"American Revolution" prevod sa engleskog na srpski

Množina: American Revolutions

The revolution of the American colonies against Great Britain; 1775-1783; Also called: War of American Independence.
Revolt 1775–83 of the British North American colonies, resulting in the establishment of the United States of America.
It was caused by colonial opposition to British economic exploitation and by the unwillingness of the colonists to pay for a standing army. It was also fueled by the colonists' antimonarchist sentiment and their desire to participate in the policies affecting them.
The Revolution, or American War of Independence as it is sometimes known, was the product of complex factors and specific points of contention, but the root cause may be attributed to Britain's refusal to recognize that, economically and psychologically, the American colonies had outgrown the status which Britain accorded them and that radical overhaul of the theory and practice of their relations with Britain was needed.
Navigation Acts and taxes
The first difficulties came with the Navigation Acts which provided a closed market in Britain to certain colonial goods, but restricted colonial trade, making smuggling almost universal. The situation came to a head when the British prime minister, George Grenville, clamped down on the colonies, insisting that the Navigation Acts be strictly enforced. He proposed that a standing army be garrisoned in the colonies, ostensibly to protect the colonists from Indian incursions, but many regarded this as an intimidatory measure to ensure colonial compliance with Britain's will. The issue became a major point of contention with the colonists when Grenville insisted that the colonies should be taxed to pay for the army.
Stamp Act
The army was to be paid for by the Stamp Act, passed March 1765, which imposed direct taxes on the American colonies for the first time. James Otis of Boston and Patrick Henry of Virginia urged the colonists to resist and the Stamp Act Congress in New York, led by the colony of Massachusetts, decided to petition the King and Parliament. Widespread unrest broke out under the slogan “No taxation without representation” and there were riots throughout the colonies. The British government failed to appreciate the scale of discontent, and its inadequate gestures of conciliation were of no avail. After some months of deadlock, during which there was serious rioting throughout the colonies, the British government was forced to concede—the American objection to “internal” taxes imposed from outside was recognized, and the stamp tax was abolished.
Boston Tea Party
Despite the British climb-down over the Stamp Act, the right to impose tax on the colonies remained. As the Americans appeared to be willing to accept “external” taxation, such as customs duties, Charles Townshend, the chancellor of the Exchequer, imposed an import duty on tea, glass, and other articles 1767 to pay for the officials of the Crown appointed to the colonies. To the British government this seemed reasonable, but to their surprise American protests continued. Mob opposition, silenced by the repeal of the Stamp Act, was again roused, and the Boston Massacre March 1770, when British troops opened fire on a crowd of colonists, killing five, threatened to provoke the situation out of all control. The British were forced to back down and in April the import duties were repealed, except that on tea, which was retained by the Tea Act, designed to help the East India Company off-load surplus stocks of cheap tea.
The colonists refused to buy supplies of British tea, and instead smuggled tea from Holland. The protests gained momentum during 1773 as cargoes of tea rotted in storage in Charleston and other ports. In Boston the protests went further still: a band of men disguised as North American Indians boarded British tea ships in the harbor and tossed tea chests into the sea, an episode immortalized as “the Boston tea-party”. George iii was outraged and demanded Parliament take drastic action, especially against Massachusetts. The Intolerable Acts, as they were known to the colonists, were passed March 1774. Several different acts closed the port of Boston; gave the Massachusetts governor, General Gage, the power to billet soldiers in colonists’ homes; and annulled the colony’s charter and moved the capital from Boston to Salem.
First Continental Congress
The Intolerable Acts provoked the other colonies to declare their support for Massachusetts, and the first Continental Congress was convened in support at Philadelphia 5 Sept 1774. It called for civil disobedience against the British authorities in protest at the acts and resolved to draft an appeal for fair treatment to King George and to the British and Canadian people. Independence from Britain was explicitly rejected, and it was not until much later that the faction pressing for independence gained the upper hand.
War breaks out
The spark which ignited wholesale revolution came at Lexington, Massachusetts, 19 April 1775. General Gage had been sent to Massachusetts as both military and civil governor to suppress the signs of incipient rebellion in the colony. He despatched a small force to seize illegal military stores at Lexington and to arrest two prominent rebels, John Hancock and Samuel Adams. The local colonists' militia, known as minutemen, exchanged fire with the British troops and the Battle of Lexington and Concord began the Revolution.
From revolt to revolution
The second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia May 1775 and adopted the rebel militias in the field as the Continental Army; George Washington was then appointed commander in chief of the American forces 15 June. Although the Congress was now an embryonic federal government of the 13 American colonies in a state of war with the British government, it was not yet prepared to throw off allegiance to the Crown. The British were reinforced by the arrival in Boston of William Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, and John Burgoyne with additional troops raising their total force to 10,000.
The American army occupied the mainland and the first significant engagement of the conflict came at the Battle of Bunker Hill 17 June 1775 which the British only won at a great cost in casualties. An American force invaded Canada but was forced to retreat after Benedict Arnold's defeat at Quebec Dec 1775. Washington fortified Dorchester Heights outside Boston March 1776 and bombarded the city, forcing Howe to evacuate 17 March. The Continental Congress accepted it could no longer claim allegiance to the Crown and the American Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and revised by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, was formally passed 4 July 1776.
After Washington's defeat at Long Island 27 Aug the Americans were forced to abandon New York Sept and Washington retreated through New Jersey to Pennsylvania. The Americans fought back and defeated the British at Trenton, New Jersey, 26 Dec then at Princeton 3 Jan 1777. However, Washington suffered another major reverse at the Battle of Brandywine 11 Sept and shortly after at Germantown 4 Oct and Howe occupied Philadelphia, now the capital of the formally independent Continental states. However just two weeks later, the British suffered a major setback when Horatio Gates forced the British under John Burgoyne into surrender after the Battle of Saratoga and prevented them linking up with Howe's forces.
The European powers intervene
The French saw an opportunity to strike a blow at the old enemy, Britain, and Feb 1778 concluded an offensive and defensive treaty with American emissaries, provoking Britain to declare war on France. The Netherlands signed a treaty of amity with the American colonies Sept 1778 and joined in the war against Britain 1780. Spain declared war June 1779, laying siege to Gibraltar and allowing New Orleans to be used as a base for privateers acting against British shipping. Catherine ii of Russia formed the League of Armed Neutrality March 1780, to assist the American colonies by obstructing the use of British sea power. The American Revolution thus became part of a larger war in which most of the great powers participated to some extent.
The British prime minister, Lord North, realized the potential of more general war when the French intervened and attempted to reverse his previous policy. Peace commissioners were appointed to negotiate with the Americans April 1778, and parliament promised the repeal of the Intolerable Acts, suspending them pending the outcome of negotiations. By this time, however, it was too late and Congress rejected the offer June 1778.
The war at sea
Another benefit for the Americans of the French intervention was the assistance of their fleet which the Americans depended on heavily in naval engagements, albeit supported by us-built commerce raiders, such as that captained by the American folk hero John Paul Jones.
War in the south
Henry Clinton, who had been appointed to succeed Howe as commander of the British forces, evacuated Philadelphia June 1778 and attempted to return to New York. However, Washington was determined to bring him to battle and hung on his flanks resulting in the inconclusive Battle of Monmouth 28 June 1778, the last general engagement fought on northern soil. Clinton occupied New York, while Washington took up position at nearby White Plains and the two sides remained in those places watching each other for three years, while the real fighting took place in the south. Lord Cornwallis achieved some notable successes in the South, in particular the comprehensive British victory near Camden, South Carolina, 16 Aug 1780 which was almost fatal to the Americans.
British defeat
In the late summer of 1781 Lord Cornwallis was besieged in Yorktown, Virginia, by Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, the French commander. His last hope of evacuation by sea was dashed by the French victory over the British fleet at Chesapeake Bay 5 Sept. The defeat isolated the British land force and Lord Cornwallis was forced to surrender 19 Oct. His surrender effectively ended British hopes in the war: they evacuated much of the south and all but abandoned land operations. The British fleet under Admiral Rodney continued to achieve some success in the West Indies, notably in the defeat of the French fleet at the Battle of the Saints April 1782, but it was not enough to make up for the collapse of the land force and the British were forced to enter peace preliminaries Nov 1782. There was a formal cessation of hostilities Feb 1783.
Peace of Versailles
After the cessation of hostilities Feb 1783, much of the rest of the year was spent in negotiation between the many countries who had become embroiled in the conflict, with the Americans represented by Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and John Adams. Under the Peace of Versailles 3 Sept 1783 Britain recognized the independence of the us and in return was allowed to retain Canada and recovered its West Indian territories; France recovered St Lucia, Tobago, Senegal, and Goree; and Spain retained Minorca and recovered Florida.