Great Colonial Rebellion

## Background

Discontent with the British monarchy had festered with the English colonists in North America since 1763 with the conclusion of the French and Indian War. In order to pay for protecting the colonies from French invasion, taxes were levied against the colonists for war debt payments. Decrees such as the Townshend Acts with no representation of the parliament voting these laws upon them, furthered anger within the 13 colonies. Colonists chanted, "No more taxation without representation!" starting in 1765 with the Stamp Act Congress. In 1770, British troops fired upon a group of colonial rioters in an event called the Boston Massacre. Protests against the crown escalated in the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Island in 1772. In December 1773, disgruntled patriots (or colonists) dressed as Indians stormed the ships in Boston harbor, and threw cases of tea into the ocean in an event known as the Boston Tea-party.

In response to the Boston Tea-party, the government in London lobbied a set of punitive laws that rescinded the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. These laws were seen as harsh to the rest of the colonies, and in late 1774, the patriots assembled the Continental Congress to coordinate resistance against Britain. On April 19th, 1775, patriot militias called *Minutemen* were confronted by the British army in Lexington and Concord, starting the Great Colonial Rebellion.

## Beginning of the Rebellion

Massachusetts was declared in a state of rebellion in February 1775 and the British garrison received orders to disarm the rebels and arrest their leaders. The Battle of Lexington and Concord resulted in the British redcoats being repelled to Boston by the militias, however the army succeeded in their objectives of destroying the patriot supplies. Militias harrassed the British throughout the day as they marched through Massachusetts. What followed was the Siege of Boston and the Battle of Bunker Hill, which forced the redcoats to evacuate Boston. The government in London began to realize that this was more than a mere riot. The Continental Congress was divided in course of action, but eventually produced the *Olive Branch Petition.* In response, *King George III* produced the *Proclamation of Rebellion* which denounced the members of the congress as traitors.

By July 1776, the British had no significant strongholds in the 13 Colonies. This period of peace gave the Continental Congress time to write the *Declaration of Independence* In which they claimed complete political independence from the British Empire. Little did the continentals know that the British were preparing a large force in Halifax, and were going to attack New York. In August they successfully repelled the continental army led by a young general named *George Washington* from Brooklyn.

## Saratoga Campaign

Although the continentals saw great initial success, this was short lived, however, as the British were quickly retaking the upper hand. In September 1776 an attempt was made for peace in what is called the *Staten Island Peace Conference*, though this fell apart. The British then seized the city of New York, capturing the entire army defending the city. Colonel George Washington was now a British prisoner.

The capture of General Washington led to a severe hit to patriot morale. Following his capture, Gen. Horatio Gates took over as Commander-in-Chief of the continental army. Various British landings further took place along the southern seaboard, capturing Yorktown, Norfolk, and other major ports. On June 14th, 1777, the British high command initiated the Saratoga Campaign with the goal of gaining military control of the Hudson River Valley, which was strategically important to the continentals. Leading the operation was General John Burgoyne and William Howe, who intended to consolidate New England and cut them off from the rest of the colonies, strangling their supply. Burgoyne and his men confronted the continentals at Fort Saratoga, and after nearly being defeated, William Howe's reinforcements arrived, taking the continentals by surprise, and destroying or capturing nearly the entire army, which surrendered. 20,000 Patriots including Horatio Gates were taken prisoner.

With the complete collapse of the continental army in the north, the Continental Congress evacuated Philadelphia for Charlestown, with word of a potential attack on the capital from patriot informers. General William Howe and Burgoyne consolidated the rest of New England, including Boston, by October of 1777. Reportedly, the British burnt the city, and murdered thousands of civilians there and across New England, further deteriorating continental war support.

## Collapse of the Rebellion

With continental forces being decimated on the field, the continental congress enacted an emergency draft called the *Impressment Act of 1777*, calling upon every able-bodied male. This deeply angered the people of the states, as the federal government was forcing them to fight rather than individual states. This action led to the individual states of the union declaring their own independence, with the area controlled by the congress being relegated to South Carolina and North Carolina. Draft riots broke out across the union, as loyalists refused to fight a war against their home country. Continental troops had to fire upon their own people in what was called the *Charleston Massacre*. This event was quickly spun by loyalists as proof the revolution did not represent the actual interests of the colonists. Large-scale rioting began to take place, as the British began their march south to the Carolinas.

It seemed a civil war was already brewing in the union. In Georgia, a group of loyalists overthrew the state government, establishing the British Republic of Georgia. The congress had hastily repealed the draft laws but it was too late, the union had become divided. On April 2nd, 1778, Lord Germain initiated the Carolina campaign. This was the final campaign of the Colonial Rebellion, and led to the capture of the continental congress with the exception of *Benjamin Franklin,* who was in France at the time. When news of the fall of Charleston reached him, he was quoted saying, *"Dear god - it is all over."* The British Republic of Georgia faithfully rejoined the empire, recognizing George III as head of state, although this didn't stop the redcoats from pillaging.

## Aftermath

The war was an astounding victory for the British. The cost of the war, however, had been heavy, and this resulted in much harsher taxation in the colonies than before the war. The charters of all the colonies were revoked with the exception of Georgia for their loyalty. On July 4th, 1778, as a symbol of defeat, the British hung every member of the continental congress with the exception of Ben Franklin, who lived the rest of his days exiled in France, continually rallying for "American sovereignty." George Washington and Horatio Gates managed to escape their prison during a colonial riot, and went into hiding in France where they reunited with Ben Franklin. A numerous amount of colonial exiles (about 25,000 mostly former men of Washington) moved to France, and established an American community called *Nouvelle Amérique.*

Although colonial charters were restored in 1802, a lingering resentment continued to exist among the colonists. The harsh punishment for the war led to deep hatred for Britain among former patriots, with anti-loyalist attacks becoming quite prevalent, starting a mass migration of loyalists to *Dixieland*. An organization called "Knights of America" continues to operate and spread anti-British sentiments in the colonies, with a paramilitary group routinely attempting to raid British outposts.