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As the old saying goes, history is a mirror to know the rise and fall. Learning from the experience of predecessors has always been the source of human development. In modern times, when it comes to the United States, no one knows and no one knows. As the country with the largest economic output in the world today, every move of the United States affects the situation of the world. However, looking at the history of the United States for more than two centuries, the only wars that have the most profound impact on it are the Independence War and the Civil War. The former laid the foundation for the United States of America, and the latter established a unified United States of America. As the world’s first large-scale war against colonists and a major victory, the American War of Independence not only had far-reaching significance for the British colonists in the United States but also had a significant impact on the entire world at that time.2
There are many literary and artistic works describing the American Revolution. Among them, the film "Patriot", directed by Roland Emmerich and Robert Rodat, and starred by Hollywood star Mel Gibson is particularly popular. Controversial, the whole film appropriately shows the mental journey of a civilian under war. Anglo-American expert on the history issue 18th century, members of the Royal Historical Society, Professor of History at the University of London Stephen Conway (Stephen Conway) wrote "A Brief History of the American War of Independence" from the global perspective of punishment, presenting a brutal round of the United States The Revolutionary War also showed a grand war that included the American War of Independence in the perspective of a larger global war between European powers in the late 18th century."A Brief History of the American Revolution"
The process of the American War of Independence perfectly embodies that the ultimate cause and driving force of all important historical events is the core viewpoint of historical materialism, which is the economic development of society. In the middle and late 18th century, economic exchanges between North American colonies were frequent, and a common culture and national consciousness gradually emerged. At the same time, after the end of the Seven Years War between Britain and France against the interests of North American colonies, victorious Britain, in order to make up for the financial difficulties caused by the Seven Years' War, intensified the exploitation of North American colonists, and triggered the well-known A series of historical events such as the Boston Tea Party and Lexington gunfire eventually led to the full-scale outbreak of war. Therefore, many historical researchers believe that the American War of Independence was a war in which the native North American bourgeoisie sought more economic discourse from Britain. The occurrence of the war was a vassal or an integral part of the economic revolution, limiting the war to the British and North American native colonies. Between those. In our history books, it is also believed that France's participation in the war was only a tactical strategy used by the United States to check and balance British combat power.Movie "Patriot" stills
However, the wheel of history cannot be promoted by one or two countries. In just over two hundred pages, Steven Conway presented me with a whole picture of war that is not in the history textbook. The outbreak of this war that concerns the interests of North American colonists and affects the future situation in France and Latin America is just a microcosm of the struggle for hegemony among colonial empires such as Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Spain!3
In previous impressions, the success of the American War of Independence relied on the wisdom, strength, and courage of the North American colonists. The help of France and other countries had little effect on the war. This armed conflict was a war for the future of the United States. However, the book puts war in a broader context, which is a war of global significance. The victory of the American War of Independence originated from various complicated internal and external contradictions. In the "Paris Peace Treaty" after the Seven Years' War, France was forced to cede the whole of Canada to Britain and withdraw from the whole of India, leaving only five cities and towns in place, and the interests of overseas colonization were greatly damaged. After the Seven Years' War, Britain became the overlord of overseas colonies, marching towards the legend of an empire that never sets. However, the British passed the cost of this war on the North American colonial states, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the local residents and aroused conflicts between the colonial states and Britain. At the same time, in order to regain the economic benefits lost in the Seven Years' War, France helped the North American colonial states revolt against Britain. Colonial empires such as the Netherlands, Spain, France, etc. have been involved explicitly or implicitly, and have evolved into wars for the status of the world's number one colonial power.
Stephen Conway pointed out in the book that although the United States won the victory of independence in this global war, it is insignificant in comparison with the global hegemony achieved by Britain and other colonies such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. At the same time, because the economic products of the United States in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China were still unable to escape the influence of the United Kingdom, they depended on the United Kingdom. This is completely consistent with the economic development of the United States after its independence.
