American Revolution Dbq

The American Revolution was, arguably, one of the greatest movements in all of
human history — a revolution after which many others were modeled. In the 1600s,
people emigrated from England to the Americas to start new lives. For many years, the
bond between Britain and their colonies seemed to be one that would remain long
unbroken. However, the separation of the colonies from their mother country was
ultimately inevitable. As an effect of certain contemptible acts, increasing self-reliance,
and various conflicts from the years 1763 to 1776, the colonies grew gradually
disconnected from Great Britain and, eventually, revolted.
For a long time, before the Revolution, people who emigrated from Britain to the
Americas liked to call themselves

Englishmen. They were, after all, being treated the
same as those English that remained in their homeland. However, as years progressed and
the colonies grew more and more away from the influence of Britain, they started to
develop new political ideas and become “rebellious.” The mother country of Britain
began to “punish” its children, the colonies, with acts which were appalling in the eyes of
the colonial people.

More importantly, the colonies were told that they were still
represented in Britain, and yet they were being taxed on things that those living in Britain
were not — this is otherwise known as “taxation without representation.” At first, less
severe acts were put into motion; examples of these acts include the Townshend Acts of
1767, the Declaratory Act of 1766, and the Tea Act of 1773. However, the colonies did
not view these acts as anything to take lightly, and, with the aforementioned acts in place
along with others, they led to the Boston Tea Party. Enraged, the British presented,
without a doubt, the most harsh of the acts inflicted upon the colonies. They were called
the Intolerable Acts. These acts were implemented in the year 1774 and included the
Boston Port Act (the closing of the Boston Ports until the tea from the Boston Tea Party
was paid for), the Massachusetts Government Act (revoking the right to selfgovernment),
Act for the Impartial Administration of Justice (British officials

charged
with capital are tried in England as opposed to the colonies), the Quartering Act (all
colonies could be asked to house military), and the Quebec Act (new colony gets
religious toleration, and land increase). These acts not only crippled the colonies
financially, but also took away any sense of freedom they might have possessed. Thus,
the acts inflicted upon the colonies were a major turnkey in the colonies’ disconnection
from Great Britain and, finally, the Revolution.

As the colonies grew and matured, drawing away from England, their economy
acquired a feeling of strong self-reliance. People progressed more and more: they built
cities and churches and schools; prepared the soil to raise grain, tobacco and other crops
and cattle; and they had grown strong in surviving the forests. The colonists realized that
they were producing what they needed to be self-sufficient, so as to not be dependant on
the products of Britain — they were succeeding in growing enough crops to survive on,
and had raised cattle in such a way that they had excesses of meat. In addition to the
thriving food sources in the colonies, there were also many flourishing businesses in the
colonies that stimulated their economy. The British soon saw that the booming economy
of the Americas was cutting down on their country’s profits, and took steps (namely, the
aforementioned acts) to stint the economic growth of the colonies and bring revenue back
to England. This self-reliance was basically just another catalyst in the complete
disconnection of the colonies from

Britain.
Finally, there were many conflicts between England and the Americas that caused
a disconnection. One such conflict was that of the Boston Tea Party. After the Tea Act of
1773, outraged patriots dressed as Mohawk Indians and boarded the vessels of the East
Indian Company docked in the Boston harbor. These masked patriots dumped all the tea
that was on the three ships into the ocean. In total, they emptied 342 chests of tea which
was valued at more than 10,000 pounds (Oleksy, 1998). In response, the outraged British
implemented one of the Intolerable Acts, known as the Boston Port Act. This conflict
basically threatened to devastate the colonies economically. Another conflict between the
British and the colonists was that of the Boston Massacre. On March 5, 1770, soldiers led
by Captain Thomas Preston were met by a large and taunting crowd of civilians —
mostly dockworkers. Captain Preston was unable to disperse the crowd and he ordered
his troops not to fire into the crowd. However, the order was not heeded and eight
civilians were killed initially, with an additional one dying later (Gherardini, 1998).
In conclusion, there were many factors that contributed to the disconnection of the
American colonies from Great Britain. The most predominant factors, however, would
undoubtedly be contemptible acts, increasing self-reliance, and various conflicts. These
factors directly caused rebellion, disconnection of bonds, and, climactically, the actual
American Revolution