Anglo-American Revolution Essay

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The deep origins of the American Revolution come from the early 1600’s to the late 1700’s when the British went back and forth between applying strict regulations and loosely enforcing laws upon the colonists. Once the colonists felt freedom like they did starting in 1606 and 1713, it was very difficult for them to let go of it. Also, many policies such as the Navigation Acts and the Molasses Act of 1733 that Britain forced upon the colonists caused tensions that eventually led to the American rebellion. Similarly, there were even underlying ideas based on the increase of education in the colonies, their newfound system of government, and their gradual transition away from the ideas of the English “high church” that formed in the colonies. …show more content…

Education held a lot of importance in the colonies. A high percentage of the colonists were able to read and when they studied the Navigation Acts, they clearly noticed that they were being mistreated even though they were Englishmen too. The colonists were direct descendents of Britain. They look and act just like Englishmen, but they were treated like complete outcasts. This literacy in the Americas led to an Enlightenment period that began around 1690 and flourished until the late 1700’s. During this period, there were huge advancements in science, philosophy, and mathematics. Some of the greatest thinkers of all time were present in this period. Sir Isaac Newton, an english physicist, studied the ideas of natural laws through reason and discovered that laws of physics control the entire universe. His work still resonates today and so does the work of another brilliant English thinker, John Locke, who studied the rights of humans and the importance of rational thought. As Britain was taking more and more strict measures to confine the lives of the Americans, the colonists were beginning to realize what was going on and tension was building. Along with education, government played a huge role in the Anglo-American relations. By …show more content…

All of this, beginning in 1651 with the first Navigation Act to 1775 when King George III implemented troops in the colonies, was accompanied by mass tension and internal conflict on both sides. With a newer understanding of British law, new government ideas, and opposing religious viewpoints, the anxiety of the colonists had grown two high and ultimately, the only solution to this mass Anglo-American conflict was war and that is exactly what broke out in May of

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