The History of~The American Revolution (Part 2: The first battles and a New Nation)

It was a rebellion like no other, not only did the American Revolution bring about a brand new nation that is not run by a Monarchy, but also to bring a new age in our world where Monarchs would begin to lose their luster.

This is Part 2 of the 6-part series about the American Revolution. In this part, we will talk about some of the few first battles of the revolution and how it gave birth to the United States of America.

## Warning the people

It's not exactly sure when and how the American Revolution began, but on the night of April 18, 1775 a group of Bostonians secretly gathered up supplies and weapons to get ready to fight against the British, unfortunately for them, the British found out about this. One of the men, "Paul Revere" along with another man went to Boston's Old North Church and told each other to light a certain amount of lanterns and place them in the Church's steeple; light one lantern if the Brits were coming by land, or 2 of the Brits were coming by sea.

It's still debated by historians on exactly how many lanterns were lit, but what is certain is that "The Brits were coming". After the other guy stayed at the Church while Revere go on a horse and raced through the streets of Boston all night (according to legend) warning the entire city of the impending British invasion.

### The First Shots

Early the next morning (on April 19), the warned men that joined Revere and the rest of the rebel group went to nearby towns of Lexington and Concord, the rebels were to fire first and which led to the first battle of the revolution. This battle not only signaled the official start of the American Revolution, but it was called "The shot that was heard around the world". Because the Brits were caught by surprise and weren't ready for the rebels to fight, the rebels easily pushed back the British and force them to retreat...................for now.

### An Uphill Battle

On June 17, the British came back and their aim was to re-take Boston. This time though, they were ready. The American Rebels had strong defensive lines on both Bunker and Breed's Hills defending the port city. These defensive lines were quite strong as the rebels (for a few hours) were able to hold out during the British invasion, but the rebels would run out of supplies, and they were forced to abandon their defensive positions and retreat, allowing the Brits to re-take Boston.

For some Brits, this wasn't such a victory, some felt that the American rebels gave up too easily as the Brits re-take Boston.

So, some British commanders took their ships and their men and sailed down to some of the Southern Colonies and then plan to invade the port town of Charleston (in what will be the State of South Carolina).

There were quite a number of battles in South Carolina in 1775 and up to 1776 where more groups of American Rebels were fighting against groups in the region that remain loyal to the British. The first was the Siege of Savage's Oil Fields from November 19-21, the Snow Campaign in December of 1775, and the Battle of Great Cane Break on December 22. This would allow South Carolina to gain their own independence before July 4, 1776.

The most notable battle in South Carolina was the Battle of Sullivan's Island in June 28, 1776 (less than a week before the USA was born), the rebels in South Carolina built strong defense along the coastline, and the deep waters made it impossible for troops to walk onto the island. The strong defense around the island consisted of wood from Palmetto Trees (not to be confused with the Palm Tree) which proved to be surprisingly effective against the large iron balls used by British Canons, after several hours, the British were forced to retreat to New York, and thus South Carolina has achieved a huge victory. Not bad for a small colony.

If you were wondering why the Palmetto Tree is on the flag of South Carolina, this particular battle that South Carolina won is the reason.

The year 1776 is when the American Colonies decided to organize it's own body of Government known as the "Continental Congress" which consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams (and his brother Samuel), Benjamin Franklin (though he was a scientist that revolutionized electricity) John Dickinson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and other members. They all unanimously chosen the veteran general of the French and Indian War; George Washington to lead the continental army against the British.

But, these men weren't just happy with their own government, they wanted their own nation; a nation that was totally independent from the King.

Starting around June of 1776, Jefferson along with another member of the new Continental Congress; Timothy Matlack as well as a council called the "Committee of Five" were writing a document that would liberate their beloved colonies from the icy grip of King George the 3rd.

A Document that would be called, "The Declaration of Independence".

Jefferson, Matlack and the Committee would write out nearly 100 drafts of the document, and it was to have the men and women of the American Colonies to be free and independent from the British, some drafts also included African Slaves that were being held against their will to serve the rich landowners in the American Colonies, and the Declaration was supposed to say that these slaves were to be free. But out of fear of losing support from the Southern Colonies, it was left out.

There will be more about this particular issue in the wiki page series about the American Civil War, just click here if you want to read about it. Though not confirmed, there may be a "What if?" page about African Slaves and the Declaration of Independence.

### A New Nation is born

With the Declaration finally complete. Though the Continental Congress was supposed to ratify the document in July 2, but for some reason unconfirmed, it was pushed back, and the document was finally ratified on July 4.

Before the page can continue, just to let all of you know that the US flag being used throughout the remainder of this 6-part series will be the Francis Hopkinson flag. That is because the more famous and memorable first US Flag supposedly made by Betsy Ross is considered a myth due to a lack of actual evidence.

When the Declaration was ratified on a hot day in July 4, the people throughout the Colonies (now called States) rejoiced that they live in their very own country, free from the King. They now live in a nation not ruled by a King, it was the United States of America (the good ol' US of A).

Just because the USA is now born, doesn't mean the British are willing to just give up and let the Americans have their fun. The Revolution is now beginning to heat up. In the next page (click here), we will talk about how the newly-declared USA will try desperately to do whatever it can to continue on as a nation, from the first battles of Washington, to his eventual victory at Trenton. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.