Revolutionary War DBQ

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While delving into the rich history of our country, one must come upon the topic of the Revolutionary War. This war was fought from 1775-1783 between the colonies and Britain over the taxes that were being put on goods for the colonists, but was the outcome of this war really so revolutionary? Revolutionary is involving or causing a complete or dramatic change. The outcome of the war was that the role of king was no longer held by anyone, and the role of president was taken up by George Washington, but none of these changes were complete or dramatic. Minority groups still had little to no rights, and the only people who really benefitted from the war were white people. Although this war has been called “revolutionary,” wasn’t the whole point …show more content…

Firstly, document 7 was written by a young African American, explaining that he has no rights and how discouraged he is about this. He writes that he is not respected or accepted by the white people in any way, shape, or form. Doesn’t document 2 state that all men are entitled to certain unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? If the whole war was about this (which it was), why would this African American be discouraged? The answer: because nothing changed for the majority of the people. Document 7 was written by Abigail Adams to her husband, a signer of document 2, asking him to “remember the ladies.” Did he? No. He signed a document including the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” Supposedly, “men” doesn’t include all of the minority groups, which were clearly not treated equally even 43 years after the signing of the document (source 6). Documents 9 and 10 also show Indians being given rights in 1787 and writing about denied writes in 1790. How is this a fair change? Connect the documents: Abigail Adams writes a letter to her husband John Adams asking him to remember to give women rights, 4 months later he signs the Declaration of Independance in which no one remembers the ladies, only the men. In 1790, 3 years after the Northwest Ordinance giving rights to Indians, they still feel compelled to write letters

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