Wars in Modern Era have been shaped by Imperial Relationships

Wars in Modern Era have been shaped by Imperial Relationships

From Colonial Rebellion to War for Independence

Combat began the morning of April 19, 1775, when militiamen and British forces clashed at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. On April 18, Gen. Thomas Gage, royal governor of Massachusetts and commander in chief of British forces in North America, dispatched 600 soldiers to the town of Concord, some 16 miles from Boston, hoping to arrest the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and destroy colonial caches of arms, munitions, and other supplies. About five miles out of Concord, local militiamen met the British column on Lexington Green and the first shots of the war were fired. Undeterred, the British pressed on to Concord where they destroyed some munitions and flour, but also encountered increasing numbers of militiamen. By the day's end, more than 320 British colonists and regulars were dead or wounded. Protest had become a civil war within the empire.

In the days and weeks following the first shots at Lexington and Concord, more than 10,000 New England militiamen converged on Boston, besieging the British garrison. Well to the north, along Lake Champlain in New York, the Green Mountain Boys, a group of Vermont militiamen led by Ethan Allen and joined by Benedict Arnold of Connecticut, captured Fort Ticonderoga, its garrison, and, more important, its artillery on May 10, 1775. As events transpired, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to assert control and oversight, and impose order on the growing conflict. On June 14, 1775, it adopted the New England militia surrounding Boston as the Continental Army and called upon Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to raise rifle companies. The next day Congress appointed George Washington, a veteran of the French and Indian War, commander in chief of all Continental forces. It now fell directly to Washington to create an army out of militiamen and short-term volunteers.

Before Washington assumed formal command, however, colonial troops around Boston occupied Breed's Hill on the Charlestown Peninsula, north of the city. Originally instructed to fortify Bunker Hill, American officers and engineers decided instead on Breed's Hill because it overlooked Boston and would thus provide a commanding location for artillery to bombard the city and harbor. Working throughout the night of June 16, the Americans fortified the hill and garrisoned it with about 1,000 men. The next day the Royal Navy bombarded the American position in preparation for a landing by 1,500 British regulars under Gen. William Howe. The Americans, under Col. William Prescott, inflicted heavy casualties on the British and repulsed two assaults. Reinforced by fresh troops, the third British attack succeeded when the Americans ran out of ammunition. The British suffered more than 1,050 casualties that day, onefifth of their forces; the Americans more than 400.

Political Aspects Of Imperialism

An imperialist nation is one that seeks to build an empire, gaining in national security, wealth, prestige, and power. The nation (known by political scientists as the core) looks outside its territory (to ...