For starters, The American Revolution was waged as a war of last resort because the colonists could not execute any more plans to make truce with Britain peacefully. According to John Dickinson in The Olive Branch Petition the colonists wrote, “We therefore beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system before-mentioned, and to settle peace through every part of our Dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty’s wise consideration, whether it may not be expedient, for facilitating those important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of your faithful
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. The Declaration of Independence was written to separate the American colonies from Britain, but there were many underlying goals. It was written to state the grievances that the colonists held against the British, particularly the king.
Written in the Olive Branch Petition, there is a line that reads “...your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies…” (Dickinson, John). That displays the everlasting fear that lived within the people of the thirteen colonies. The repercussions of the king’s disgraceful actions were The Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War. John Dickinson and the Continental Congress enunciate that they want to settle peace through every part of their dominions. However, the jilt of the petition divulged war as the only option, unless they wanted their doctrines of morality crushed.
Jefferson stated that King George III did things illegally. Jefferson felt that the American colonists were being deprived of benefits and privileges. In the second part, the king was accused of numerous accusations. Jefferson made it out to be that the king was there just to enrich Great Britain and did not care about any laws or occurrences opposing the colonists. Mercantilism was an ample factor.
Settlers of the English colonies saw the New World as a way to start a new government and new culture, especially when they were given no power in the Parliament. Paine further casts a light on the problems between Britain and America in the third section of Common Sense. He states that Britain is not connected to America anymore, even if the people are descendants of the country. The passage also expresses the selfishness of Britain protection of the colonies to gain truth and control of the people. (326-328) The writings of this section reflect how colonists felt and further helped them to realize that their former mother country, Britain, was an enemy rather than a
Americans did not want to be ruled by the British who were thousands of miles away from them, they wanted to have control of their country and have their own laws.... ... middle of paper ... ...he fact that they had no political power and were controlled by a country that was thousands of miles away from them. The American Revolution began as a conflict over political and social change, but soon developed into a dispute over personal rights and political liberty. A decade of conflicts between the British government and the Americans, starting with the Stamp Act in 1765 that eventually led to war in 1775, along with The Declaration of Independence in 1776. Americans united as one and knew that they wanted to be an independent country, have their own laws, rights, and not be colony of the Great Britain. They fought hard for their independence and people lost their lives in the process of it but in the end they succeeded.
They were determined, as anyone in this situation would be, to free the American colonists of the tyranny and monarchy that had held the new country’s government on a leash. America wasn’t willing to play puppets with England any longer. True, they attempted many forms of negotiation with the mother-country, but England’s pride
This was the situation of the Colonies at the time. Were the Colonies, therefore, justified in emancipating from the British Crown? The American Declaration of Independence gives some strong reasons why this emancipation was justified. Before giving these reasons, the Declaration states when a Government should be removed, proceeding from principles of human nature. These principles are that all men were created equal and “are e... ... middle of paper ... ...life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to its subjects.” Finally, the Crown had repeatedly abused the rights of the American Citizens by refusing to assent to laws; for neglecting to pass laws concerning immediate and important issues and it has imposed heavy taxes amongst its subjects, without the consent of the governed.
The colonists dissented, subject to the wishes Grenville ministry, an ocean away, rather than their own. Thus, it was the actions such an overbearing national authority that resulted in the spreading of the notion of independence, creating a climate hostile to a large central bureaucracy, leading to the Revolution and the establishment of the United States under the Articles of Confederation, an attempt to set a framework opposite that of England. “The American War”, Thomas Jefferson claimed, had ended, but that this was “far from the case with the American Revolution” The young America would undergo radical shifts in regards to its structure. In America's first years, the Revolutionaries predominantly wished for a decentralized government. Having fought opposed an overbearing national authority from England, they had no desire to establish such an all powe... ... middle of paper ... ...ouse legislature, maintaining the position as in the Articles that states should be represented equally, regardless of size, a proposal that emphasized the belief that states were sovereign entities.
The document was written specifically to notify the King of England and the Great Britain’s government that the people of the thirteen colonies had desire to become independent and free of the King’s tyranny. American colonists had suffered for many years when this important document was drafted, King George III had pushed the colonists into a state of tyranny and therefore they decided it was time to start an independent nation under a different type of government; the document stated "that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right to do." (Declaration of Independence). Jefferson focused his piece toward many audiences, he wanted not only King George III and the British Parliament to know the American 's feelings, but also the entire world. Jefferson wanted them to understand the reasons behind the American 's decision, so that the foreign countries would provide endorsements to American independent war effort.