Newport during the prerevolutionary period was the pearl of the colonies. The city grew into a rich center of commerce largely because of pirating, smuggling and handling of contraband, activities that the British sought to curtail with Acts that affected all the colonies. The town was composed of almost 1,000 homes, many of mansion quality, and drew the finest of European visitors along with growing inter-colonial and international trade. The city was cosmopolitan with a mix of religious faiths, including Jewish and Quaker, all accepted under decrees protecting individual freedom born from a sense of equality and justice, principles that would later become embodied in the Constitution of the United States. Newport was a very active center of seagoing trade in the "slave triangle" with the West Indies and western Africa that fueled commerce in molasses, rum, manufactured goods, and many other commodities among a wide range of goods characteristic of the time. Its citizens were strongly of the work ethic and were craftsmen of all types who supplied the goods and services needed to support its commerce. …show more content…
Several generations of citizens had built a culture not surpassed in the colonies, the same that established a strong sense of self-reliance and independence that shaped their political orientation as increasingly anti-British. Although Boston and Philadelphia are generally regarded as the wellsprings of liberty in the American spirit of independence that led to the Revolution, historians have generally overlooked the importance of Newport, its life, and the influence of events in its locale and actions following those
The benefit of hindsight allows modern historians to assume that colonists in British America united easily and naturally to throw off the bonds of tyranny in 1775-1776. The fact that "thirteen clocks were made to strike together" (p.4) surprised even the revolutionary leader John Adams. Prior to the mid-1700s many residents of British North America saw themselves in regional roles rather than as "Americans", they were Virginians or Bostonians, regional loyalties trumped any other including those as British colonial citizens. In T. H. Breen's work, The Marketplace of Revolution, he offers an explanation for the sudden creation of a unique American identity. In his words, "What gave the American Revolution distinctive shape was an earlier transformation of the Anglo-American consumer marketplace" (p. xv). Breen contends that before Americans could unite to resist the British Empire, they needed to first develop a unity and trust with one another in spite of their regional differences. "The Marketplace of Revolution argues, therefore, that the colonists shared experience as consumers provided them with the cultural resources needed to develop a bold new form of political protest" (p. xv). The transformation of the consumer marketplace allowed the colonists of British North America to create a unique British and the American identity that would later result in revolution and the formation of a new nation. This trust based on consumption, Breen concludes, was absolutely necessary for the boycott movement to be an effective tool against the British government. "Unless unhappy people develop the capacity to trust other unhappy people protest remains a local affair easily silence by traditional authority" (p.1).
People’s main motives were not religious, but to “dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold,”(Doc F). This resulted in competition, rather than bonding, over the settlement. The economy of the Chesapeake region made it more profitable to spread out, making the development of cities, schools, and churches more difficult. When the Joint Stock Co landed at Jamestown, they were looking for gold. Even though no gold appeared, John Rolfe’s founding of tobacco (Doc F) as a cash crop, and Virginia’s headright system, ensured people would continue to mold the Chesapeake and leave behind a mercantilist environment. The Chesapeake drew mostly single men, who came for individual profit, and indentured servants (Doc C). The economic gap between rich and poor was much larger, especially after the introduction of slaves and indentured servants, in the Chesapeake region than in New England. The Articles of Agreement shown in (Doc D) stated a common goal of “everyone’s quality and estate.” As they developed a much tighter community, they were more invested in the prosperity of everyone in their community. (Doc E) says that laborers “consider the religious end of their callings,” this shows that there was a religious motive to serve God by striving to maintain the strength of their
On the eve of the American Revolution, colonists have signified and ensured their newly discovered identity by coming together to rid the American colonies of the British monarchical influence. Throught means of newly developed legislatures, both passive and aggressive protests, and formation of propaganda were the American colonists able to engrave their identity on the future of America forever.
Following the success of Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in the early16th century, the Spaniards, French and Europeans alike made it their number one priority to sail the open seas of the Atlantic with hopes of catching a glimpse of the new territory. Once there, they immediately fell in love the land, the Americas would be the one place in the world where a poor man would be able to come and create a wealthy living for himself despite his upbringing. Its rich grounds were perfect for farming popular crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and cotton. However, there was only one problem; it would require an abundant amount of manpower to work these vast lands but the funding for these farming projects was very scarce in fact it was just about nonexistent. In order to combat this issue commoners back in Europe developed a system of trade, the Triangle Trade, a trade route that began in Europe and ended in the Americas. Ships leaving Europe first stopped in West Africa where they traded weapons, metal, liquor, and cloth in exchange for captives that were imprisoned as a result of war. The ships then traveled to America, where the slaves themselves were exchanged for goods such as, sugar, rum and salt. The ships returned home loaded with products popular with the European people, and ready to begin their journey again.
Many colonists held a stronger loyalty to their American Colonies than to England by the eve of the Revolution. The battles and trials that they endured gave them an identity and a unity, they had survived through many hardships and any group that does that had some sort of bond. The unique combining of cultures, geography, and the many political ordeals that American colonists had endured provided them with a sense of identity and unity.
“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.
A new era was dawning on the American colonies and its mother country Britain, an era of revolution. The American colonists were subjected to many cruel acts of the British Parliament in order to benefit England itself. These British policies were forcing the Americans to rebellious feelings as their rights were constantly being violated by the British Crown. The colonies wanted to have an independent government and economy so they could create their own laws and stipulations. The British imperial policies affected the colonies economic, political, and geographic situation which intensified colonists’ resistance to British rule and intensified commitment to their republican values.
Colonial expansion by the British Empire in the seventeenth century led to the formation of thirteen colonies along the Atlantic coast of North America (Nowell, 2013). One of these original thirteen colonies was the Massachusetts Bay, of which Boston was the capital (The City of Boston, 2009). Under the Puritan influence, Boston emerged as an important colonial city. It was largest town in British North America till the mid eighteenth century. Its strategic location as a port made it an important economic center for New England region (Kales, 2007). In this essay, I intend to explore Boston’s colonial foundations and reveal their role in shaping the global city of Boston. I also intend to compare Boston with other colonial cities to indicate the entirety of the term ‘colonial city’.
The road to independence was a struggle for the American colonists. It marked not only the end of a tyrannical rule by King George, but also the creation of a world power. This voyage to democracy began in Boston, Massachusetts in 1770, after Captain Thomas Preston was accused of commanding his troops to fire on a mob of rioting civilians led by the rebel group the Sons of Liberty. This event, known as the Boston Massacre started one of the greatest uprisings in history. Preston sought out John Adams as his lawyer. Revolutionaries like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and General Thomas Gage all possessed certain qualities that paved the way for what American independence. At first, the disorganized colonies lead to an ineffective demand for rights, but as the atrocities committed by Brittan became increasingly unbearable, the fractured colonies came together to over power this oppression. While many enemies have threatened to divide America, these controversies only served to strengthen our nation and create a resolute bond between all Americans.
Boston, Massachusetts is known as “the cradle of liberty.” (Stein, R. Conrad. The Boston Tea Party. New York: Children’s, 1996. N. pag. Print (pg. 28) (10-30-13)) The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773 as a protest of the American colonists against the British government. Both the British and the colonists loved tea and it brought a substantial amount of money to the East India Trading Company. Due to the heavy debt incurred by the French and Indian War, the British government imposed new taxes upon the colonies. As a result, Great Britain passed the Tea Act. They didn’t want British companies to be hurt by the new tax so Parliament declared British companies exempt from the Tea Act. The Tea Act would force American colonists to buy tea from the East India Company saying “it was the cheapest around.” (http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/bostonteaparty.htm (10-25-13)) The result was a protest known as the Boston Tea Party. When the tax was passed, it affected all of the colonies. The price of tea went up in the Americas a...
Slaves and slave trade has been an important part of history for a very long time. In the years of the British thirteen colonies in North America, slaves and slave trade was a very important part of its development. It even carried on to almost 200 years of the United States history. The slave trade of the thirteen colonies was an important part of the colonies as well as Europe and Africa. In order to supply the thirteen colonies efficiently through trade, Europe developed the method of triangular trade. It is referred to as triangular trade because it consists of trade with Africa, the thirteen colonies, and England. These three areas are commonly called the trades “three legs.”
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, the generation of our founder fathers faced internal and external problems during the fight for American freedom and the creation of the Constitution. These problems were either the result of the colonists and their fight for liberty and ideology between themselves or the British trying to evoke their power onto the colonists. Both conflicts go hand in hand with each other, but present different forms of problems. While reading the Bernstein’s “Thomas Jefferson” it was easy to see the internal conflict that the colonist would face after gaining there freedom from the British simply because they didn’t have a background in
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.
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create their own society with a unique culture and system of economics and politics.
The roots of this nation itself can be traced back to the peaceful resistance. After the British had imposed the Stamp Tax on the American colonies, delegates from each of the colonies convened in a council later named the “Stamp Act Congress.” Here, the delegates all agreed to boycott the overtaxed English goods. The widespread refusal to buy English goods was facilitated by the Sons of Liberty, and as a result, the British economy suffered. This first American example of peaceful resistance set the stage for the Revolutionary War, during which we liberated ourselves from the British