American Revolution

The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place in the latter half of the eighteenth century between 1765 and 1783. During this time, the Thirteen Colonies of North America desired to obtain more autonomy from Great Britain but the lack of representation in the British Parliament and the laws which increased the taxation in the colonies turned the desire of autonomy in independance. What began at a political and societal revolution culminated between 1775 and 1783 into the American Revolutionary War, between the colonists and the British crown. At the end of the war, the colonies were recognized as a new country, the United States of America.

The American Revolution, as many events in the History, was a part of the Assassin-Templar War, as the Templars organized the independance of the colonies to take control of the new country. The Assassins backed the revolutionnaries and tried to stop the Templar influence during the war.

Context
The colonization of North America by the English began during the end of the 16th century. At the 18th century, the British Crown controlled most part of the east coast of North America. Even if every colonies had its own provincial assembly, the king appointed a governor for each colony and the colonists weren't represented in the British Parliament. In addition to that, the distance with the British islands increased for the colonists the sense of belonging more to America than to Britain.

The colonies also had conflicts with the natives of America, as the Iroquois, but also with the French colonists established in the north and west. The British and French crowns fought for the control of the land in America and made alliances with the indians tribes and constructed forts to gather the land. In 1754, a British milita led by George Washington attacked French troops. This act started the Seven Years' War between the French and the British. As the the colonies weren't unified, during the Albany Congress, the inventor and writer Benjamin Franklin militated for the creation of a central governement in the colonies to fight the French Army but it was rejected by the British Board.

At the same time, the Colonial Rite of the Templar Order were inspired by Franklin idea and joined the British crown in the war to unify the colonies under the British influence before took the independance from Great Britain. As the British fought the French, the Templars fought their sworn ennemies, the Colonial Brotherhood of Assassins, who side with the French troops. In 1763, the British won the war and took the major part of the French colonies. The same year, the Grand Master Haytham Kenway led a attack on the headquarters of the Assassins, the Davenport Homestead, which result to the near extermination of the Colonial Brotherhood.

After the war, Britain had accumulated massive war debts. One solution to get rid of the debt was to directly tax the Thirteen Colonies. The tax also served to maintain the British Army. The colonists felt neglected by the British as many British colonists enrolled in the Army to defend their own land.

First contestations
In 1765, the British Government passed a series of acts to tax the colonists. One of them was the Stamp Act, which obliged all the colonists to purchase a government stamp for every legal papers. Many colonists opposed to this Act. Some of them, like Samuel Adams and Paul Revere formed the Sons of Liberty, a group through the colonies that decided to protest against British taxation and to fight for the rights of the colonists. Even if the Stamp Act was repelled, other Acts passed to tax American colonists.

In March 1770, in Boston, a public argument about a wigmaker's bill turned in a mob surronding eight British soldiers at the steps of Old State House. The Captain Thomas Preston tried to calm the situation. The Templar Charles Lee created the confusion by firing on a rooftop. The soldiers, believing that the mob was armed, shot on the civilians, killing five persons and wounding six others. Ratonhnhaké:ton, an Assassin initiate and Haytham Kenway's son, was accused of firing on the soldiers as he tried to stop another Templar sniper. The event was remembered as the Boston Massacre, and the Patriots mediatized this event to showing the crualty of British Government.

In 1773, the Sons of Liberty the Colonial Assassins in Boston boarded ships from the British East India Company which were docked at Griffin's Wharf and threw hundreds of tea crates into the sea. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party, which is commonly accepted as the start of the Revolution.

In 1775, the American Revolutionary War broke out with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, when John Pitcairn led troops to arrest the prominent Patriots Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Paul Revere and Ratonhnhaké:ton warned them to leave, meaning there was no one to order the Colonial militia to stand down against Pitcairn's forces.

In 1776, the Continental Congress wrote and signed the Declaration of Independence. This significant event was the official founding of the United States of America. However, independence from Britain was not yet obtained.

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, and the United States had officially gained their independence.

Appearance

 * Assassin's Creed III