, the John Trumbull painting of the Declaration of Independence, and other iconic moments and figures.
* Sesame Street season 18, ten years after the biggest wave of bicentennial enthusiasm, incorporated American history into its curricular goals to mark the bicentennial of the Constitution of the United States (which would not be ratified until three years after the revolution). This was marked primarily through The American Revolution sketches depicting key events via a Muppet lens.
* Also from season 18, reporter Kermit the Frog goes to Boston in 1773 to cover The Boston Tea Party for Sesame Street News.
* The Muppet Babies revisited the American Revolution (and other historical periods and locales) again in the 1991 coloring book A Trip Through Time, including the Boston Tea Party.
* Eliot Shag discusses historical heroes in the third season Dog City episode "Howl the Conquering Hero," citing Paul Rover (Paul Revere). In an animated parody of the Longfellow poem, Frisky first assumes the year of '75 means disco attire. With that point clarified, the American Revolution is presented in canine terms as a conflict involving the Minute Mutts and the Redmutts.
* The "Great Moments in Elvis History" sketch in the premiere of Muppets Tonight focuses on the Declaraion of Independence, but it includes other American Revolution references. The assembled Elvises bristle at the concept of independence from "The King" and ultimately sing a rock song including an exhortation telling the redcoats, "Don't you tread on me" (referencing the motto from the revolution-era flag).
* The Walt Disney World outdoor stage show The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History focused on the American Revolution, particularly the Declaration of Independence and Paul Revere's ride.
==Notable figures==
*John Adams
*Benedict Arnold
*Benjamin Franklin
*John Hancock
*Patrick Henry
*Thomas Jefferson
*Paul Revere
*Betsy Ross (anecdotal)
*George Washington
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Category:America
Category:History
Category:Historical References
Category:Military