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They were badly clothed and poorly fed. They were barely trained and often unpaid. But the American soldiers went up against the finest fighting force in Europe—and beat them.
Still, the Americans lost more battles than they won. How did they claim victory? They followed a strategy created by General Washington. After his defeat on Long Island in 1776, Washington fought a defensive war. He avoided large battles and wore the enemy down. Finally, Britain got tired of losing men and money in what seemed like an endless conflict. Washington’s strategy worked. The end of the war, however, was just the beginning. The battle to form a new nation—one based on the ideals that had carried the Patriots to victory—was just starting.
▲ In June 1776, the Continental Congress realized that the 13 former colonies needed a document that said how they’d work together. In 1776 and 1777, the Congress wrote the Articles of Confederation. That created a permanent union of the 13 states. It also named the new nation the United States of America. However, this new union was weak. Congress was the only branch of government. It could raise an army and make war. But it couldn’t tax the states.
After the war, Britain gave the U.S. all the land from the Atlantic Coast to the Mississippi River. Most of this land still belonged to the Native Americans. But that was ignored. For years, the American Revolution’s principles were rarely applied to Native Americans. ▼
▲ George Washington thought the new nation needed a strong central government. It was clear that the Articles of Confederation would never provide that. So he asked his friend James Madison for help. Madison convinced the Virginia legislature to call for the federal government’s reform. In May 1787, delegates met in Philadelphia. By September, they’d solved a number of bitter conflicts. They’d also created the Constitution of the United States.
◀ Many Americans feared the Constitution might limit their new freedom. They wanted a Bill of Rights added to the document. In 1791 the Bill of Rights became the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Among other things, they guaranteed the freedom of religion, speech, and the press. They also ensured the rights to gather in public and bear arms. They said Americans would be free from unlawful search and seizure. And people couldn’t be punished without their cases going through the legal system.
According to legend, after the surrender at Yorktown, British troops marched off the field while their bands played an old English tune. Many different songs had been written to this music. One of them was titled “When the King Enjoys His Own Again.” But another was called “The World Turn’d Upside Down.”
The war was over. So states didn’t want to send money to the national government. Congress was bankrupt and some soldiers hadn’t been paid in six years. Some of Washington’s officers thought he was the only person who could command the entire country’s respect. They wanted to name him King George I of America. Washington was horrified. He quickly squashed that idea. ▶
Think Piece!
All people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That idea is stated in the Declaration of Independence. How well does the U.S. live up to that idea today?
◀ The colonists began the Revolution to defend their rights under the British Crown. But in the end they went far beyond that goal. They unleashed the force of democratic change in the world. The colonists started out being against “taxation without representation.” They wound up fighting for the right of all people to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The new nation still allowed slavery. And it still denied women an equal role in government. But the ideals that drove the Revolution eventually led to the end of slavery and the beginnings of an equal society.
▲ Celebrate!
New Yorkers tore down a statue of King George III on July 9, 1776. That was shortly after Washington’s army heard a reading of the Declaration of Independence. Most of the statue was melted down for bullets. Its head was put on a spike in the Blue Bell Tavern in New York City.
