History: The American Revolution

Running Head: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION The American Revolution Student’s Name: Professor’s Name: Course Details: Date Submitted: Are Actions Taken by American Colonists in the Revolution acts of Terrorism? Britain had long provoked American resentment and this was to prove costly during the American revolution of 1775-1783. British forces were more experienced and had more trained soldiers than the American colonists, who consisted mainly of untrained civilians, desperately defending the integrity of their motherland. In this light, they faced a formidable opponent in Britain and had little or no options except to use guerilla tactics to immobilize British forces. Due to the fact that there was war going on, tactics used by American colonists, especially in the battle for Concord and Boston, can hardly be described as acts of terrorism, because in reality, no peace existed. Nevertheless, similar versions of destructions witnessed before the war begun, amount to insurgency, which is the equivalent of today’s definition of terrorism. Does the American Revolutionary War Tactics Legitimize Insurgency? What is insurgency? The Webster’s dictionary defines insurgency as an organized form of rebellion against a constituted government, through subversion tactics and armed confrontation. Going from this definition, it is thus justified to say that actions by American colonists against British troops were indeed acts of insurgency, which have been replicated by insurgents in war torn Iraq and Afghanistan. However, they are in no way, a cause for legitimizing insurgency because the American Revolution enjoyed popular support from Native Americans contrary to the case of Iraq and Afghanistan, where insurgents have little support from the citizens because their cause is not well defined, and because they are seen to inflict terror on innocent citizens. Insurgency in Iraq and Afghanista...