Revolutionary War Dbq

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Is seeking religious and personal freedom a valid enough reason to start a war? The colonists slowly started to feel that way. They had faced religious persecution and unjust practices from their government. More and more issues piled up and led to a revolution. The colonists felt violated, so they left England, slowly became unified, fought for independence, and created their own form of government. At the height of Catholic reign in England, Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the church; his criticisms of the Catholic Church spread across Europe. These ideas caused a Protestant revolution by people with separate beliefs. King Henry VIII, who wanted to divorce his wife, changed the church of England to the Anglican Church and …show more content…
They started to question if divine right was actually logical and if they had a better form of government. Unknown to the colonists, benign neglect was about to become a thing of the past. The colonists of Virginia and Pennsylvania wanted more land, tried to take Ohio from France, and caused the Seven Years War. After England had to come in and win the war for the colonists, they placed soldiers in the colonies. To decrease their war debt, England started placing taxes like the Sugar Act, Quartering Act, and Stamp Act on the colonists. They believed their freedoms were being threatened by these taxes since they lacked representation in Parliament. The Declaratory Act and the Townshend Acts were then passed to show England still had control. To resist these taxes, protests like setting fires, tarring, and boycotting emerged. In March 1770, a mob was heckling soldiers. One guard accidentally shot, so the other soldiers started to fire and killed five people. Propaganda of this event spread like wildfire to turn the colonists against England. In response, the Townshend Acts were repealed and replaced by the Tea …show more content…
The Second Continental Congress then met to make a plan. They decided to form a Continental Army with George Washington as leader. Since the Olive Branch Petition was rejected, they decided to draft a Declaration of Independence and declared freedom from England. England gained ground quickly by taking New York, Long Island, and New Jersey but never fully defeated the Continental army. On Christmas night 1776, Washington led a surprise attack since the British stopped fighting in winter and defeated the Hessians. He then went on to defeat the British on January 3 by using unconventional tactics, but later lost Philadelphia. England then decided to focus their fighting in the southern, more profitable colonies, and took Savannah and Charleston. To try and stop them, the Continental army split into two groups to make the British chase one of them while the other group attacked supply lines to weaken their army, which let them defeat the British. In response, England marched to Virginia to meet Washington but ended up surrounded and had to