English

DTIC ADA604370: American War for Independence, 1775-1783: Revolution or Civil War?

The vision of the Spirit of 1776 evokes a pride in our nation, and reinforces America's independent nature. What if this view of the war is incorrect? What if a large number of colonists were against the war, or were, at best, indifferent? What if the tyrant king of England was not really a tyrant? Does this change our identity as a nation? Does it change the reasons for which we fought the war for independence? This paper will argue that it does. This war was not a revolution, but a civil war fought between British subjects overland, and the desire to explore and settle the land as the colonists saw fit. There was, quite possibly, nothing revolutionary in the causes or nature of the war.

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