Laxation's Role In The American Revolution: A Historical Overview

Laxation means the act or process of making or being made lax. The word is derived from the Latin word laxus, which means loose. The American Revolution was an insurrection carried out by 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies that began in 1775 and ended with a peace treaty in 1783. The colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America.

The Battles of Lexington and Concord

In the years leading up to the conflict, Great Britain had enacted a series of measures to raise revenue from its 13 American colonies. These included the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts, which generated fierce resentment among colonists who protested against "taxation without representation". Boston was a key point of resistance, with the city being the site of the 1770 Boston Massacre and the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

In response to the Boston Tea Party, the British government introduced the so-called "Intolerable Acts", which included closing the port of Boston, dissolving the colonial assembly, and placing Massachusetts under military rule. The British also ramped up their military presence in the city, with around 4,000 troops stationed there by 1775.

On the night of April 18, 1775, British troops set off from Boston towards Concord, Massachusetts, with the aim of seizing weapons and ammunition stockpiled by American colonists. The colonists had an efficient warning system, and riders including Paul Revere alerted residents of the British troops' movements.

At dawn on April 19, about 700 British troops arrived in Lexington and confronted a group of 77 militiamen gathered on the town green. A shot was fired—the famous "shot heard 'round the world"—but it is unclear which side fired first. Several British volleys followed, resulting in eight militiamen dead and nine wounded, while only one British soldier was injured.

The British then continued to Concord, where they searched for arms. However, most of the weapons had already been relocated, and the British found little. They burned what they could, and the fire got slightly out of control. Hundreds of militiamen gathered outside Concord, and a second skirmish took place at Concord's North Bridge. The British fired first but were forced to retreat when the colonists returned fire.

By the time the British prepared to return to Boston, about 18 miles away, almost 2,000 militiamen, known as minutemen, had assembled. The militiamen followed the British column and began firing at them from behind trees, stone walls, houses, and sheds. The British troops abandoned weapons and equipment to speed up their retreat.

When the British column reached Lexington, they encountered a brigade of fresh troops that had answered a call for reinforcements. The colonists resumed their attack through Menotomy (now Arlington) and Cambridge. The British tried to keep them at bay with flanking parties and cannon fire. Eventually, the British reached Charlestown Neck, where they had naval support.

The Boston Tea Party

The Backdrop

In the 1760s, Britain was heavily in debt, largely due to the French and Indian War. To recoup some of the losses, the British Parliament imposed a series of taxes on American colonists. This included the Stamp Act of 1765, which taxed colonists on printed paper, and the Townshend Acts of 1767, which taxed essentials like paint, paper, glass, lead, and tea.

The colonists were outraged by these taxes, as they had no representation in Parliament and felt it was wrong for Britain to impose taxes on them. This led to a wave of boycotts and protests, including the Sons of Liberty, a group of colonial merchants and tradesmen founded to oppose the Stamp Act and other forms of taxation.

The Tea Act

In May 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea to the colonies duty-free and cheaper than other tea companies, but it still taxed the tea when it reached colonial ports. The Act was designed to aid the financially troubled East India Company by granting it a monopoly on tea exports to the colonies.

The Protest

On December 16, 1773, thousands of colonists gathered at Griffin's Wharf in Boston, where three ships—the Dartmouth, Eleanor, and Beaver—laden with tea from China had arrived. Led by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, the colonists passed a resolution to refuse to pay taxes on the tea and prevent it from being unloaded, stored, sold, or used.

That evening, a group of about 30 to 130 men, many of them Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians and boarded the ships. Over the course of three hours, they destroyed and threw 342 chests of tea, worth nearly $1,000,000 today, into Boston Harbor. This act of destruction was a symbolic choice, as the Sons of Liberty identified more with America than with their official status as British subjects.

The Aftermath

The Boston Massacre

In the years leading up to the Boston Massacre, tensions had been rising in Boston due to the presence of British troops and the imposition of unpopular taxes by the British Parliament. More than 2,000 British soldiers occupied the city, which had a population of about 16,000 colonists. The soldiers were tasked with enforcing Britain's tax laws, such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts, which were deeply resented by the colonists. The cry of "no taxation without representation" became a rallying cry for the American colonists, who felt that their natural rights as Englishmen were being infringed upon.

Skirmishes and violent outbreaks became increasingly common in Boston, with patriots vandalising stores that sold British goods and intimidating merchants and their customers. On February 22, 1770, a mob of patriots attacked the store of a known loyalist, and a customs officer, Ebenezer Richardson, fired a gun into the crowd, killing an 11-year-old boy named Christopher Seider. This incident further enraged the patriots and heightened tensions in the city.

On the evening of March 5, 1770, Private Hugh White was guarding the King's money inside the Custom House on King Street. He was soon surrounded by angry colonists who insulted and threatened him. The situation escalated, and White struck a colonist with his bayonet, prompting the colonists to retaliate by pelting him with snowballs, ice, and stones. As the bells rang throughout the town, more colonists took to the streets, and the assault on White continued. He eventually fell and called for reinforcements.

Captain Thomas Preston responded to White's plea for help and arrived on the scene with several soldiers. They took up a defensive position in front of the Custom House but were quickly surrounded by a large crowd of colonists. The colonists threw objects and taunted the soldiers, daring them to shoot. In the midst of this chaotic scene, a shot rang out, followed by a volley of gunfire from the British soldiers.

Five colonists were killed in the shooting: Crispus Attucks, a local dockworker of mixed racial heritage; Samuel Gray, a rope maker; James Caldwell, a sailor; Samuel Maverick, a 17-year-old apprentice ivory turner; and Patrick Carr, an Irish immigrant. Six others were wounded, two of whom later died from their injuries.

The Declaration of Independence

The 56 delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence came to be known as the Founding Fathers, and the document has become one of the most circulated, reprinted, and influential documents in world history. It inspired similar declarations in other countries, including the 1789 Declaration of the United Belgian States issued during the Brabant Revolution in the Austrian Netherlands. It also served as the primary model for numerous declarations of independence in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Oceania.

The Continental Army

When Washington took command, the Continental Army was more akin to a disorganized group of militias and citizen-soldiers, lacking established protocols for coordination, supply chains, transportation, and other essential aspects of a professional army. Communication with the Continental Congress was slow, creating challenges in decision-making and approval processes. Despite these obstacles, Washington reorganised the army into three divisions, six brigades, and thirty-eight regiments. He also attempted an invasion of Canada using New York's militia, but this endeavour was unsuccessful.

Recognising the need to transform the Continental Army into a disciplined force akin to a European-style army, Washington faced significant challenges. The troops often lacked proper equipment and training, and the army frequently experienced shortages of supplies and food. Additionally, the generals leading the army often disagreed and fought among themselves, creating a challenging command environment.

Despite these difficulties, the Continental Army achieved notable victories at Saratoga in September and October 1777 and at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, with the crucial assistance of the French army and navy. The harsh winters of Valley Forge in 1777-1778 and Morristown in 1778-1779 also played a role in shaping the fighting force. Although the Continental Army lost more battles than they won, their key victories ultimately secured American independence.

The last units of the Continental Army officially ended their service on June 20, 1784, after Congress determined the required troop numbers to secure the frontiers of the newly independent United States. In his 1783 Farewell Order, Washington expressed gratitude to his officers and soldiers, praising their unity and brotherhood. He returned his commission as Commander-in-Chief to Congress on December 23, 1783, and the War officially ended on January 14, 1784, with the ratification of the peace treaty.

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