At the opening of the American Revolution, in 1775, the American society was tainted with high taxes and a tyrannical king. Politically, the creation of a new constitution, led to the establishment of a new centralized democratic government. Socially, more individuals and groups fought to secure rights for themselves, especially women, slaves, and religious groups. Economically, a method for fixing the national debt, along with a strong agrarian base, would help a slow, but steady improvement to American society. Political, social, and economic aspects of the overall American society were affected so dramatically as to create a new country that is so unlike any nation created before it. Politics had a lot to do with American society, but before and after the Revolution, the political system in America was dramatically changing. While George Washington advocated a motion for neutrality in foreign affairs, in his Farewell Address, his advice was not taken into consideration. As the Speech at the Confederate Council of 1786(Document E) says, the Indians felt as though they were being pushed to the side when it came to friendly relations. In addition, due to disagreements in political issues, a party system formed in Congress, consisting of Democratic-Republicans and Federalists. Being Independent from England, then gave the Americans a lot more freedom to do what they so desired, and also gave the Americans the responsibility to decide on the new laws that would govern them. This sparked the creation of the Constitution. Also, in The Pennsylvania Packet from 1779(Document B), John Dunlap, the publisher, gets fired up about the Loyalists, or Tories. This demonstrates the hatred that the Americans have toward England and that they mus... ... middle of paper ... ... national bank, but in his third, he caught a lot of criticism for. He moved that the economy be based off of manufacturing and not the old ways of depending on farming, to create a well balanced and self-sustaining industrial system. Hamilton’s opposition came from Thomas Jefferson, who promoted the old agrarian based economy. The Medal of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture (Document F) showed that there was a need for a rural based economy and not completely relying on a new form of manufacturing. It is because of these people and issues that made the American Revolution so impactful to American Society. Progression is even still taking place today, as the War in Iraq is affecting our economy. Every day, the United States becomes even more and more in debt, and people are losing their jobs and all facets of life are affected because of it.
The French and Indian War and its aftermath ruined the political relationship between Britain and the colonies. After dominating most of North America (Doc. A), Britain decided to tax the colonies even more to help pay for the war. This took a major toll on the relationship between Britain and the American colonies because this lead to the Proclamation of 1763. The Native Americans (Doc. B) believed “they have no Right to settle” which means they didn’t want anyone settling on their land. In (Doc. C) George Washington is asking Robert Orme to have more power and rank higher in the military. Another political change was Britain’s relinquishment of the salutary neglect policy. They put stricter rules on trade and forced taxes on frequently used items. These changes (Doc. F) angered the colonists.
Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution is a book that extensively covers the origin and ideas preceding the American Revolution. Wood’s account of the Revolution goes beyond the history and timeline of the war and offers a new encompassing look inside the social ideology and economic forces of the war. Wood explains in his book that America went through a two-stage progression to break away from the Monarchical rule of the English. He believes the pioneering revolutionaries were rooted in the belief of an American Republic. However, it was the radical acceptance of democracy that was the final step toward independence. The transformation between becoming a Republic, to ultimately becoming a democracy, is where Wood’s evaluation of the revolution differs from other historians. He contributes such a transformation to the social and economic factors that faced the colonists. While Gordon Wood creates a persuasive argument in his book, he does however neglect to consider other contributing factors of the revolution. It is these neglected factors that provide opportunity for criticism of his book.
From the time period 1775-1800, the American Revolution would impact the United States in political, social and economic ways.
In early America between the years of 1825-1850, America was rapidly changing and reforming the way people lived. Societal problems and major discrepancies that had previously been overlooked began to rapidly gain awareness. The main idea of the reforms in the United States at this time was the relatively new sense of Democracy. Reform sought to maximize these benefits in light of Democracy and for this reason came up with many changes in which greater good can be found through freedom, justice, and equality of all people.
The American Revolution holds a very prominent place in the history of this country, as it was the longest and the most painful war Americans ever encountered. It took many years and numerous conflicts to finally gain independence in 1776 from British domination, which had been subjugating its colonies with laws of an unwritten constitution. It must be understood that though Americans were fighting for the right of democracy and each state wanted self-government, later that same issue turned into a big problem. Soon after America became independent, the former British colonies decided to form their own governments. It was then that the real battle began. The task of forming separate constitutions for each state, along with the formation of governmental institutions, turned in to a huge task -- a task so gigantic that it forced some states to rethink the matter and soon the rumors of a central government started circulating.
Jefferson’s agricultural viewpoint was vastly different from Hamilton’s manufacturing perspective. Though they both envisioned a great and prosperous nation, they had contrasting opinions on how this should occur. Hamilton, a Federalist, believed the rich and powerful should be the central government for all people, as they knew better how to foster and protect the em...
According to Carl N. Degler, the entire Revolution should be viewed as a conservative change. In “A New Kind of Revolution,” Degler talked about how the new actions taken place by the English had help structure and shape the colonial government. Not only did the colonies lack the affection of their motherland, Britain, they were also taxed unfairly. On the other hand, “The Radicalism of the American Revolution,” by Gordon S. Wood talks about how the American Revolution was a radical movement. His thesis covered how the country was transitioning from monarchy to republic, and now, democracy. The framers wanted to create a free nation where no single person rule. As well as, the people of the nation having the ultimate say so.
The start of the American Revolution, described by Edmund Morgan as, “the shot heard around the world,” was the “Americans’ search for principles” (Bender 63). Although the world’s colonies did not necessarily seek independence much like the Americans, the world’s colonies were nonetheless tired of the “administrative tyranny” being carried out by their colonizers (Bender 75). The American Revolution set a new standard in the colonies, proclaiming that the “rights of Englishmen” should and must be the “rights of man,” which established a new set foundation for the universal rights of man (Bender 63). This revolution spread new ideas of democracy for the colonized world, reshaping people’s expectations on how they should be governed. Bender emphasizes America as challenging “the old, imperial social forms and cultural values” and embracing modern individualism” (Bender 74). Bender shapes the American Revolution as a turning point for national governments. The American Revolution commenced a new trend of pushing out the old and introducing new self-reliant systems of government for the former
The American Revolution was so much more than just a war, or a time in history. It was a time where America grew, and as the name suggests, revolutionized their way of thinking and governing. It was a time for some great thinkers to get their ideas out there, and these ideas helped shape America into what it is today. These revolutionary thinkers shared their ideas publicly, and that gave the people ways to revolutionize their thoughts as well. They flipped what they knew about government upside down.
History has many exciting and devastating times.During the 1600s-1700s there has been a series of acts and wars.During this time there were many famous people at the time this happened.People like George Washington,Benjamin Franklin,Paul Revere,and King George III.One of the reasons is because after the French and Indian War;the british were taxing without representation.This starts the American Revolution.The British and the Patriots started to get heated at one another.After the French and Indian War the British said no one was a loud to cross the Appalachian Mountains,but the colonist did anyway.This is how the American Revolution happened.
The American Revolution modeled the path taken by a social and economic movement in many more aspects than that of a political and intellectual movement. Even though political reasons existed for the cause the Revolution, the revolution should be considered an economic movement based on the idea of “no taxation without representation.” The colonists believed that the British rule in the colonies was extremely unfair, but these intellectual causes are greatly outnumbered by economic causes such as taxes and trade.
The reason for revolution in America during the eighteenth century was not due to a single event but rather the difference in ideology from people living in America and the rule in Great Britain. Americans, as a country, realized that they wanted the same freedom the British had, instead of being used as a source of income. There are many struggles that Americans encountered in this thirst for freedom, occurrences like harsh taxes on necessities and retaliation of British officials.
In conclusion, the American Revolution was very revolutionary. It was a huge milestone in American history. The war not only gave America their own independence from the most powerful country in the world, it gave the American government the basis of how it runs today and brought about many social and political changes. Although many historians see the war as a change of power from one greedy power to another, Americans wouldn’t have a democracy and citizens wouldn’t have the rights they have.
The original motivation in the American Revolution was conservative in nature. In the early to mid-1760s, when revolutionaries were beginning to speak out against the unfair position of America in the British Empire, separation was not viewed as a reasonable, or even conceivable, route. These revolutionary voices sought to gain a more equitable position in the British Empire and increased autonomy in governance, specifically the power of colonial assemblies. As time went on, England continued to be unreceptive to the colonists’ requests for self-government, and feelings of discontent continued to spread, and become more virulent, aided by the proliferation of speeches, pamphlets, and essays on the topic. By 1774, British oppression had risen
In the prior times in American society in the early and late 17th century, the American people had endured and experienced the oppression of the Britain monarchies and their laws. Furthermore, the citizens had to pay heavy taxes on Britain imports, sugar and even stamps in order to pay off war debts from the French and Indian War. The American citizens had enough of the tyranny,thus leading a rebellion of overthrown the monarchy, and finally the starting point of the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Revolution, the American society were in turmoil as they began to establish a new government; however, the Constitution were in doubt that they were able to contemplate how to restrict or limit people’s rights and government’s authority. In the depths of American society, there