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Social economic and political causes of the american revolution
Social economic and political causes of the american revolution
Economic factors of the american revolution
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In Woody Holton's Forced Founders, that most revered segment of the revolutionary generation, the elitist gentry class of Virginia, comes across very much as a group of self-serving reactionaries, rather then the idealized revolutionaries of the great patriotic myth of popular history. He sets about disassembling a central portion of the myth created by earlier generations of Consensus historians, by asserting that rather then gallantly leading the charge for independence, Virginia's elitist gentry resorted to independence as their last and only means of saving their elite ruling status, their economic futures, and even their very lives many feared. While this is very much an example of revisionist history, Holton has not so much rewritten …show more content…
Here it seems that Holton's argument appears weak, as he has the elites making common cause with small land holders to force the shut down of the colony's debtor courts to prevent the seizure of property, especially in the economically depressed times of the age when hard currency was hard to come by and the value of paper money in circulation was severely deflated. The author asserts here though that a good many of the gentry class had come to the realization that a good deal of their debt problem was caused by their own imprudent expenditures on imported luxury …show more content…
The boycott of British trade left all facing shortages of basic necessities, however the accompanying inflation caused prices for essentials like salt to skyrocket, placing an even heavier burden on those of lesser economic means. This had led to civil unrest and even riots in several locations, which worried many elites who feared the revolution might well dissolve into total anarchy, if something was not done soon. Additionally Holton reveals that in addition to Lord Dunmore's well documented offer of freedom to enslaved Blacks who would join loyalist forces in putting down the rebellion, he also attempted to incite the Shawnee on other natives to the royal cause and White smallholders with promises of holding on to their lands once the rebellion was crushed. For White Virginians, Dunmore's incitement of slaves to flee their owners to fight with royal forces and the removal of the colony's cache of gunpowder from Williamsburg to the hold of a British ship was the ultimate betrayal. Rich and poor saw this as leaving them defenseless and at the mercy of rebellious slaves and marauding
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
Breen, T. H., and Stephen Innes. Myne Owne Ground: Race and Freedom on Virginia 's Eastern Shore, 1640-1676. 25th anniversary ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 142 pages (kindle edition).
In the book Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis, the author relates the stories of six crucial historic events that manage to capture the flavor and fervor of the revolutionary generation and its great leaders. While each chapter or story can be read separately and completely understood, they do relate to a broader common theme. One of Ellis' main purposes in writing the book was to illustrate the early stages and tribulations of the American government and its system through his use of well blended stories. The idea that a republican government of this nature was completely unprecedented is emphasized through out the book. Ellis discusses the unique problems that the revolutionary generation experienced as a result of governing under the new concept of a democracy. These problems included- the interpretation of constitutional powers, the regulation of governmental power through checks and balances, the first presidential elections, the surprising emergence of political parties, states rights vs. federal authority, and the issue of slavery in a otherwise free society. Ellis dives even deeper into the subject by exposing the readers to true insight of the major players of the founding generation. The book attempts to capture the ideals of the early revolutionary generation leaders and their conflicting political viewpoints. The personalities of Hamilton, Burr, Adams, Washington, Madison, and Jefferson are presented in great detail. Ellis exposes the reality of the internal and partisan conflict endured by each of these figures in relation to each other. Ellis emphasizes that despite these difficult hurdles, the young American nation survived its early stages because of its great collection of charismatic leaders and their ability to ...
There are many contradictions pertaining to slavery, which lasted for approximately 245 years. In Woody Holton’s “Black Americans in the Revolutionary Era”, Holton points out the multiple instances where one would find discrepancies that lie in the interests of slaveowners, noble figures, and slaves that lived throughout the United States. Holton exemplifies this hostility in forms of documents that further specify and support his claim.
In the early twentieth century, scholars gain a deeper understanding of the ideology behind those who partook in the American Revolution. People’s motivations throughout the American Revolution are a result of their desire for a new society that is not based on the old world’s standards of monarchy, privilege, and social hierarchy. Likewise, people want a society in the new world to determine one’s status based on one’s abilities, efforts, and talents and to characterize equality. A meritocracy, not monarchy become prevalent in the new world’s society, and one’s family’s reputation, wealth, and titles are no longer important. Therefore, colonists rebuke the old world system, which was questioned throughout the American Revolution. Wood explains that “republic individuals were no longer destined to be what their fathers were” (Wood 99). His explanation shows that scholars treated the American Revolution as an extension of the development America’s meritocracy and as an innovation of America’s resulting society during the early twentieth
Gordon S. Wood. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage; Reprint edition. March 2, 1993
...hich the higher class dominated society with their ability to obtain just about anything they could win over. This is a fair judgement on how to perceive the gentry of Virginia to be at the time because of the many traits and activities that they went through. The activities conducted throughout each day served as a symbolic function among the people and reflected many many personal traits that each of them possessed. The horse racing and many other forms of gambling “legitimized the cultural values which racing symbolized- materialism, individualism, and competitiveness”. The people of Virginia began a new form of colony in which sought the independence they believed they deserved and they went on to take advantage of the situation they had. Resulting in a inequality among the people and wealth, and also the continuation of greed for more goods through the colony.
Hogeland, William. The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the frontiers rebels who changed America's Newfound Sovereignty. New York: Scribner, 2006.
A Declaration in 1622 is a piece of history that will forever be debated. It was written by Edward Waterhouse who was a prominent Virginia official. In a Declaration in 1622, he describes his first-hand accounts of English genocide and the relationship between the Powhatan and settlers. The point of this paper is to claim that Waterhouse’s portrayal is realistic due to his factual perspective of the time period on the contrasting aspects of the Powhatan and settlers. Diving into Edwards historical accounts can show the hardships of the settlers, the varying characteristics of both groups, the importance of tobacco, and the demonization of Native Americans. The characteristics will conclude the factually sound delineation of Edward Waterhouse.
...ve in Virginia did not mean immigrants were free from its rule. Upon departing England, those leaving would take an “oath of allegiance and supremacy” (Virginia Ship’s List). This meant that the people owed their loyalty to the monarch of England, not to Virginia itself. The colonists of Virginia could have been frustrated that their head official was chosen by a single person, a person who had no place within their community. In fact, Berkeley, the governor the monarch of England elected, “brought high taxes on the people, increased his power at the expense of local officials and created a monopoly on Indian trade” (Divine, 85). This abuse of power is possibly one of the causes of rebellions, specifically Bacon’s rebellion. This republic government leading the Virginia Colony was an increasingly stark contrast to the Massachusetts’ Colony’s democratic government.
Morgan, Edmund S.. American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia. : George J. McLeod, 1975.
The American Revolution has too often been dominated by the narrative of the founding fathers and has since been remembered as a “glorified cause.” However, the American Revolution was not a unified war but a civil war with many internal disputes that wreaked havoc and chaos throughout America. In his book, The Unknown American Resvolution, Gary B. Nash attempts to unveil the chaos that the American Revolution really was through the eyes of the people not in power, including women, African American slaves, and Native Americans. In his book, Gary B. Nash emphasizes their significance in history to recount the tale of the American Revolution not through the eyes of the privileged elite but through the eyes of the people who sacrificed and struggled the most, but were left forgotten, in their endeavors to reinvent America.
“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.
Over the course of our country’s history there have been several characters that revolutionized modern day America. These characters are now only publicized in museums with little to no intellect on how important they are to our country. Although their history is taught in schools and history lectures about their success, one can think, what made these founders so special? The personality of these founders aided in their decisions on what was important to make America better. In the intensely written work Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different, Gordon S. Wood analyzes eight founding fathers such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, George Madison, John Adams, Thomas Paine and Aaron
English folklorists, political theorists and rulers made efforts to grant Anglo-Saxons an innate desire for liberty since the English Reformation in the 16th century. To do so, they traced the ancestry of the Anglo-Saxon people to ancient Germanic tribes who were believed to have existed in the state of nature and thus free from the tyranny of absolute monarchs or empires . As descendants of freedom-loving Germans, Anglo-Saxon peoples were believed to be imbued with a “natural capacity for freedom” and an innate desire for liberty. This “Whig view of the past” held that Anglo peoples sought to repel tyranny and develop “good governance”. When colonists immigrated to the new world, they brought with them this version of history and believed that their destiny was to expand their innate liberties throughout the Americas. Whiggish history, as it is known, was an Anglo history, reserved for the Anglo race, and as we will see in this paper, was often pursued at the expense of other peoples. Anglo liberty