In 1607, the first British colonists set foot in the Americas in hopes of religious freedom. As the years passed, angry with the British tyrannical rule reaching the Americas, many intelectual men such as Thomas Paine and other colonists proposed changes be made. It was soon understood that the relationship with the British severely impacted the colonists negatively as their taxes and the death toll from their fighting increased. On July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, delegates from the thirteen American colonies declared themselves independent from Britain through the Declaration of Independence. The colonists were justified in declaring independence from Britain because they wanted a better and more appropriate government, were not in Britain's …show more content…
best interests, and suffered under mercantilism and its strict policies. The colonists wanted to create a government that suited their needs better in regards to their new American identity and beliefs. In the 1600s British citizens traveled across the seas to the Americas for religious and political freedoms; however, the tyrannical rule of the British monarchy followed them halfway across the globe. Self government was commonly practiced in the colonies due to the recognition of the rights of man from the Magna Carta, but the king required charters to be signed giving or taking away certain rights. The colonial government consisted of a governor and his council, both working together with checks and balances. They considered themselves equal to parliament, but in reality had no say. Parliament was unwilling to recognize that colonists had the same rights as the British people, stating the Bill of Rights did not apply to the colonists. This angered the colonists because they wanted a colonial government to coincide with “the rights of englishmen” in the Magna Carta. Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense who persuaded many colonists to fight for their independence, stated, “As to government matters, it is not in the power of Britian to do this continent justice: the business of it will soon be too weighty and intricate to be managed with any tolerable degree of convenience”(Paine 26). This quote is important because Paine makes a valid point as to how the great distance of Britain hinders their government from ruling effectively in the Americas. Not only does it take months to ship something to Britain, it takes even longer to get an answer back, making necessary laws difficult to construct in a timely manner. In addition, due to the great distance Britain was unaccustomed to the new identity and values of the colonists making it harder for them to relate to and understand their needs. Thomas Paine’s points fueled many colonists support of a new government. It is said in the Declaration of Independence, “But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security...and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government”(Declaration of Independence). This quote shows a different, yet important perspective as to why the colonists were justified in declaring independence. According to the writers of the Declaration of Independence, the King abused his powers as a monarch and ruled unfairly and unjustly. Due to this it was necessary for the colonists to break away from that chain of abuse and create a better government that provided freedoms and security for its people. The colonists were justified in declaring independence because they wanted to construct a new government ensuring citizens had rights that would not be looked over or taken from them as their previous king did. The colonists were justified in declaring independence from Britain because they were not in Britain's best interest. Beginning in 1763 Parliament began to pass numerous acts over the years that demanded high tax payment. Many of these laws such as the stamp and sugar act required the colonists to pay taxes on foods such as molasses and even paper to pay for the debt of the French and Indian War. Without fair representation in parliament, many colonists felt it was unfair to obey laws they had no say in. Even worse, the colonists were given other laws from parliament obstructing their freedoms or hurting their livelihoods such as the navigation acts. Thomas Paine, referencing the French and Indian war said, “We have boasted the protection of Great Britain without considering that her motive was interest, not attachment; and that she did not protect us from our enemies on our account, but from her enemies on her own account from those who had no quarrel with us”(Paine 25). This quote is significant because it shows that people felt proud Britain protected them but in reality Britain was protecting its own interests and wants. Furthermore, Britain helped the colonists in the war, not because they wanted to ensure their safety but because France was their biggest enemy and they wanted to gain more territory and power. In the Revolting Truth, Malcolm Gladwell says, “One would have thought the thirteen colonies would have been grateful to the British for this extraordinary favor”. Malcolm, referencing the French and Indian war believed the Colonists should have paid taxes without questioning parliament or disobeying them because they helped the Americans in the war. However, due to the debt of the war Britain passed numerous tax acts without negotiating with the colonists. The colonists were not ungrateful the British helped them, they were angry because they had no representation in government. In the declaration of independence it is said, “In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury”(Declaration of Independence). The colonists tried to negotiate and work with Parliament when they deemed certain laws unfit, but their needs were not addressed, instead parliament passed even more laws to punish them. The colonists were justified in declaring independence because they were ignored and not seen a British subjects. The colonists were justified in declaring independence due to the unfair system of mercantilism they had to endure under the British government.
In mercantilism the mother country in this case, Britain, gained wealth and authority by restricting and controlling the trade of its colonies. Not only did Britain profit from American goods, it prohibited the colonists from trading with other countries, impeding their economic growth. Thomas Paine states, “The phrase parent or mother country hath been jesuitically adopted by the king and his parasites, with a low papiatical design of gaining an unfair bias on the credulous weakness of our minds”(Paine 25). This quote is important because Paine shows how mercantilism and the term “mother country” were favored by the king in an attempt to gain control over the colonists. Also, it shows how the term “mother country” was used to manipulate the colonists into thinking the system of mercantilism was there to benefit them; however, Britain's greed for the abundance of resources in the Americas proved otherwise. Starting in the 1660s, Britain began to increase its control over economic activities in the americas, establishing the Board of Trade, a committee to oversee policy in the empire. In addition, parliament passed the Navigation Acts, ordering all colonial trade had to take place in english ships and trade could only be between Britain and the colonists. This act prohibited the colonists from trading with other countries, in turn hurting their developing economy. The colonists refused to accept these unfair demands and engaged in smuggling. In an attempt to retaliate Parliament put the colonies under direct rule, further fueling the colonists justification in their declare of
independence. The colonists left england in hopes of political and religious freedom, yet even thousands of miles away suffered the mistreatments of the monarchy and parliament. The colonists were justified in declaring independence from Britain due to the want of a better government and more appropriate government that suited the new American identity. They were also justified because they were not in Britain's best interests and suffered mercantilism and its strict policies. It was necessary for the colonists to declare their independence, ensuring the injustices they endured from the king and parliament were not relieved by future generations.
From 1754-1763, Britain fought the French and Indian war. Although Britain had won the war, they still had a lot of war debts to pay off. Britain turned to the colonies to pay off their debts by taxing them. The taxes angered the colonists because they believed it violated their rights. Benjamin Franklin had initially proposed the Albany plan of Union to unite the colonies, however this law was rejected by all of the colonial governments. It wasn't until after all of the British laws and taxes that the colonies would unite and write the Declaration of Independence.
Justification of the Colonists' Declaration of Independence from England Were the colonist justified in declaring independence from England? I feel that they had plenty of just cause to separate themselves. England was taxing the colonies without fair representation in Parliament, the British also took away the right to assemble, and they were using different tactics to attempt to intimidate the colonists. One of the greatest thing that angered the colonists was the taxation without representation. The British government had good reason to tax the colonies, because they just went to war to defend them.
Patrick Henry once said, “give me liberty or give me death!” During the revolutionary war. The American revolution had begun in Lexington on April 9, 1775. This was where the first battle of the American revolution occurred. Through all the battles and acts the British had placed on the colonists, they had suffered greatly and decided to break away from Britain. But, were the colonists valid in disuniting from Britain and conducting war? The American colonists were justified in waging war and splitting from Britain because the British were unjust to the colonists , they imposed unnecessary acts against the colonists and the British ignored all requests for change.
In July of 1776, the colonies declared their independence. The war wasn’t over, but the colonies considered themselves independent and therefor created their own government- The Articles of Confederation, to abolish British rule. The Articles of Confederation became the law in 1781. Meanwhile, the fighting in the war continued and the colonists managed to be successful in two major battles that led to their victory in the American Revolution- The Battle of Saratoga in 1777 and the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. The American Revolution finally came to an end in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris. Colonists were formally given their independence by
One facet of this unique system involved the numerous economic differences between England and the colonies. The English government subscribed to the economic theory of mercantilism, which demanded that the individual subordinate his economic activity to the interests of the state (Text, 49). In order to promote mercantilism in all her colonies, Great Britain passed the Navigation Acts in 1651, which controlled the output of British holdings by subsidizing. Under the Navigation Acts, each holding was assigned a product, and the Crown dictated the quantity to be produced. The West Indies, for example, were assigned sugar production and any other colony exporting sugar would face stiff penalties (Text, 50). This was done in order to ensure the economic prosperity of King Charles II, but it also served to restrict economic freedom. The geographical layout of the American colonies made mercantilism impractical there. The cit...
During the 1700s, Britain ruled over the colonies. The colonies had been discovered and settled by the British. The British believed that the colonies were British territories and were to be ruled as if they were British territories. The colonies did not like this. The Founding Fathers agreed that it was time for a change and sought to rebel from, and declare independence from the British. The Founding Fathers were justified in rebelling and declaring independence because the British rule had become oppressive, Britain was too small and too far away from the colonies to be in any position to rule over them, and the colonies had become large enough to become their own nation.
July 4th of 1776 is arguably the most significant day in American history. On this day, the thirteen British colonies won their independence from Great Britain, their mother country at the time. The war that allowed the colonies to gain their independence was, of course, the American Revolution. One reason the colonists’ declaration of independence was understandable was because after an extended period of salutary neglect, the British started imposing laws on the colonies. Another reason was that the British violated colonists’ rights by implementing the Proclamation of 1763. A third and final reason the colonies were correct in breaking away from Great Britain was that although the colonists were not represented in British Parliament, Great Britain still taxed them. The thirteen British colonies were absolutely justified in seceding from Great Britain because the British started to enforce laws after a long period of salutary neglect, they violated the colonists’ rights by passing the Proclamation of 1763, and the colonies were required to pay taxes even though they were not represented in Parliament.
After the French Indian War ended, the Britain was in debt, and they also wanted to have more control of the colonies, and the colonists. They passed different acts and procedures in order to collect money, and hold the control of the colonists, and the colonies. Yet the colonists were not given any representation, and they were losing their freedoms one by one; these caused a serious tension between Britain and the colonies, which eventually lead to the American revolution, followed by the Declaration of Independence. The colonies were justified for declaring independence from England, because the king of England caused “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the states”("The
The American Revolution, or otherwise known as the American War of Independence, was taken place between the years of 1775-1783. The war was fought between Great Britain and the 13 British North American colonies. The American Revolution caused a series of traumatic events. The American colonists were justified in waging war because the British seized the rights of the colonists, the American colonists did not have a say in Parliament, the Boston Massacre, and incoherent decisions involving taxes by the British King.
John Adams was one of the delegates from Massachusetts to sign the Declaration of Independence. B- Britain- The British tried creating colonies in the Americas, and they governed these colonies and taxed them to the point of treating them unfairly. They limited the colonies’ trade and business, and even attacked them periodically. The Americans had enough of the British, so they rebelled against them.
The colonies did not initially desire to succeed and become independent from the British, at first they were very proud of being British. Throughout the years of being a British Colony, The mother country of Britain committed actions that the colonists could not stand much longer. From taxation without representation to quartering British soldiers unwillingly, the tension built up until the colonists eventually rebelled. Some colonists remained loyal to the crown, while others joined the rebellion. These rebellious forces grew in strength and number, when the rebellion grew too big, the Revolution sparked. No longer would the colonist be forced to the British law, the colonists were willing to fight and die for their freedom. This event was
The American Revolution was not only a battle between the British and the colonists; it was a historical movement that brought about new ways of thinking. The ideas of liberty and equality began to be seen as essential to the growth of the new nation. The separation of the American colonies from the British Empire occurred for a number of reasons. These reasons are illustrated in the Declaration of Independence. Although Thomas Jefferson wrote the document, it expressed the desire of the heart of each colonist to be free of British rule. British rule over the colonies became unbearable in the early months of 1776, making it clear to the colonists that it was time to either give in to British power or declare their independence. This idea of independence divided the colonies, but it was not long before a revolutionary committee met in Philadelphia and drew up the document that would change American history.
When in the course of the household we, the teens, have always had the responsibility of doing the chores around the house.When oneself has to do chores one has to miss out on hanging out with friends, going to the mall, et cetera. Of course we do not wish to be disrespectful toward our parents but it is now time that we write our own Declaration of Independence. It is important that our parents or guardians know how everyone feels about the chores that have been placed on us and why we should be independent.
On July 4th, 1776, America 's most important document in history was announced, "Declaration of Independence". The Declaration of Independence defined America 's prestige, value, and its freedom. It was the document which stated American colonies now did not want to be the part of British property. It is one of the most important days because for the first time in the history of America; it was on its own and stood as a single country. The majority of the Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson which was debated by Congress and made many changes in the original document. One of the major changes made by Congress was removing an attack on the institution of slavery.
Mercantilism is where governments use trading to make a profit. So Great Brittan was taking goods from the colonies and selling it to people and back to the colonies. This angered the colonies so they wanted to fight. This eventually was one of the reasons for the American Revolution.