The Outcome of the Revolutionary War

Every year on the 4th of July we celebrate the birth of the United States by our declaring independence from England. While this event is a source of pride and its legacy contributes to what it means to be an American, I believe many people do not fully appreciate the events that led up to and followed the founding of our country. The outcome of the Revolutionary War was a profound adjustment for almost everybody in the New World. It was favorable for some, and yet put others at a severe disadvantage. To more fully appreciate our tradition to celebrate our independence we have to recognize the significance of the circumstances that brought our nation into rebellion and the consequences of our victory after the war.
To appreciate the significance we have to understand some of the major events that led up to the Revolution. One event that caused contention in the colonies was the Sugar Act. After the Seven Years’ War the British government wanted to bring more control over its empire. For years up to this point many colonist merchants had been involved with smuggling to evade paying tax on shipped goods. While the Navigation Acts, which the British government had passed to maintain control of trade within the colonies, had been around for many years, neglect on the part of the empire had given colonists the opportunity to become accustomed to sidestepping the law. With the new teeth given to royal officials by the Sugar Act to prosecute violators, colonists became frustrated with this new effort to enforcement (Foner 142).
Because of several acts that Parliament had issued during the 1760s almost every colonist became frustrated and upset with the new approach the British government had taken towards governing their colonies. E...

... middle of paper ...

...he main groups of people unable to experience the benefit of liberty and freedom. It would be almost another century until all blacks were able to experience the freedom provided by the revolution.
The Revolution was a prominent point of change in the lives of early Americans. It provided new freedoms and opportunities with a challenge for the colonists to design a new government for themselves. At the same time it reduced the freedom of the Indians and made little progress for both women and slaves. The Revolutionary war was revolutionary and whether for better or worse it brought about a dramatic change in the lives of those involved. When we know both the positive and negative that came from this war we can fully appreciate this point in our history.

Works Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print