November 17, 1800 the United States Congress and then president John Adams move the United States government from the comfort of Philadelphia to the hardly finished and rather rough quarters in Washington D.C. Adams would become the first American president to live in the White House.
Adams’ love of country and ardent desire to separate from Great Britain made him the ideal candidate to join Jefferson and Franklin on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. Finally Adams’ skill as a writer would find a use. A great use in fact.
The Americans at the outset of the Revolutionary War were outnumbered by the British in military capacity by 3 to 1, were poorly trained and had less arms power as well as financial resources at their disposition. The American advantage resided in that they were fighting on land they knew better than the British, familiar as they were with the wilderness of the terrain they themselves had populated and fought for against the Native Americans. The Americans also had excellent leadership for a young coalition of colonies: George Washington, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Patrick Henry were among the great political, military, and ideological minds behind the American push for independence.
The revolution began in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 18, 1775, when British General Thomas Gage sent 700 soldiers to destroy guns and ammunition stored by the colonists in the town of Concord near Boston, provoking response from the colonists. The British also attempted to arrest two key leaders of the patriot movement, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. The colonists elected George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and under his guidance entered the subsequent battle with the British on Breed’s Hill on June 17, 1775, today remembered as the Battle of Bunker Hill.
By the summer of 1776, the colonies were organized and decisive enough to declare their independence from Britain in a formal resolution. After forming a committee to draft the declaration of independence, the document was endorsed by the Congress on July 4, 1776.
On December 25, 1776, after a stalemate on the battlefront of New York, George Washington and 2,500 of his soldiers crossed the Delaware River at night and attacked British and Hessian forces. Washington and his troops overpowered the opposition suffering only six wounded soldiers and cemented the path towards victory for the Revolutionary forces. By March 1777, Washington’s army had routed the British out of most of New York and New Jersey back towards New Brunswick.
In the months prior to and including July of 1777, the British attempted to take the Hudson River Valley in order to cut New England off from the other colonies and leverage control in this manner. They were able to defeat American forces at Fort Ticonderoga under General Burgoyne and his 7,700 troops on July 6, 1777. British Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger and his troops were set to join General Burgoyne from Canada as was the army of General Howe from New York. This reinforcement failed to materialize as St. Leger’s troops were defeated by Benedict Arnold and his American militia, forcing their retreat to Canada, while General Howe’s forces were held back by Washington’s forces at the Battle of Brandywine and then at the Battle of Germantown. General Burgoyne’s forces attacked General Gates’ American forces twice, but he was driven back each time. Meanwhile, on September 26, 1777 Britain’s General Howe was able to occupy Philadelphia, forcing the American Congress to relocate to York, Pennsylvania.
A decisive battle was fought and won by the Americans in Saratoga on October 7, 1777 when the American forces under General Horatio Gates and General Benedict Arnold defeated General Burgoyne’s army. On October 17, 1777, about 5,700 of General Burgoyne’s men surrendered to the Americans and were sent back to England. This was the point at which the French government recognized the independence of the United States of America. By July 1778, the French would also declare war on Britain and ally themselves with the American effort. The British would be further threatened and put at a disadvantage in their counter efforts against the Americans when the Spanish also declared war on the British, though establishing no alliance with the United States, and other European countries such as Holland and Poland gave their support to American initiatives. The British, in turn, fought back allying themselves with various Native American tribes.
| By 1783, Britain had signed a peace treaty with Spain and France while Spain, followed by Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, formally acknowledged the United States of America. On February 4, 1783, England officially ended hostilities with the United States of America and on April 11, 1783, the American Congress officially declared an end to the Revolutionary War and it was formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. |
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The Revolutionary War that was to decisively sever the relationship between the American colonies and their British rulers was provoked by increasing British infringement on the rights of the colonists in the 1760s. 
The Revolutionary War that would mark a new era in global politics was not without internal struggle. Although an impetus for change was irreversible, about 20 to 30 percent of the colonists remained loyal to the British crown during the War, becoming known as Loyalists or ‘Tories’ or ‘King’s men.’ Furthermore, the colonies were still in conflict with some of their Native American neighbors and the later intercession of foreign European forces, such as the Hessians, French, and Spanish, made the lines of war and boundaries of conflict less clear.
The Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, the Red, White and Blue. A symbol of strength and courage. A mark of tolerance and diversity. The indication of democracy and freedom. However you see it and whatever you call it, the American flag is the image behind a nation. Reflecting the history of a people, the flag has a rich history of its own. 
It took, according to Ross’ own account, just a few weeks to make the flag and it was ready in time for the celebration of the first Fourth of July. America was celebrating its own birth. The early government of the country made a flag resolution among one of its earliest priorities. On June 14, 1777, 13 white stars in a circle on a blue background next to a field of 13 red and white stripes became the official composition of the United States flag. It was a “new constellation” to represent the cosmic inception of a new nation. 
Mary Pickersgill received the flag commission from Fort Henry in Maryland. She was asked two make two flags one for bad weather and one for good weather. With the help of her daughters and servant, Pickersgill completed the two flags in seven weeks. The good weather flag was 30 feet by 42 feet and hung above the garrison of the fort. The flag flew high throughout the Battle of Baltimore that took place during the War of 1812. 
The expansion of European influence and power through Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas in many ways began with the flow of traders, travelers, and missionaries intent on establishing themselves in non-Western territories and strengthening their own nation’s resources. Already in the 15th century the Portuguese established trade with parts of Africa and by the 16th century the movement of European powers into foreign lands for expansionist political and commercial purposes was well underway. 
A second period in European colonialism began at the end of the Napoleonic wars as European powers struggled to maintain their colonial territories. The wars in Europe depleted the strength and resources of the French, Spanish, and Portuguese particularly. In this second phase, the British also reduced their focus on their colonial outposts after their experience with the rebellion of their American colonies and the abolition of slavery in 1807. The abolition of slavery ended the once endless stream of labor that fueled the economy in the British Caribbean colonies and made them profitable. 
