The Battle Of Bunker Hill Essay Research

The Battle Of Bunker Hill Essay, Research Paper The Battle of Bunker Hill Boom, Bang, Crack! The sounds of muskets being fired, its ammunitionricocheting off rocks and splintering trees are heard all around. The pungent smell of gunpowder stings the nose, and its taste makes the mouth dry and sticky. The battle is stillyoung, but blood soaked uniforms and dead or dying men can already be seen, causing thefear of death to enter many of the soldiers’ minds. It is remembered that freedom is whatthe fight is for, so we must continue to gain independence. The battle has been going onfor a short time now, although vision is already obscured from all the smoke and dust inthe air. It is becoming increasingly difficult to breathe, with all of these air bornesubstances entering my

lungs. People are still being struck by musket balls for the cries ofagony rise above the many guns’ explosions. This is how the battle to be known asBunker Hill began. On June 17, 1775 the Battle of Bunker Hill took place. It is one of the mostimportant colonial victories in the U.S. War for Independence. Fought during the Siege ofBoston, it lent considerable encouragement to the revolutionary cause. This battle madeboth sides realize that this was not going to be a matter decided on by one quick anddecisive battle. The battle of Bunker Hill was not just an event that happened overnight. Thebattle was the result of struggle and hostility between Great Britain and the colonies formany years. Many of the oppressive feelings came as a result of British laws andrestrictions placed

on them. It would not be true to say that the battle was the beginningof the fight for independence. It is necessary to see that this was not a rash decision thatoccurred because of one dispute, but rather that the feelings for the British had beengetting worse for a long time and were finally released. Perhaps two of the most notable injustices, as perceived by the colonists, were theStamp Act and the Intolerable Acts. The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliamentto raise money for repaying its war debt from the French and Indian War. The Act levieda tax on printed matter of all kinds including newspapers, advertisements, playing cards,and legal documents. The British government was expecting protest as result of the taxbut the level of outcry they received. The colonists

were so angry because they had novoice in Parliament which passed the law, thus came the famous cry, “No taxation withoutrepresentation!” The colonists would protest these laws with the Boston Tea Party. TheBritish responded to this open act of rebellion by imposing the Intolerable Acts, four lawsdesigned to punish Boston and the rest of Massachusetts while strengthening Britishcontrol over all the colonies. These were not the only incidents that caused unrest to exist between the twocountries. There had been friction between British soldiers and colonists for some timebecause of the Quartering Act, a law which required townspeople to house soldiers. Thisunrest and tension resulted in the Boston Massacre, an event that resulted in colonistsdeath and both sides being more

untrusting of each other. These feelings of discontentand the growing fear of an uprising would lead the British to proceed to Lexington andConcord and destroy colonial military supplies. This left the colonists with the feeling ofhatred and total malice towards the British. Because of these incidents neither side trustedthe other, and had concerns that the opposition would launch an attack upon them. When the British planned to occupy Dorchester Heights on the Boston Peninsula,the colonists became alarmed at the build up of British troops off of the coast. Thecolonists decided that action had to be taken so as to stop the threatening Britishmovement in this territory to protect themselves from an attack. It was because of thislast situation as well as the bad blood that had