• |
• 

• Home
• Introduction
• Units
  • Becoming Free and Independent States
  • • Disagreement and Disillusion
  • • The Revolution Begins
  • • Fighting the Revolution
  • Forming a More Perfect Union
  • Securing the Blessings of Liberty
  • The Thirteenth Amendment
  • • A Number of Valuable Slaves
  • • Death or Liberty
  • • Forever Free
  • The Fourteenth Amendment
  • • The Law
  • • Drawing the Color Line
  • • Education
  • • Protest
  • The Fifteenth Amendment
  • The Nineteenth Amendment
  • • In Most Humble Manner
  • • All Men and Women Are Created Equal
  • • Far-reaching Changes
• Explore
• People
• Timeline
• For Educators
• About
• Feedback

Becoming Free and Independent States:
Virginia in the Revolutionary Era

Some historians have argued that the American Revolution, beyond being just a military action or a political break was an ideology that infused the nation and influenced all parts of life for the early citizens of the United States. The ideas of revolution were formed as the British citizens in the thirteen colonies that become the United States became more and more disillusioned with King George III and the actions of Parliament. The concept of natural rights, equality among men, and government for and by the people motivated the colonies to break with Great Britain and later guided them as they created their new nation and the Constitution that would govern it. In the thirteen colonies, no group of people was more influential in generating the ideas of revolution than the Virginia Founding Fathers and Revolutionaries.

Disagreement and Disillusion

Fueled by legislation from across the Atlantic Ocean, Great Britain's North American colonies slowly aligned their sentiments and agreed on revolution. Virginians were well aware of events in England and in the other colonies and took steps to support their fellow American colonists, as well as to voice their own objections.

The Revolution Begins

On April 19, 1775, the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. By the fall of that year, fighting also broke out in Virginia. Virginia's soil and citizens proved critical to fighting and eventually defeating the British.

Fighting the Revolution—Virginians in the Battle

Whether they picked up a weapon or watched from the sidelines, every person in the Commonwealth was affected by the fighting of the Revolutionary War. The conflict caused many ordinary Virginians to make difficult and risky choices.

People Featured in This Unit:

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•