Revolutionary War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Revolutionary War - Essay Example Many of these tribes remained neutral. For centuries the tribes were dominated by the land-hungry colonists, and these tribes feared that the war would bring back the colonists in place of the British. Hence, there were those tribes, the loyalists, who fought on the side of the British, and battled against the colonists on their own. The patriots considered the Indians as a threat during the war. The Patriots identified the Native Americans as savages which only proved their extreme dislike for the tribes. The American Revolutionary War was in many ways a civil war. This can be said because most of the land oriented wars were fought within the United States. Secondly, loyalists who proved their allegiance to the British crown formed 20 to 30 percent of the population. The loyalist groups in many places openly battled against the patriots.1 It is believed that the neutrals formed the largest group. Since a large number of Americans remained in a dilemma whether or not to support the B ritish crown, the war became a battleground to win the confidence of the wider population. If the Patriots with their propaganda agenda could manage to divert the public psychology towards revolution, then it would be an utter failure for the British. After that, the British would lose the allegiance of the common people even if they could gain military victory. Therefore, the British understood the need to garner support from the American public. Many colonists had threefold reasons to support the British – some supported the British in anticipation of military victory, some joined the British side merely out of loyalty, while there were farmers who sold their lands to the British for profit. The loyalists spread misinformation about the patriots, infiltrated within the patriots. The loyalists persistently planted seeds of discord within the wider population. However, in the long run the patriots managed to garner more public support with their war of propaganda. The patriot s felt threatened by the loyalists on the home front and so did everything to weaken their strength by arresting them, seizing and burning their property. They subjugated the loyalists by using violence on them.2 Eventually, many of the loyalists left the American soil to settle in Canada, Florida, West Indies or Britain. An estimated 100,000 loyalists left America and they were branded as traitors. The public wrath against the loyalists declined in the 1790s and they could again reenter the American mainstream society. Violence against them ceased, although laws against them remained unchanged till the War of 1812.3 The British faced many military limitations to retain the loyalist’s support like they could not use harsh measures to suppress rebellions. This was an advantage for the patriots, although many neutral colonists were forced to join the ranks of the Revolutionaries. II. What role did women and Native Americans play in the Revolution? The American Revolutionary War was essentially a colonial war fought between the British and the colonists. Between 1772 and 1774 when the tension was at peak, many public figures convinced the ordinary citizens to participate in the war against British oppression. Through the means of propaganda the citizens were provoked against the British