Independence Road

I will give a brief summary of the beginning of the Revolutionary war. As the Revolutionary war drew near, minute men, who were civilian soldiers that were able to get ready to fight in a minute’s notice pledged to fight the British. As they stockpiled on weapons and gunpowder discretely, this action provoked General Thomas Gage to send an army to seize the illegal weapons.
When the two armies met, the minutemen and the “red coats”, the minute men were ordered to lay down arms but continued to move out against the red coats. All of the sudden a gunshot was fired which provoked both sides to fire back to retaliate. This battle, the Battle of Lexington, would become the first battle of the civil war. The British would continue onto Concord which turned out to be empty. As they marched back to Boston the British soldiers were slaughtered by the dozens by a couple thousand minutemen. It was be a humiliating defeat that infuriated Britain.
In May of 1775, the Second Continental Congress, who were the colonial leaders planned their next step of action. Many wanted a call for independence while others wanted reconciliation with Great Britain. In the end however, the Second Continental Congress would decide on naming renaming the militia and give them the title of the Continental Army with George Washington as their commander
The Battle of Bunker Hill was the next battle fought with both sides being eager to fight. The British would lose 1000 men while the colonists would lose only 450, becoming the deadliest battle of the war.
As the Second Continental Congress prepared the colonies for war they still were eager for peace. After the battle congress sent the king the Olive Branch Petition asking to return to “former harmony”.
In response the King rejected the petition and urged Parliament to order a naval blockade to isolate a line of ships for the American Coast. This blockade would only fuel the colonies spirit for war. Many more lives would be lost since the British rejected the peace proposal.