Thesis statement- It was radical in the way it was fought, the ideals for which it was fought and the outcome it achieved.
1. How the Colonials fought.
Colonial V British armies.
Tactics.
New way of war.
Hide, shoot, runaway.
Guerrilla warfare.
.
2. Ideals fought for.
Declaration of Independence.
Discuss beginning in reference to war ideals fought for.
3. Conclusion with democracy.
Essay 2.
All revolutions are radical: they change the course of countries and lives. Occasionally, they also change events and lives beyond the borders of where they are fought. The American Revolution was one of these. It was radical in the way it was fought, the ideals for which it was fought and the outcome it achieved.
The military campaigns of the American Revolution introduced new strategies and tactics to the practice of warfare. By many accounts, the revolution should never have been won by the colonists. As discussed by Norton in A People and a Nation, the British sent 32,000 troops to quell a rebellion that could produce only half as many combatants. England was a world power at the time. Its troops were considered well trained, well led, and well provisioned . The Colonial Army, by contrast, was none of these. They were a small untrained, untested force made up in large part of temporary militiamen. Their ultimate victory was a result of not winning battles, but of changing the way a war was fought.
The American Revolutionary war was fought in the New World, an area heavily forested and sparely populated. The British army tactics concentrated on capturing cities and assuming this gave control of the populace. They were accustomed to fighting in ranks, literally in rows on open fields affording a full view of the opposition. In their tradition, the loser of a battle surrendered the surrounding area and negotiated a treaty to end the war. The Colonials, however, unable to fight this fashion successfully, engaged the British from areas of cover, inflicting what damage they could, and retreating.