Lucas Castelo Branco
CIV
3/11/2018
To understand a little better the factors that made possible the famous American Revolution that would burst forth in the 13 American colonies in the 1770s, it is important to return to the previous century and understand how the process of colonization of the new lands by England took place. Beginning in 1607 in the Virginia area, the colonization would assume three different forms: granting land to trading companies for the exploration and implantation of colonies, royal donation to noble families, and finally colonization by puritanical groups (Calvinists), who wanted to create a new society. After that, thousands of settlers would settle on the continent during the seventeenth century, taking in the
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process the lands that formerly belonged to the original indigenous inhabitants. However, the colonization processes themselves would greatly differentiate the region to the North from the region to the South. The North was a region colonized by European Protestants, mainly English, who escaped religious persecution. They arrived in North America with the goal of transforming the region into a prosperous place for the housing of their families. Also called New England, the region underwent settlement colonization with the following characteristics: free labor, trade-based economy, small properties and production for domestic market consumption. The colonies in the South were colonies such as Virginia, North Carolina and South Georgia have suffered a colonization of exploitation. They were exploited by England and had to follow the Colonial Covenant. They were based on slave labor, production for export to the metropolis and monoculture. The growth of colonial trade has made England change politics.
One important fact contributed to the change: the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), between England and France. The winner, England, took much of the French Colonial Empire, especially lands west of the thirteen American colonies. The English Parliament decided that the settlers should pay part of the cost of the war. The aim was to raise the rates and the rights of the Crown in America. The possibility of increasing their territory pleased the settlers, who promptly prepared to explore and seize new lands, but they determined that no new exploitation or colonization of territories could be done without the signing of treaties with the Indians. This was the first conflict between the settlers and the English Crown. But after that, George Greenville, the English prime minister, decided to place a military force of 10,000 men in the colony, resulting in an expenditure of £ 350,000. This practice weighed heavily on colonial …show more content…
finances. The repressive politics of the English, allied to cultural factors, such as the influence of the Enlightenment, played an important role in the American revolutionary process. Another source of conflict was the introduction of heavy taxes on imports vital to the economy and the subsistence of the colonies (sugar, coffee, textiles, etc.), plus a stamp duty on newspapers, legal documents and others. The Sugar Act (1764) aimed to raise money to pay the British national debt and harmed Americans by taxing products that did not come from the British Antilles and adding several products to the list of items listed, which could only be exported to England. The Stamp Act (1765) provoked big conflicts between settlers and England. It says that all products that circulated in the colony should have a seal sold by the British. These rates have generated revolt in the colonies. One of the most well-known protest events was the Boston Tea Party. Several settlers invaded an English ship loaded with tea in the evening and, dressed in Indians, threw all cargo into the sea. This protest generated a strong reaction of the metropolis, that demanded of the inhabitants the damages, besides putting English soldiers surrounding the city. The Independence process has an important antecedent in September 1774, when the Intolerable Laws determined the convocation of the First Continental Congress of Philadelphia, non-separatist character. In 1775, a conflict in Lexington caused the death of some settlers and they began to organize themselves militarily. The king declared the Americans in rebellion and the settlers passed into open revolt. In 1776, Virginia took the initiative and declared itself independent, with an explicit Declaration of Human Rights. The Second Congress of Philadelphia, meeting since 1775, already manifested a separatist character. George Washington of Virginia was appointed commander of the American troops and commissioned a commission, led by Thomas Jefferson, to draft the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776, assembled in Philadelphia, delegates from all territories enacted the document, with changes introduced by Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams. For the first time in the history of European expansion, a colony became independent through a revolutionary act. And he did so not only by proclaiming to the world, in the historical document approved on July 4, the right to independence and free choice of every people and every person ("the right to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness" is defined as divine origin), but still building a federation of states endowed with a great autonomy and approving a political constitution. The War of Independence begins in March 1775-Americans take Boston. They had will power, but divergent interests and lack of organization. Of the colonies of the South, only Virginia acted with decision. Canada remained faithful to England. Officials, usually foreigners, were not involved in the conflict. The war would continue until the final defeat of the British troops in 1781 and the independence of the new country (thirteen colonies of the Atlantic coast) would only be recognized by the Treaty of Paris of 1783. The Treaty of Versailles in 1783 , recognized the independence of the United States of America, with borders on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. France recovered Saint Lucia and Tobago in the Antilles and their establishments in Senegal. Spain received the island of Minorca and the region of Florida. Although many historians think that, the American Revolution was caused by economic and social conflicts, others argue that the main motives were political because of irreconcilable differences in the way the American colonies were to be governed. The main ideas of the French Revolution refer to "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", adopted even in the early stages of the Revolution.
To better understand this motto, it is necessary to think of some characteristics of the movement that was propelled by the Revolution: the Enlightenment. For the Enlightenment, a logical search for truth could be politically convenient in leading to a more progressive and just society that would allow freedom and happiness for all. From this, one can see why the Enlightenment were opposed to political and religious dogmas, and therefore directly to absolutist governments in general. Enlightenment thought saw such autocratic governments as mere tyrannies, and their monarchs as usurpers of the people's prerogatives. These Thoughts are clear in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. A document composed of 17 articles, it was approved on August 26, 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly, and was based on the defense of what it considers the natural, inalienable and non-negotiable rights of man. For this, a fundamental requirement was that everyone should be free and equal in rights, as defined in the first article of the
Declaration.
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.
After the French and Indian War, the British were unimpressed with the colonial war efforts and generally assumed they were unable to defend the western frontier, whereas the colonists thought they had done well in all of the wars and were confident that they could defend themselves. This led to conflict between the two nations, brought on by the costs of the wars. Landowners in Britain wanted to reduce the taxes placed upon them. King George III and the Whigs supported a colonial policy that would abandon salutary neglect and force the colonies to support the cost of the British empire. In addition to this the British began to be more present in the colonies, beginning with Pontiac’s rebellion where the British sent troops instead of letting the colonial forces respond to the attack, because of their thoughts on the colonists military efforts. The Proclamation o...
The United States today, both militarily and economically, is the strongest force in the world. In order to get to that point, however, the United States had to pull of the miracle upset in its infancy stages against the reigning super power of the time in what would become to be known as the American Revolution. This was not an actual revolution for there was not a political overhaul with an exception to who now collected the taxes. This instead was a rebellion against the British by people who largely considered them selves to be British. The new American government was even modeled after the British government. In fact, many Americans did not want war but instead just wanted to have the same rights as a British man. They felt like their
In the second half of the eighteenth century, the British were faced with rebelling colonies. Finally realizing that they had to fight to keep their colonial possessions, the British sent troops to America. Once the battles began in America, the British were not impressed with the colonial military, but the weak militias soon proved to be effective. With foreign aid from France, American devotion, and the lack of British vigor, the Americans soon discovered the open doors of independence. In my opinion, the American advantages and the British disadvantages proved to be the downfall of the English in the American Revolution.
The American Revolution is without a question one of the, if not the most, important period in the beginning of American history. Between 1765 and 1783, the colonists rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy after a series of taxes and tariffs were forced upon them, finally the colonists then ultimately overthrew their authority and founded the United States of America. Many historians and authors have debated over the exact reason and overall effects of the War for Independence, however, all agree of the significance and importance of this event. The colonies, which were created as a resource for raw materials and a means for generating profits for Parliament and the Crown, began to desire managing their own affairs and worked towards
In the world’s lens during the 1760s, the British empire had a clear and prominent control over the colonies. However, by the mid-1770s the Americans became enraged enough to declare war against the British for independence. Due to Britain’s massive imperial presence around the globe, the British civilians had a strong inclination for a successful outcome. Instead, the colonists pulled a surprising victory from what should have been a swift defeat. While the British had an abundance of advantages, they lost the Revolutionary War because the British army underestimated the colonists’ perseverance for freedom.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war between England and the colonies which were settled earlier by the English. There were many factors and events that led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was mainly an economic rebellion that was fueled by taxation without representation following the French and Indian War. The English Parliament was more often than not considered cruel and unfair by the colonists. With conflicts over trade, taxes and government representation, the colonies were at a starting line of a revolution that would later transform into the basis of the United States of America.
The American Revolution could, to some have started when the Americans were given the Proclamation of 1763. As we see they are given boundaries and forbidden to settle onto Indian land. Many more decisions were made in England for the people of America without their opinions. Thereafter, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Duties were set and intended to help finance and sustain the British troops in America. These laws were created without the consent of the people and they were later informed that they were included by Virtual Representation. The colonists lived with these annoying custom duties by evading them through smuggling. Soon after a Declaratory Act was passed reasserting the right of Parliament to legislate 'in all cases whatsoever.'; (Graham 78) The people of America just wanted to separate from the English and soon become interested ...
“Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated by a mighty ocean?” This question posed by Edmund Burke was in the hearts of nearly every colonist before the colonies gained their independence from Britain. The colonists’ heritage was largely British, as was their outlook on a great array of subjects; however, the position and prejudices they held concerning their independence were comprised entirely from American ingenuity. This identity crisis of these “British Americans” played an enormous role in the colonists’ battle for independence, and paved the road to revolution.
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...
By the time of the late 18th century, the colonies had grown socially, culturally, economically, and politically setting the mood for a majority of the colonists to want to break ties with the mother country. The colonies were well established, growing rapidly with new settlers arriving, and had begun to interact and socialize with not only each other, but also the Indians and the French, with whom they shared the new lands. (Devore, Lecture # 3.) These newfound social and cultural interactions allowed the colonies to grow economically giving the colonists a sense of importance. The lack of recognition by parliament started to plant the seeds for the revolution.
As an American observes the life around him, noting the many advancements made in merely the last century, he must wonder how America climbed to such a level. The 21st century technology, the military and political power, education and ethics, all came from such meager beginnings, solidified by the Revolutionary War. The Revolutionary War proved to be a significant turning point in the history of our country, but what caused America to win? What were some of the most significant factors in the victory of these American patriots? By examining these three particular factors, America’s military assets, it’s aid from other countries, and its own spirit of independence, one’s understanding of the Revolutionary War, an essential root of this nation, is truly increased.
When settlers from England came to America, they envisioned a Utopia, where they would have a say in what the government can and cannot do. Before they could live in such a society they would have to take many small steps to break the hold England had on them. The settlers of America had to end a monarchy and start their own, unique, form of government. They also had to find a way that they would have some kind of decision making power. The most important change that the colonies in America had to make was to become a society quite different from that in England.
The connection between Britain and the English colonies was that of the ruling of the colonies by the king of Britain, King George III and his parliament. The king’s ruling was very unfavorable for the colonists because of his tyrannic dictatorship and unjustly taxations. The mere thought of an island ruling an entire continent thousands of miles away with poor communication and lack of supervision of the colonies by the king, did not work in favor of the colonies nor for Britain. Three contributing factors for the outbreak of the American Revolution were (1) the king’s taxes, (2) neglect of the 13 colonies and (3) England’s mercantilism policy. King George III and his decisions were one of the major causes that had the English colonists fumed with anger towards Britain and this eventually led to the American Revolution.
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.