The American Revolution was by no means a purely American-British conflict. The result of this conflict would not only determine the fate of the thirteen North American colonies, but also alter the balance of colonial power throughout the world. Despite gaining few tangible prizes, Britain emerged victorious from the War of Austrian Succession.
The French Navy was weakened and the British had gained knowledge of the weaknesses in French North American holdings. With this confidence, Britain sought to resolve unsettled boundary disputes, concerning the Canadian and Ohio territories. Arthur R. Outside of the North American theater, conflicts arose on the European continent itself, as well as in far-away territories, such as French and British holdings in South Asia.
The war officially ended in with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. France gave many of its northern claims, while the Spanish ceded the Florida territory. British victory, however, came with a heavy price tag.
The war proved to be very costly and, by the end of the fighting, massive war debts led the British government to the verge of bankruptcy. Richard B. Additionally, the rapid expansion of the British Navy came at the cost of the British merchant fleet. In the name of the war effort, the British government oftentimes forcibly converted British merchant vessels into war ships. The British now also had thousands of new subjects from the newly acquired French and Spanish territories to appease.
The Act intended to sway the allegiance of the French-speaking Canadians towards the British. In practice, though, the Quebec Act riled anti-British sentiment amongst the American colonists who felt the Act was yet another example of British encroachment on American freedoms of religion and self-rule.
As the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in drew nearer, Britain was looking to consolidate its North American empire, France and Spain were trying to recover from a crushing defeat, and American colonists were furious with new British policies.
For that reason, when shots rang out at Lexington and Concord in , Americans and Britons were not the only people rushing to arms. Outside of Britain, France had the most at stake in the American Revolution.
First, ever since the time of the Roman Empire, there had been a Anglo-Franco rivalry. From the Norman conquest of Britain to the Hundred Years War, the British and French peoples were intense military, economic, and political rivals. Secondly, the French still had colonial interests in the region such as Louisiana and American victory would help them secure those interests.
France still held many profitable, sugar-producing islands in the Caribbean, such as Haiti and Guadeloupe. France prized these possessions so much that in the Treaty of Paris of France willingly ceded their Canadian territories to the British under the promise that the small island of Guadeloupe would be returned to their control.
Great Britain told them what to do. Soon the colonists felt that Great Britain made them pay too many taxes. It did not let them trade freely. The colonists wanted independence from Great Britain. They began to fight. This war is called the American Revolutionary War. George Washington led the American side. The war lasted six years. It ended with a new country being formed. It was the United States of America.
The colonists had to turn the colonies into states. They wanted to make one big country. The leaders wrote a plan to unify the colonies. It was called the Articles of Confederation. The thirteen colonies were allies. Each one had its own government. There was no strong central government. This idea did not work. The leaders came up with a new plan. They wrote the Constitution of the United States. It has governed our nation ever since. Although more prosperous under this administration, the French empire failed to match the wealth of New Spain or the growth of neighboring British colonies.
The Dutch were also engaged in the exploration of America. Formerly a Protestant province of Spain, the Netherlands was determined to become a commercial power and saw exploration as a means to that end. In the newly formed New Netherland Company obtained a grant from the Dutch government for the territory between New France and Virginia. About ten years later another trading company, the West India Company, settled groups of colonists on Manhattan Island and at Fort Orange. The Dutch also planted trading colonies in the West Indies.
By the mid-sixteenth century, however, England had recognized the advantages of trade with the East, and in English merchants enlisted Martin Frobisher to search for a northwest passage to India. Between and Frobisher as well as John Davis explored along the Atlantic coast.
Gilbert headed two trips to the New World. He landed on Newfoundland but was unable to carry out his intention of establishing military posts. By the seventeenth century, the English had taken the lead in colonizing North America, establishing settlements all along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies. Sweden and Denmark also succumbed to the attractions of America, although to a lesser extent. This colony was short-lived, however, and was taken over by the Dutch in Croix and other islands in the cluster of the Virgin Islands.
Parry, The Spanish Seaborne Empire ; 2nd ed. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Columbus Day is a U. It was unofficially celebrated in a number of cities and states as early as the 18th century, but did not become a A decade later, he was serving as governor of the eastern province of Hispaniola when he decided to explore a nearby island, which became On May 14, , a group of roughly members of a joint venture called the Virginia Company founded the first permanent English settlement in North America on the banks of the James River.
Famine, disease and conflict with local Native American tribes in the first two years The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in , , and He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did.
Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not really In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan c. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the Percy Fawcett The unforgiving Amazon jungle has claimed the lives of more than one adventurer, but perhaps none so famous as Colonel Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in while on the trail of a mythical lost city.
One of the most colorful figures of his era, Fawcett had made Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian-born merchant and explorer who took part in early voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain around the late 15th century. By that time, the Vikings had established settlements in present-day North America as early as 1, A. John Cabot or Giovanni Caboto, as he was known in Italian was an Italian explorer and navigator who may have developed the idea of sailing westward to reach the riches of Asia while working for a Venetian merchant.
Though the exact details of his life and expeditions are the In , Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias c. Live TV.
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