The American Revolution Chapter 17: Section 4: Day 2 The American Revolution

Britain and the American Revolution Main Idea: Drawing on the theory of natural rights, the Declaration of Independence declared the colonies to be independent of Britain. George I became King of England and started the Hanoverian dynasty of British monarchs. Robert Walpole was the head of the cabinet in Parliament who strove to have peaceful foreign relations. However, an expanding middle class and trading economy favored British expansion. The colonists in North America had grown accustomed to governing their lives economically and politically.

Britain and the American Revolution Following the Seven Years’ War, Britain wanted new revenues from the colonies and imposed the Stamp Act, which was very unpopular with the colonists. The British enacted other policies to tighten control of its American colonies. The colonies organized the First Continental Congress in 1774 to discuss taking up arms against the British. In 1775 fighting began between the British and American rebels. The Second Continental Congress acted as a government, and George Washington led the army.

Britain and the American Revolution One year later, in July 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson, and the Revolutionary War had officially begun. France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic entered the war against Great Britain as well. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781, the British decided to end the war. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 recognized American independence and granted American control of the land east of the Mississippi River.