Ben Howson
AP Us History
10/13/2015
1750 to 1776 was a very important time period in American History. During this time, the people of the new world will have to decide wether or not they want to be free from England, and if they want to become Americans. Many speeches will take place to try and make the people pick a side, and things like political cartoons, the First Continental Congress, the battle of lexington and concord, the Second Continental congress, and more will force the American colonists to pick a side. The people of America would have this entire time period (1750-1776) to take their side, and on the eve of the Revolution and during it, they will have to stand by their decision or die for it. There was no in the middle, you were either for the revolution, or against it, American or British, for freedom or against it. Before the Eve of the Revolution, the majority of the colonists had taken the identity of proud Americans, yet there were many others who did not embrace this identity, due to doubt and being scared, so they would take their place by their king.
Events were taking place in early 1750 which really started to make an impact on people's ideas and beliefs about government, as well as possibly separating from their mother land. This all started in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin created the first ever political cartoon, and it was created for the Albany Plan of Union. The Albany Plan was a plan to place British North American colonies under a more centralized form of government. Seven of the North American British colonies adopted this idea, and their was an eighth, but they pulled out hence why the snake is cut up into eight pieces. Although this plan didn't work, it was the first attempt at putting colonies as a whole under one government, and it was the first big step forward for America, opening the eyes of many people, giving them a taste of what could be possible for America in the near future. But this was only the beginning, the starting point of an idea, a dream that over time would grow to become the dream of many people, and soon no longer it will be a dream, but reality and the impossible. But a lot would have to happen before then such as the First Continental Congress.
The First Continental congress took place in 1774 in Philadelphia. Here, 12 of the 13 colonies would come together, all but Georgia. Georgia didn't take place in this, because they didn't want to up set the British, and because they were needing British help to solve some problems with the Native Americans. Here at Carpenters' Hall, the delegates discussed what they want to do about England, due to some of the events that have accord in the past, such as the Boston Massacre, The French and Indian war, and the passing of the intolerable acts, and other forms of taxation against the colonies, which eventually lead to The Boston Tea Party. The people of America were truly fed up with the British, and they knew that something had to be done. Many of the Colonists had already begun to revolt at this point, and everyone was thinking about doing the unthinkable, but no one had the guts to even say it out loud, just because it was a suicide mission. But then Massachusetts stood up, and said the unthinkable, the thing that no one else would say. They came up with the idea that the colonies should to begin arming them selfs, and to take them up against the British. No one could believe what they had just heard. They all agreed that they should start to gather weapons, but were not ready to take up against the British yet, because they wished to try some other ways before going into all out war, so later they settled on the boycott of British goods, and so all of the delegates signed the Continental Association. In Short it worked, they were able to boycott the British goods, and dropped the British imports by 97 percent, but unfortunately, but The Intolerable Acts were still in play, which meant that their jobs was not over yet. This was a huge part in history which truly lead the Americans in to a revolution. The First Continental Congress gave people hope, and they saw that it is possible to get what they want, but they would just have to fight for it. They were no starting to believe the impossible. This eventually lead to the Battle of Lexington and Concord.
The Battle of lexington and Concord took both place in 1775 in Massachusetts. This was the first ever battle between the colonies and the British. What happened was the British heard that the colonist had begun to buy weapons, arms, and had even begun to train people how to fight, and they did not like this one bit. So the British sent out soldiers to confiscate their arms, but they had no idea what they were about to get them selfs into. After a lot of fighting, retreating, and masses amounts of death on both sides, The American militia had lead the British into a narrow area where they blockaded the British army and took up Gorilla war fare, and the American Militia won. This came as such a large surprise to everyone, they had actually just won a battle against the British. This was a huge confidence boost for the Americans, and it would definitely help them out in the near future. It showed many people that they could do the impossible, and that they could be a proud American. This battle brought many people that were scared of the British to see that they shouldn't be scared, and so that night many people all around the colonies in America took the proud identity of an American. With the success of defeating the British, the Colonies decided it best to hold the Second Continental Congress, so that they could decide on what their next move should be.
The Second Continental took place in 1775 in Philadelphia, and here again 12 of the 13 delegates would discuss what they should do next. Many of the same people were at this meeting, but also some new people joined the discussion. The conversation was many ruled by the wanting of independence from England, as well as adopting the Declaration of Independence, but this would not be put into place by 1776. Also during this meeting, they discussed gathering more arms, raising an army, creating strategies, and more such as creating formal treaties. During the Second Continental Congress, they appointed George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army, the army which he would soon take to war against the British. They all had just agreed upon going to war with the British, their mother land, but from now until then, they would have to really step it up, and fortunately they had something to fight for; their Freedom! Later the Battle of Bunker Hill would take place, and this was the point of no going back, but this didn't matter, because America was holding their own against the British, and at that time, America knew that they could win. This was the moment in time, where the people would be forced to choose a side, and because of the recent battles won by America, lots of the colonists had faith, and stood by America, making them as a whole stronger than ever. They wanted their freedom so bad, that they were willing to do anything for it. It was official, the American Revolution had just begun, and history was about to be made.
Before the eve of the American Revolution, the colonist in America had pick which side they would fight for, either they would embrace the American identity willing to fight for their freedom which many of the colonist did, or they coward in the shadows of the British. Many events would take place between the time of 1750 to 1776 leading up to the revolution, which would eventually force the colonists of America to choose their side. In around 1750, the colonists were not entirely bothered by the British, but sure there were a few things that got on their nerves, but nothing catastrophic. But towards 1760, the colonists had begun to have enough of the British, and started to revolt when things like the Boston Tea Party happened, and other events alike, along with quite a lot of taxing. This really started to build a fire inside of the colonists, which led to the start of picking sides. Later, The British would begin to really breath down the necks of the colonists, and this type of thing led to the Continental Congress, where the colonists would for the first time ever, come together and discuss about what actions to take. When Britain found out about this, they were definitely not happy, and ended up going into battle with the colonists in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. To everyones surprise, the colonists actually ended up winning the battles, which was a huge turing point for America, because after this happened, this made many people pick up the American identity, and now many wanted to be free from Britain. This led to the Second Continental Congress, where they discussed what their options were, and in the end, agreed upon creating a revolution, by taking up arms against the British. Soon came the eve of the revolution, and by this time the majority of the colonists had picked their side, but the American identity greatly out weighed that of the British identity in America.
