Before the American revolution began, people were unhappy about how Great Britain, has acted towards them, and a lot spoke out such as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. These men were influential orators or writers in the 1700s. These writers opened the people’s eyes to how Britain was treating them, inspiring people to have a revolution. They made the war a necessity for the colonists to have. Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry made the American Revolution morally justifiable because the colonists were being unfairly treated, they tried everything in their power to make peace, and they were constantly being ignored by Great Britain; a war was the last resort.
The colonists needed to rebel against Great Britain.
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Jefferson enumerates in “The Declaration of Independence,” about the ways Great Britain has mistreated and ignored the colonists. One of the various reasons listed is taxation without representation. Great Britain would tax the colonists, and the colonists could not do much about it. They didn’t have a position in Great Britain’s government to defend themselves. In addition to the previous reason, Great Britain made its troops quarter in people’s houses. The colonists had to provide lodging for the troops, and the colonists had to feed and clean for the soldiers; when the troops came to their house, the colonists had no choice but to let them stay. During the war to prove that there was a reason why they were fighting Jefferson wrote “The Declaration of Independence.” The purpose of writing it was to declare the colonists’ independence from Britain and to justify why they were doing it. In “The Declaration of Independence,” there are twenty-seven different grievances showing how Great Britain is mistreating them. They showed the world why they needed to fight. Jefferson clearly states how their basic rights were being taken away, “life,” “liberty,” and “the pursuit of happiness,” by Great Britain and how Britain has not given the colonists any liberty. In order to stop the unfair treatment, the colonists tried various ways to get in touch with Great Britain. “We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament” (Henry par. 3). The colonists tried everything they could to make peace with Great Britain and to compromise with Britain. However, Great Britain didn’t listen.
“Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation” (Henry par.3). Great Britain didn’t care enough about its own people that it refused to listen to the cries of the people it's supposed to protect. “A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people” (Jefferson, par.4). Great Britain needed to stop being a Tyrant and stop misusing its power to make money. Great Britain needed to start to act like a King who listens and protect his own people; the colonists needed to do something before it’s too …show more content…
late. Instead of having a war now they wanted to do it later, which would be more time for Britain to gain even more control. If this continued to happen the colonists, they would repeatedly be mistreated because the colonists aren’t doing something to get Britain’s attention. “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared, that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER,” and if being bound in that manner is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth” (Paine, par.1). Great Britain would continue to enforce her absolute power on the people, enslaving them if the colonists just let it continue. If the colonists didn’t fight now, then when would they?
The opportune moment to fight was right there and then. The colonists didn’t have much of a military or any military experience, but they were determined to fight for their freedom of the chains Great Britain has bound them in. “If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight” (Henry, par. 3)! The colonists have struggled for so long; they have exhausted all other means of diplomacy. There was no other option. The colonists had to
fight. These circumstances forced the colonists to have to declare war. Britain placed unreasonable laws that were constricting the people. The colonists tried to explain to Britain that what Great Britain was doing is wrong, but Britain didn’t listen and enforced more laws. In response to this, the colonists had no other choice but to submit and continue to be mistreated or actually do something about it and fight for their freedom. The colonists chose to fight.
The colonists were in every right, aspect and mind, not only justified but also it was about time that they stood of and actually take action against the British. The choice of going to war with them, was the only choice that they had. All diplimatical options that they had ceased to stand a chance against the tyrant Britain. From the very beginning when the colonists felt upset against their mother country and the way that they went about the law making, up until the beginning of the war, they tried all diplimatical options that they had, by sending letters, you name it. When they didn’t work then they had no other means but to declare war.
During the War for American Independence, 78 men were commissioned as general officers into the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. Many of these generals commanded troops with differing levels of competence and success. George Washington is typically seen as most important general, however throughout the war a number of his subordinates were able to distinguish themselves amongst their peers. One such general was Nathanael Greene. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene would become Washington’s most important subordinate, as demonstrated by Edward Lengel’s assessment of Greene as “the youngest and most capable of Washington’s generals.” Washington and Greene developed a strong, positive and close relationship between themselves. Greene began his life in the military after having been raised a Quaker. With limited access to literature and knowledge in his younger years, Greene became an avid reader which equipped him with the knowledge necessary to excel as a general during the war. Through his devoted study of military operations, firsthand experience and natural abilities as a soldier, Greene became an excellent military commander. He would become known for his successful southern campaign, during which, he loosened British control of the South and helped lead the war to its climax at Yorktown. Throughout the war, he was involved in a number high profile battles where he built a reputation of being an elite strategist who also understood unconventional warfare, logistics, and the importance of military-civil affairs and had a natural political/social acumen. The thesis of this paper is that Greene’s proven reputation of being a soldier, strategist and statesman would cause him to become the second greates...
Another reason the Colonists were justified in waging war was because of the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre occurred on the evening of March 5, 1770. A crowd of people began harassing the soldiers. One event led to another and the crowd began hurling snowballs and rocks. One of the snowballs struck a soldier and he fired his weapon, causing a series of shots toward the crowd.
The British deserve the taxes we pay for their protection in the French and Indian War, and the rejection of the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act is unjustified. Also, the Boston Tea Party was a poor and illegal way to protest, and should not be viewed as a positive event in the patriot’s fight for freedom. Finally, the information that is causing a patriot uprising in the Colonies is highly biased, and not based completely off of truth. While the patriots may believe that independence is the Colonies’ best option, based on the reasons given, loyalty will ensure economic success with Britain at the helm, grant us protection from the largest army in the world, and keep peace, to avoid fighting a completely one sided war. The question the Colonies must ask themselves: if one puts the brash and impulsive thinking aside and examines the true facts, is a war really worth the time, money, and
There were many battles and acts that Thomas Paine believed were sufficient reasoning as to why it was time the colonists gained their independence. We had already been in war. We had gone through various battles in many years with Britain, so fighting as this point was not a new idea. So, Thomas Paine pitched that we should go to war for our independence, because we’ve already been at war. The very start of the reasoning for the war against Britain all began with Britain’s need for income after the French Indian War. That led to the Sugar Act (1764), Stamp Act(1765), Quartering Act(1765), Declaratory Act(1766), Townshend’s Act(1767), Tea Act(1773), Coercive Acts(1774), Battle of Lexington (1775).Then came the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775) which was crucial to the gradual movement towards independence, which is what Thomas Paine strived for and believed in. This battle gave colonists the confidence they needed, and was the Battle that showed the colonies that they could stand against
There are four major reasons that the rebellion of the colonists accumulated into a full scale revolution. The most indistinct of these four reasons is the old societal legacies of the colonies, namely: social, political, religious, and economic values. These deeply rooted values were ingrained and inherited from the generations of colonists, and once the British began upsetting those values, resentment set in and began to undermine the British authority. For example, many of those who came to America were of British decent; they loved being English and fancied that, as colonists, they were taking part in the building of a bigger and stronger British Empire. But to those in England, the Americans were no better than barbarians. The English did not view A...
The British were trying to control the Americans entirely, with their monopoly on trade, and also thought that the Americans would do everything they demanded them to do. The colonists soon figured out Great Britain's angle on the situation. That was, they didn't understand why they were forced to pay taxes to the British, when they had no say in Britain's actions.
The colonists felt that they were being treated very unfairly by Great Britain, as King George III was acting like a tyrant towards them. “We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated [British officials], or resistance by force.” (Document 5) The colonists felt helpless against the enormous power of Great Britain. “The history of the present King
Now, able to express their grievances and frustrations, the Colonies were able to essentially “stick it to the man” against Britain. Thomas Jefferson writes how Great Britain’s king had “impos[ed] taxes on [them] without [their] consent,” and “depriv[ed] [them] of the benefits of trial by jury.“ He goes on to say that the king had abolish[ed] [their] most valuable laws; and alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of [their] governments.” (Baym 342) This list of complaints goes on and on. The king took away all of their fundamental rights, and the colonists were fed up. Thomas Jefferson says that he didn’t just take away their rights, but he took away their basic human rights, and “waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him.” (Baym 343) These are very strong words from Thomas Jefferson, but they reflect the way these colonists felt. They were angry, and they had every right to
They were fed up with the mistreatment they experienced, and how the tyrant King abused his power over the colonies. Due to the miscommunication between the colonies and Great Britain, both sides did not understand what each other thought about the laws and taxes. The colonists also saw fault in the taxation and applied acts because they were implemented for the sake of levying taxes on them, which they deemed to be unconstitutional. The colonists felt that the reason why the British did not understand the needs and wants of the American colonists is that they colonists did not have any representation in the British Parliament, which they saw as unfair. Violence towards each other further increased the tension and antagonism towards one another, The British are at fault because they were enforcing many things upon the colonies without their consent, opinion, and any consideration for them in order to inform them that they are in charge and more superior. The American colonists were also motivated to accomplish the Enlightenment ideals and they became increasingly exasperated with how they are being badly treated by the British. Eventually, they hit their breaking point and decided to fight for their freedom and not be slaves to the British any longer. Overall, waging war and breaking away from Great Britain was justified because of the tyranny of the British and the mistreatment the colonists
In attempting to describe the origins of Revolution, American abolitionist Wendell Phillips once stated, “Revolutions always begin with the populace, never with the leaders. They argue, they resolve, they organize; it is the populace that, like the edge of the cloud, shows the lightning first.” However, when looking at the foundations of the American Revolution, this was simply not the case. Yes, while it is true that the colonists did organize and argue over how to communicate their grievances effectively with Great Britain, the idea of cutting their ties from Britian was the last thing that came to their minds. In this sense, it was the the British Parliament and King, not the populace, who instigated the American Revolution. The Parliament did this by ignoring the Colonist's protests through passing the Tea Act, which was viewed by many in the colonies as a way to tempt people from their boycott of British goods, and the King did this by refusing John Dickinson's Olive Branch Proposal – a proposal which showed the last of Colonial attempts to mend the problem Parliament started without going into Revolution.
In 1776 Thomas Paine wrote ‘there is something very absurd, in supposing a continent to be perpetually governed by an island’. This Enlightenment thinking is what made the Revolution revolutionary. Colonists rejected the ideas of imperial monarchy and made a bold statement in deciding to have a non-monarchical government. In the 1680s John Locke’s writings of a social contract, showed the colonists that the British lacked the legitimacy to impose taxes on them, in his writings Locke wrote that if the people are dissatisfied with the government then they have a right to rebel – this is what the Americans did in 1775. By the time the fighting had started most of the colonists were already self-governing and saw themselves as a different entity to Britain. This can be seen in the term ‘Patriots’, which was used for the colonists who rejected the Acts passed by Britain.
The French and Indian War set the stage for future events that no one could ever have imagined. The economic practice of mercantilism, which insured profit only to the mother country was the accepted practice between England and her colonies. As long as these economic policies were met, England left much of the day to day governing of the colonies up to the colonies. It was this "salutory neglect" that ultimately led to the ideological differences between England and the colonies. England won the war, but it paid a great price for that victory. England was bankrupted, and as a result had no choice but to look to her colonies to regain financial stability. The pressures of taxation and naval restrictions imposed by the crown and Parliament, were viewed by the colonists as tyrannical acts. Although the colonies were on a path to becoming "Americanized" they held the lessons of Magna Carta, the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 close to their heart. In their eyes, "Englishmen had rights" under the laws of the mother country. It was only when these laws were usurpted by the crown that the colonies had no choice but to protest their discontent. The political authority that England executed over the colonies after so many years of neglect led to the ideological differences that would ultimately result in the American Revolution.
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.
There has been a constant and difficult struggle for everyone in America to gain their freedom. Many people have fought hard and died for their freedom. America pushed to be free from Britain through the American Revolution, the Union pushed to end slavery through the Civil War, and women pushed to gain equal rights for women.