American Revolution

The American Revolution

     The American Revolution was a period of time during the late 1700s in which the American Colonies demanded Independence from Britain. This led to a war between them called the Revolutionary War. The causes of the Americans demanding independence were set up by many laws and taxes placed on them by the British. Some of these acts were: The Navigation Acts, The Proclamation of 1763, the 1764 Sugar Act, the 1765 Stamp Act, the 1767 Townshend Act, the 1773 Tea Act and the 1774 Intolerable Acts. The Americans thought this was unfair because didn’t have any representatives in the British Parliament so they didn’t have any say in these extremely unpopular laws and taxes. After many protests later, the Americans and the British were engulfed in a fierce war starting in 1775. This war caused one the history’s biggest mass immigrations.

     Not all Americans wanted to separate from Britain. About thirty per cent of the population in the American Colonies wanted to stay loyal to Britain. These people were called the Loyalists, and are also know as Tories, King’s Men, or Royalists. The Americans in support of independence were also known as the Patriots. Many citizens also wanted to remain neutral but the Americans didn’t allow neutrality and threatened these people to support them be looked at as a Loyalist. Loyalists were mistreated in many different ways. One of the most popular ways was being tarred and feathered. The Americans would pour hot tar onto the victim’s body and roll them in feathers. Many Loyalists were sent to jail or were driven from their homes as well. The Loyalists decided to flee back to British protection in Canada. Britain promised free land in Canada to all Loyalists for keeping their loyalty to their mother country.
     After the war, a total of 100000 Loyalists fled out of the American Colonies. Some of them went back to Britain. 50000 Loyalists went to British North America which is now-day Canada. Places that they settled in were: Nova Scotia, where a new province New Brunswick was created to accommodate these new immigrates; and Quebec, where it was later divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Other Loyalists also went to the British West Indies. The Loyalists that are left would stay in the American Colonies.