"I know not what course others may take; But as for me, Give me liberty, or give me death." - Patrick Henry, Patriot (1775)

The Revolutionary War affected the lives of numerous individuals and showed the world that no matter how great the losses, it was nonetheless possible to emerge victorious against the might of the British Empire.

What Caused the Revolutionary War?

The decision by the British to continuously impose high taxes on the American colonists was a major factor in fueling anti-British sentiments among these people. The British government, eager to restore the financial stability of Great Britain after it emerged victorious in the French and Indian wars against France, decided that putting a tax on a very large amount of products, including imports and exports to and from the colonies was a good way to make the money back which they had spent on the war efforts.

Another important factor, which stems from the first one, was the British decision to open fire on protesters of taxation in the city of Boston, Massachussets which resulted in the deaths of five people. This event afterwards became known as the Boston Massacre. The event unfolded in such a violent way due to the fact that a small amont of protesters decided to attack one British soldier during the protest which prompted more soldiers to come to his aid, after which another soldier in the service of Great Britain began shooting at the protesters, with the other soldiers following suit.

What Events Took Place During the Revolution?

After being constantly hit with repeated taxes, the Colonial government had had enough and decided to rebel against the British by asserting that the British Parliament had no say on how their local government acted and also claimed that they would pass a trade law which mostly benefited the colonists' interests.

In response to being defied, the British government ordered British troops to march to the major coastal colonial city of Boston in order to disarm the colonial militia there. The colonial law stated that colonists had to defend their weapons from being taken and this refusal for the colonists to give up weapons led to the first full-scale engagements of the war: The Battles of Lexington and Concord.

After The Battles of Lexington and Concord took place, a rising General and soon to be President George Washington readied a collection of local militias and army volunteers in order to fend off the British invasion. Many more battles would be fought during the war which included the Battle of Bunker Hill and The Battle of Kings Mountain, until the Colonists, primarily under the leadership of General Washington finally defeated the British during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

What Was the Outcome of the Revolutionary War?

Once the Colonists finally scored a decisive victory against the British at Yorktown, the remaining British soldiers surrendered, and as a result of that victory, the colonists had essentially won the war and the remaining British soldiers gradually returned home. By mid-1783, all remaining Colonial soldiers were discharged and all hostilities in the war had ceased.

The American Colonies officially ended the war with Britain once in for all on September 3, 1783 when both nations signed the Treaty of Paris. The immediate effect of the signing of the treaty inclued Britain losing an enormous amount of their land in the Americas, opening new areas for the Americans to settle, as well as allowing the colonists to create and practice their own form of Democratic government without having to worry about British intervention in the near future.

How Can the Impact of the Revolutionary War be Felt Today?

The Revolutionary War's impact on how we live today is massive. Due to the Thirteen American Colonies defeating the British when they attempted to stifle the colonists' freedom, the country which would be founded out of those colonies, The United States, was allowed to without much outside resistance, spread the ideas of freedom of speech and expression all across the country; rights that we still have and utilize on a daily basis. Even the ideals of the French Revolution, which happened in France from 1789-1799 were heavily influenced by the prized American ideals of Libery and Freedom.

One more major impact of the Revolutionary War is how it greatly influenced American militarity tactics for centuries to come. Colonial soldiers were able to have such an advantage over the British militarily because the Colonists would hide benind cover and fire on British soldiers from what they consider the most well-hidden or well-fortified positions, while the British would generally march in single-file lines and stand out in the open when they fired upon the colonists. The colonists' strategy of utilizing cover when involved in armed conflict is still a strategy which is very widely used today by U.S. troops on a regular basis.