The American Revolution: Was It Really?
Abstract
The War for American Independence is commonly referred to as the Revolutionary War. It was without a doubt a revolt against the British Empire and resulted in the birth of a new nation. But was It really a revolution? If so, did the leaders of thus revolution follow any established principles for the conduct of revolutionary war? I believe it was a revolution in both character and conduct and propose to support my position by reviewing the American Revolution in the context of contemporary definitions and historical theories of revolutionary war. In looking at the first question, I will cite two sources that present definitions of revolutionary war. In "Makers of Modern Strategy", John Shy and Thomas W. Collier provide a simple definition: "Revolutionary War refers to the seizure of political power by the use of armed force." They then expand that simple definition to include in a revolution "seizure of power is by a popular or broad-based political movement, that seizure entails a fairly long period of armed conflict, and power is seized to carry out a well-advertised political or social program." Another definition presented in a National War College lecture is that, "Revolution is a radical, enduring change in social, economic and political power distribution."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 02, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA442706
Entities
People
- Dennis W. Dingle
Organizations
- National War College