In this chapter Howard Zinn goes into detail about how the American Revolution was faced with opposition and conflict while trying to establish the Colonies. In spite of the oppositions there was still considerable growth and expansion by the Colonies. Although expansion had taken place, there were some differences between the elites and the poor whites among the Colonies which resulted in them wanting political freedom from Britain. The constant unjust treatment against the poor whites was causing major problems in the colonies. After the French had been defeated, the British authorities decided to take stricter measurements over the colonies, in order to help pay for the French and Indian War. Zinn writes that “the war had brought glory for the generals, death to the privates and wealth for the merchants and unemployment for the poor” (Zinn. pg. 60). It was also stated that since the war there was an increase number of beggars’ and poor people roaming the streets. Many of the poor were taken advantage of by the wealthy landowners by attacking the rules regarding land ownership and tenant farming. This sparked an uprising against the wealthy over the unfairness policies toward the poor. Throughout the colonies the poor white were rising up against the wealthy, Zinn states in this chapter that “The land rioters saw their battle as poor against rich” (Zinn. pg. 63). The Landowners used their power and resources to drive away the farmers, some of them were removed from their land because of tax delinquency. “It was stated that landowners had an equitable Title but could not be defended in a Course of Law because they were poor, and poor men were always oppressed by the rich” (Zinn pg. 63). The unfair treatment sparked a ... ... middle of paper ... ... Americans, ignoring others” (pg. 73). There were still problems between the rich and the poor in spite of them joining forces to gain their Independence for Britain. The rich just like today have total control because they are able to use their resources to work in their favor. Zinn states that after the reading of the declaration there was a military draft for the townsmen, the wealthy had the resources to pay someone to take their places unlike the poor could not afford to pay someone to take their places they had no other option but to serve. Again this caused more problems between the rich and the poor because of the unfairness of the situation. Which lead to continued separation among the classes of people, giving the opinion that the one with the most money has the power to rule. Some of the same problems that existed then are still prevalent today.
The French and Indian War and its aftermath ruined the political relationship between Britain and the colonies. After dominating most of North America (Doc. A), Britain decided to tax the colonies even more to help pay for the war. This took a major toll on the relationship between Britain and the American colonies because this lead to the Proclamation of 1763. The Native Americans (Doc. B) believed “they have no Right to settle” which means they didn’t want anyone settling on their land. In (Doc. C) George Washington is asking Robert Orme to have more power and rank higher in the military. Another political change was Britain’s relinquishment of the salutary neglect policy. They put stricter rules on trade and forced taxes on frequently used items. These changes (Doc. F) angered the colonists.
In “Becoming America: The Revolution Before 1776”, Jon Butler argues that there was massive economic and a political transformation occurred in the era of 1680 and 1770 which had been less examined to the American colonial history. In this book, Butler makes a strong argument for the early modernism of American society which helps to define the growth of American identity. The transformation improved the American socioeconomic character and demonstrated itself almost in every aspect of colonial life. I totally agree with the Jon Butler’s argument that the victories and defeats of the revolutionary war would not define America; it was the middle years of the colonial period that would. And his arguments in this book also challenge the existing history. Butler supports his argument from his own note which he collected from by researching huge amount of specialized history books.
Evaluate the relative importance of the following as factors prompting Americans to rebel in 1776:
The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American colonies and lead to the American Revolution.
An oppressed people will eventually rise against the oppressor regardless of loyalties they may have had in the past to their oppressor. Humans can only withstand so much oppression before eventually reaching a breaking point-a fact the British Empire failed to realize when they took oppressive actions on their colonies that would cause conflict and culminate into the American Revolution. After claiming victory in the French-Indian War, the British decided to implement policies and taxes in the colonies the colonists that the colonists considered illegal due to lack of their consent. While initially, the colonists did attempt more peaceful and logical alternatives to resolve their discontent with the British Empire, eventually more oppressive taxes and violent events culminated to a full Revolution. Before the revolution, the British had incurred debt from the French-Indian War and needed to raise money: they turned to the colonies as a source of income.
Between the years 1775 and 1800, the American nation fought a war for independence from Great-Britain and the war was called the Revolutionary War. Despite its name, Howard Zinn argues that the war did little to help the situation of the underrepresented and kept the wealthy in power. Considering Zinn’s argument, the wealthy did stay in control of the government and the economic hierarchy in the new nation remained. However, there was an increased accommodation to the underrepresented groups like the poor and working class in America.
The American Revolution was a conflict that arose from growing tensions between Great Britain and the Thirteen North American colonies. It was a long bloody war and one of the most well-known, and because of that it has many interpretations, and these interpretations have made it a challenge to be able to come to a single understanding of the war. In this week’s readings, two different views on the same war are given. The American Yawp describes the American colonies point of view on the revolution while the History Lesson discusses how British wanted to control America but instead drove them to rebel and fight for their independence. The colonists saw the war for their independence as a revolution, but through British eyes, events and people were, not surprisingly, seen quite differently.
Evaluate the relative importance of three of the following as factors prompting Americans to rebel in 1776.
The American Revolution has great importance on the way the United States views itself. Contrary to popular belief, Americans were not separate people subject to British tyranny. A large portion of American colonialists thought of themselves as British. There are many ideas and causes as to why the American Revolution began. Differing political traditions, both parties economic interest, trading interest of those involved in transatlantic commerce, Britain’s large debt that accumulated during the Seven Years War, mutual misunderstandings, and the Great Awakening are many of the reasons that the colonist began to revolt against England.
As a result of the French and Indian War, England’s attention became focused on the areas that required tending by the government other than North America, which provided the colonies with the one thing that ensured the downfall of Britain’s monarchial reign over America: salutary neglect. The unmonitored inhabitants of the colonies accustomed themselves to a level of independence that they had never possessed before, and when these rights were jeopardized by the enforcement of the Stamp Act after the Seven Year’s War, the colonists would not take it lying down. The colonies bound together in rebellion against the taxation without representation through boycotting the use of English goods, as embodied by Benjamin Franklin’s famous drawing of a snake; the “Join or Die” snake, as a whole representing the functionality and “life” of the colonies if they would work together, also forewarns the uselessness and “death” of the individual regions, suggesting that the colonies as a whole would have to fight the revolution against the Mother Country or else fail miserably...
The start of the American Revolution, described by Edmund Morgan as, “the shot heard around the world,” was the “Americans’ search for principles” (Bender 63). Although the world’s colonies did not necessarily seek independence much like the Americans, the world’s colonies were nonetheless tired of the “administrative tyranny” being carried out by their colonizers (Bender 75). The American Revolution set a new standard in the colonies, proclaiming that the “rights of Englishmen” should and must be the “rights of man,” which established a new set foundation for the universal rights of man (Bender 63). This revolution spread new ideas of democracy for the colonized world, reshaping people’s expectations on how they should be governed. Bender emphasizes America as challenging “the old, imperial social forms and cultural values” and embracing modern individualism” (Bender 74). Bender shapes the American Revolution as a turning point for national governments. The American Revolution commenced a new trend of pushing out the old and introducing new self-reliant systems of government for the former
The American Revolution was marked by the colonies’ independence from Britain. This separation pronounced a new age marked by a decisive political change in the colonies because of the implementation of the Enlightenment ideals and the continuation of English liberties. However, the American Revolution was considered a conservative movement because it “originated from an effort to preserve the existing liberties of the colonies rather than create new ones” (Strayer, 782). Furthermore, the revolution occurred not on the issue of taxation, but on the issue of representation. The colonists believed autonomy was part of their birthright and as Englishmen along with their economic rights and their “natural rights to life, liberty, and property” (Kramnick, Lockean Liberalism). These two sentiments can be seen in their famous slogan “No taxation without representation”. By challenging their economic interests, their established traditions of local autonomy, and their identity as true Englishmen, the colonists were truly infuriated. Thus the American Revolution didn’t grow out of the social tensions within the colonies but rather from an unexpected effort by the British government to tighten its control over the colonies and ex...
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.
The British Order in Council said ¨The British revenue only paid for a fourth of the cost and was inconsiderable ¨ (DOC 6). Due to not being able to afford to protect the colonies Great Britain developed mercantilist policies in order to gain some money. Mercantilism benefited the mother country but the colonies were only allowed to trade with Great Britain making them overspend for items in order to gain some revenue. The colonial government now had less power because of this policy of mercantilism. Soldiers at the time thought that they were not being treated fairly, one soldiers diary said ¨And though we be Englishmen born, we are [denied] Englishman's liberty (DOC 4). The British treated colonist with less respect than they would have if they were from Great Britain which caused a divide worsening the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonist. Taxes were also enforced in the colonies to pay for the British troops. The colonist thought this new taxation seemed unfair, they saw it as death to their liberties (DOC 7). Great Britain introduced tax such as the stamp act (1765), the sugar act (1764), and the Townshend acts (1767). American colonist thought that they should have taxation with representation so they formed groups such as the sons and daughters of liberty and boycotted taxed
The American colonists’ disagreements with British policymakers lead to the colonist’s belief that the policies imposed on them violated of their constitutional rights and their colonial charters. These policies that were imposed on the colonist came with outcome like established new boundaries, new internal and external taxes, unnecessary and cruel punishment, and taxation without representation. British policymakers enforcing Acts of Parliament, or policies, that ultimately lead in the colonist civil unrest, outbreak of hostilities, and the colonist prepared to declare their independence.