The First Bourgeois Revolution in America

Hehe, it's the American War of Independence 1775- 1783.

Gunfire from Lexington resounded all over the world.

1775, 19 In April, the American War of Independence, the first shot of which was fired in Lexington, was a national liberation war waged by the colonial people of North America to oppose British colonial rule and strive for national independence. The war lasted for eight years from 1775 to 1783, and finally ended with the bankruptcy of British colonial rule in North America and the independence of North American colonies.

The North American continent was originally a place where indigenous Indians lived and multiplied for generations.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, Europe began to immigrate to North America. From 65438 to 0607, the first batch of British immigrants established their first foothold in today's Virginia-Jamestown, which set off a wave of immigrants to the North American continent. From the first batch of immigrants set foot in Virginia in 1607 to the establishment of Georgia, the last colony in 1733, British immigrants successively established 13 colonies on the east coast of North America, and later became the first 13 states in the United States.

When European immigrants came to North America, they also transplanted the capitalist mode of production in Europe to North America. Capitalist relations of production first germinated rapidly in plantations. Agriculture, industry and commerce in the colonies, especially navigation, shipbuilding and overseas trade, were very prosperous. At the same time, the residents of North America 13 colonies are increasingly integrated.

Before the outbreak of the War of Independence, a new nation different from Britain had formed in this new region of North America, that is, the American nation. North American capitalism coexisted with British capitalism within the boundaries of the British Empire. The development of colonial capitalism in British North America logically put forward such a requirement: to develop capitalism independently from the dependence on the suzerain country.

However, the strong desire of the North American colonies to develop capitalism independently was blocked by the high-handed policy of the British authorities. In order to make the North American colonies become cheap raw material bases and commodity dumping markets forever, the British colonial authorities tried their best to curb the free development of the colonial economy. The British colonial authorities issued a series of decrees in succession, forbidding immigrants to the west of Abakangqi Mountain, forbidding colonies to issue paper money, announcing the dissolution of colonial parliament, imposing heavy taxes on colonies, tightening military control and so on. What the British government did aroused strong resistance from people from all walks of life in the colony. The masses took to the streets one after another and held a massive demonstration. 1On March 5, 773, British troops stationed in North America shot and killed Boston residents, arousing public outrage. 1774, the British government intensified its efforts and successively promulgated five "intolerable decrees", further intensifying the contradiction between the suzerain and the colony. The colonial people in North America have had enough and are determined to take up arms against the colonial authorities. In order to meet the coming battle, various colonies have hoarded arms and made weapons, and formed a militia team called "One Minute Man". 1774 On September 5th, 55 delegates from 12 colony held the first continental conference in Philadelphia to discuss the anti-British issue. After the meeting, the revolutionary situation became more and more mature, and there was no choice but to solve the problem by war between the North American colonies and the suzerain.

1775 April 18, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage sent 800 British troops stationed in Boston to Concord according to a tip-off, and tried to arrest the leading members of the local "communication committee". The news was intercepted by the intelligence personnel of the "Communication Committee" and reported to the local patriots in the starry night. "One Minute Man" will assemble immediately after receiving the report. Early the next morning, when British troops entered Lexington and Concord, they were attacked by militia who had already been waiting there. The militiamen opened fire on the British from behind rocks, trees and bushes. There were 273 British casualties and 93 North American militia casualties. The battle between Concord and Lexington fired the first shot of "listening to the world" and kicked off the American War of Independence. On August 23, the king of England issued an imperial edict, declaring that the resistance of the colony was illegal, and said that "it is better to lose the crown than to give up the war". On February 22, 65438, the British Parliament passed a resolution to send 50,000 troops to the North American colonies to suppress revolutionaries. Faced with this situation, the Second Continental Congress decided to form a regular continental army on June 1775. Washington, a former British colonel and Virginia planter, was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. The British tried to cut off the connection between New England and other colonies by virtue of their Lu Haijun advantage, and then broke them one by one. Under the leadership of Washington, the continental army took the policy of avoiding the enemy's sharp edge and consuming the enemy for a long time, and launched a long and arduous struggle with the British army.

From April 1775, when the first shot of the war of independence was fired, to June 1783, the eight-year American war of independence generally went through the following three stages:

The first stage: April 1775 to June 1777, which is the strategic defense stage. At this stage, the main battlefield was in the northern region, and the strategic initiative was in the hands of the British army. 1775, 17 In June, the Boston militia confronted the well-equipped British regular army for the first time in the Battle of Bunker Hill, which showed the amazing fighting capacity of the North American militia and greatly inspired the colonial people's fighting spirit for independence. At the height of the struggle,1July 4, 776, the Continental Congress officially declared its independence from Britain. 1776 12 after fierce competition, Washington turned passivity into initiative and gave up new york in order to save its military strength. The fall of new york marked a difficult period of the War of Independence. On Christmas Eve, 1776 12.25, Washington led his troops across the Delaware River, raided the Hessian mercenary barracks in Trenton, and then dealt a heavy blow to the British army in Princeton, thus reviving the American Revolutionary War. 1In July, 777, the British army planned to meet Albany in three ways to realize its strategic attempt to cut off New England as soon as possible. When more than 7,200 British troops on the North Road led by Dambre Goin went south from Montreal alone, they immediately fell into the Wang Yang Sea of the New England militia and were blocked and besieged by the militia everywhere. After successive setbacks at Freeman Farm and Bemis Heights, Bergin was forced to retreat to Saratoga. The continental army and militia surrounded the British army with three times the superior strength. Berg was helpless because of running out of ammunition. 10 June 17, forced to lead 5700 British troops to surrender. Saratoga's victory greatly improved the strategic situation and international status of the United States and was an important turning point in the American War of Independence.

The second stage: from 1777 65438+ 10-17865438+March, marked by Saratoga, the main battlefield gradually turned to the south.

At this stage, the international environment is more and more favorable to the United States. After Saratoga's victory, France, Spain and the Netherlands changed their vacillating wait-and-see attitudes.

1778 In February, France signed a military alliance treaty with the United States, and France officially recognized the United States.

France and Britain went to war in June 1778, and Spain also went to war against Britain in June 1779. 1780, Russia joined forces with Prussia, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and other countries to form an "armed neutral alliance" to break the British naval blockade. 1780 12 Holland further unites France against Britain. The North American War of Independence expanded into an international anti-British war covering Europe, Asia and the United States, and Britain fell into unprecedented isolation. In the southern battlefield, the American continental army and militia are more and more active in using guerrilla warfare and guerrilla mobile warfare against the enemy. In the guildford Battle of 178 1, the British suffered heavy casualties. Under the continuous consumption of the continental army and militia, the British army gradually felt weak.

178 1 April, the British army led by Cornwallis contracted strategically and retreated northward to Virginia. Green took advantage of this situation and sent his troops south. With the cooperation of militia and guerrillas, he uprooted the British strongholds and recovered the southern territory except Savannah and Gilston.

The third stage: from April of 178 1 to September of 1783, it is the stage of strategic counterattack. 178 1 August, Cornwallis led 7000 British troops to retreat to Yorktown, the top of Virginia Peninsula. At this time, in the entire North American battlefield, the British army mainly contracted in new york and Yorktown. 178 1 In August, Washington personally led the French-American Coalition forces to secretly go south to Virginia. At the same time, the French fleet led by De Grice also reached the sea outside Yorktown, defeated the British ships that came to help, and completely controlled the sea control right of the war zone. On September 28th, 17000 French-American allied forces completed the siege of Yorktown from land and sea.

Under the heavy bombardment of allied artillery, Cornwallis, in desperation, put forward the request of surrender negotiation on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Bourgau's surrender in1781kloc-0/7. 101October19th, 8,000 British troops left Yorktown. When the well-dressed red shirts passed by the ragged American troops and laid down their weapons one by one, the military band played the famous movement "Upside Down, the World Upside Down".

After the Battle of Yorktown, except for several battles at sea and sporadic battles on land, the war on the North American continent has basically stopped. 1782165438+1On October 30th, Britain and the United States signed the draft Paris Peace Treaty. 1783 On September 3rd, Britain officially recognized American independence.

The American War of Independence was the first large-scale bourgeois revolutionary war in the history of the world in which colonial people fought for national liberation. This is a prominent example in the history of winning the big with small, winning the best with inferior and winning the strong with weak. With extensive international assistance, after eight years of arduous struggle, North America 13 States with a population of only 3 million finally defeated the British Empire, the world's first industrial country with a population of nearly 30 million. The victory of the War of Independence broke the shackles of British colonial rule, realized the political independence of the North American colonies, greatly liberated the productive forces of the North American colonies, and opened up a broad road for the rapid development of American capitalism and modern civilization.

Marx pointed out: "The American War of Independence ushered in a new era of bourgeois victory."

Lenin pointed out that the American War of Independence was "the earliest and greatest real liberation war in human history and one of the few real revolutionary wars in human history", and "the history of modern civilized America began with a great, truly liberated and truly revolutionary war". The American War of Independence was the first large-scale practice of the liberal philosophy of the European Enlightenment, which embodied a new progressive political spirit and values. The Declaration of Independence, which was born in the War of Independence, solemnly declared the principle of people's sovereignty in official documents for the first time in human history, declared the legitimate rights of the people's revolution, and shattered and denied the lie of the so-called divine right of monarchy. The progressive political spirit of the bourgeoisie embodied in the American War of Independence has brought far-reaching influence to Europe and even the whole world. It not only awakened Europe and promoted the French bourgeois revolution, but also provided a successful example for Latin America's struggle for colonial independence, which effectively promoted the vigorous rise of Latin American national liberation movement. Because of this, Marx praised the American War of Independence for opening up a new climax era for the bourgeoisie, giving a shot in the arm to the European revolution in the18th century and sounding an alarm for the European bourgeoisie. The brilliant achievements created by American revolutionary pioneers still retain the historical charm, which has and will continue to give profound and beneficial enlightenment to progressive mankind.