Here's Chapter One (couldn't edit the existing post) . . .
The Cities upon a Shining Hill, Volume I
Chapter I: The Rising Eagle and Lion(1776-1815)
Part I: The Seeds of a Revolution (pre-1776)
“For we must consider that we shall be a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world.”
-John Winthrop
The United States wasn’t always a united nation. In fact, before the events of 1775-76 (or even 1763), what is now the United States was simply a patchwork of 13 different colonies, united of course, by the British Crown. During this time, the people of these colonies, from present-day Acadia to Georgia considered themselves to be loyal to their own colony/province, whether that be New Englander, Virginian, New Yorker, Georgian, Pennsylvanian etc. They were happy to consider themselves British subjects, since the government in London didn’t really pay much attention to the day-to-day affairs of the colonies, except in the matters of trade in which Britain (seeing the colonies as a way to enrich itself, through the ideals of mercantilism) regulated colonial trade, and trade with other countries through the Navigation Acts. However, things began to change after the Seven Years War (1754-1763), known throughout the U.S. as the French and Indian War.
The territories of the three main colonial empires (Britain, Spain, and France) in North America, c. 1750(left) and 1763(right)
The French and Indian War, which Britain won, became a watershed moment for the political development of the colonies. In addition to large territories cained by the Treaty of Paris, Britain also gained the vast territories in Canada (including the present-day states of Ontario and Quebec). It also left Britain in a state of debt, leading the British government to try to recoup the costs of those wars by instituting a series of additional taxes on the Colonists, and by leaving a portion of their armies in North America.
The effects were disastrous to the Colonists, since most of these taxes had been passed while sidestepping the colonial legislatures, with many questioning whether the Parliamnet had a right to tax the colonies. Tensions in the 1760s and early 70s began to simmer until one fateful event managed to make tensions explode: the Boston Tea Party.
A 1773 account of the Boston Tea Party as it happened
In 1773, hundreds of men (dressed as Indians) stormed several ships carrying British tea, and dumped them into the Charles River. Parliament quickly responded the next year with the Coercive Acts (also known as the Intolerable Acts), stripping Massachusetts of its historic right of self-government and putting it under military rule, which sparked outrage and resistance in all thirteen colonies. In response, patriots from all 13 colonies convened the First Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance to the Intolerable Acts. When a petition written to King George III failed to gain a response, they began arming themselves and preparing for an armed rebellion aginst the Crown. The spark that ultimately led to the American Revolution was lit in 1775 in the villages of Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts.
A romanticized depiction of the Battle of Lexington (c. 19th century)
The battle started when British soldiers attempted to seize the ammunitions depot in Concord. However, the Patriots received the information beforehand, and (thanks to a man named Paul Revere) were able to mount a surprising defense by the Massachusetts militia. The battle ended in a victory for the Patriots, who fired the first shots of the American Revolutionary War. Just a few months later, on 4 July, 1776, members of the Second Constitutional Congress signed the Declaration of Independence, severing the ties between the Colonies and Britain, and establishing the United States of America.
John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress.
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So, now it begins . . .
Also, in case you haven't known it yet, this is simply part I of Chapter I. The rest of these parts will be named. . .
Part II: War and Peace (1776-1796) - covers the US through the Revolution and the years afterward
Part III: Rise of Napoleon(1796-1812) - covers the US from the beginning of John Adams's administration to the start of the War of 1812
Part IV: The Oncoming Storm(pre-1806) - covers Argentina/Uruguay before the British Invasion
Part V: The Invasion Begins (1806-1812) - covers Argentina and Uruguay during the British Invasion of La Plata
Part VI: The Aftermath (1812-1815) - covers both the US and Argentina/Uruguay in the aftermath of the War of 1812 and the British Invasion of La Plata