The American Revolution: Faith's Role in Independence from the American Perspective
The American Revolution was a time of change for our nation and the entire world. From the decisions made upon faith in this conflict, our country was born.
The "official" beginning of the American Revolution was April 19, 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The war actually began before any physical conflict broke out. The British were in severe debt from engaging in European wars during the 17th and 18th Centuries. To help pay back these war debts, Parliament began to institute Parliamentary Acts on the colonies, which included taxation and restrictions on personal freedoms that the American colonists had enjoyed since the founding of them over a hundred years earlier.
The colonists decided that a change needed to be made. They wrote numerous complaints to the king and the British government but they had gone unanswered. Resistance groups like the Sons of Liberty took action with events like the Boston Tea Party and systems of boycotting in which the Americans refused to buy British goods and would not sell Britain any of their colonial goods. The colonists thought this would work but it only incurred the wrath of the British. They imposed even worse laws, giving the Americans no rights to assemblies and stationing British troops in Boston.
The Americans could not take anymore. On April 19, 1775 shots rang out from Lexington and Concord between the Americans and British. For the next 5 years the colonists would battle the British until they began to strategically withdraw troops in 1779.
From the small paragraphs above you might think that the American Revolution happened because a few good men made a couple of easy, logical choices about their future. This is not true. The colonists had to make hard decisions based on faith before and throughout the entire war. Here is a list of some of the more prominent faith decisions I found throughout this epic confrontation:
The Continental Congress' choice to defy the Parliamentary Acts- the men who decided to defy Britain did not know what the British government would do to them if they found they were defying their will. They believed in their rights and the rights of American citizens enough to risk imprisonment and possibly death to preserve the civil liberties American colonists had previously enjoyed.
The choice of George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army- George Washington had lost two forts and surrendered two forts during the French and Indian War. The Continental Congress should have picked someone with better credentials and history but they chose Washington instead. They had faith that this man could lead the ragtag army of American rebels against the most powerful nation in the world and survive.
Can we win the war?- the colonists in favor of separating from Great Britain had to decide if they thought they could beat (or at least survive long enough to outlast) Great Britain, the most powerful nation in the world. Britain had the world's most powerful navy and one of the strongest armies. The Americans truly had to have faith in their mission to risk what many outsiders deemed certain defeat.
Do we have enough support at home?- only about 40% of American colonists were actually in favor of separation from Britain. Families were torn apart because certain members were loyal to the crown and others were American patriots. I think that leaving one's family because of a certain belief shows amazing faith. Many rebels had to make a choice. They had enough faith to leave the people they love to fight for a cause that had a good chance of backfiring or having them killed.
Sources:
A good site with some nice information on our country's early leaders
Great Site with a lot of information on basic American revolution history
A People & A Nation: 6th Edition Authors: Norton, Katzman, Blight, Chudacoff, Paterson, Tuttle, Escott. Pages: 118, 125, 130-132, 143-147