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The Revolutionary War: Causes Of The American Revolution

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There is never one exact event that begins a war. It is a series of events, tension simmering and building up over time until the tension boils over, fighting breaks out and there is no turning back. The Revolutionary War was simply about freedom, the fight for one 's country without another one breathing down its neck, watching its every move. The American Revolution was one of the bloodiest wars in world history and it had many different causes. Most of which were bloody, but still, even after seeing the brutality, some were not behind the revolution so, Thomas Paine took a more dovish approach, Common Sense. However, before Common Sense was published and read across all of the colonies, many more events occurred that lead to the revolution, …show more content…

General Gage soon heard about these activities and prepared the strike back (Danzer, 99). On April 19, 1775, the first shot of the American Revolution was heard around the world. No one can confirm what side fired the first shot, but even so, there was no turning back after that point. Seven Americans were killed and the British burned most of the American supplies. In spite of this, the militias continued on their path to toward Concord Bridge where a battle was fought and the British would be forced to withdraw. The British lost 300 men killed, wounded, or missing. With these many casualties for the British, it was safe to say that no petition was going to sort out what went down at Lexington and Concord. The Americans tried anyways and desperately, with an attempt to restore peace, The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress and sent directly to King George III. The king refused to read the petition and patriots realized Parliament was acting with the knowledge and royal support. This further angered more and more colonists, while Thomas Paine’s, Common Sense intensified it …show more content…

Not only was Common Sense a direct attack on King George, but an attack on the idea of monarchy itself. His writing had a dramatic impact, selling more than 100,000 copies within a year all while convincing many to break free of the king and his tyranny. He used plain language, references to the Bible, and logic from popular Enlightenment writers to present his arguments. And although the Enlightenment principles may have been hard to understand, he did a tremendous job of making the philosophies more simple so everyone who read Common Sense could understand with no confusion. By doing this, it ensured that he could acquire the maximum amount of people to be on board with the revolution (Gilje, Common

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