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Causes and consequences of the American revolution
Causes and consequences of the American revolution
Causes and consequences of the American revolution
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The American Revolutionary War was a struggle for freedom for the colonists. Patriots felt they should be free to govern themselves. Great Britain was not allowing the colonists to make a compromise with them. As Great Britain continued to take advantage of the colonists, such as the Quartering Act which, “required colonists to pay for the housing of British soldiers”, tensions were increased by the British policies. Many of the acts, such as the Quartering Act, helped unite the Patriots to fight against the British. Patriots from all around rebelled in order to show their frustration and anger about the things that the colonists were told they could or could not do. This reasoning suggests that the American Revolutionary War was unavoidable. …show more content…
Many other inquiries on this debate conclude that the treatment from the British towards the colonists was unreasonable and harsh. For instance, the text states,” We have no other alternative than independence, or the most ignominious and galling servitude.” Colonists felt instead of gaining independence, they were doing ungratifying tasks for the British which did not sustain the colonists’ lifestyle. These colonists were being affected by the British colonies so much, most of their businesses and work. Another example in the text is,” Colonist E:is a Patriot, after he was threatened by British soldiers about his articles there were rumors that he is renting the newspaper to some people.” Since the Stamp Act (British Policy) affected many colonists, businesses were put at risk and they could do nothing about it. This brings me to my next point on how colonists were afraid to take a stand against the
The colonists felt as if they were being strangled by Britain’s rule, the British passing a series of policies that the common man, as well as the elite, didn’t agree with. This ranged from the Stamp Act to the Sugar Act to even
The colonists were in every right, aspect and mind, not only justified but also it was about time that they stood of and actually take action against the British. The choice of going to war with them, was the only choice that they had. All diplimatical options that they had ceased to stand a chance against the tyrant Britain. From the very beginning when the colonists felt upset against their mother country and the way that they went about the law making, up until the beginning of the war, they tried all diplimatical options that they had, by sending letters, you name it. When they didn’t work then they had no other means but to declare war.
Patrick Henry once said, “give me liberty or give me death!” During the revolutionary war. The American revolution had begun in Lexington on April 9, 1775. This was where the first battle of the American revolution occurred. Through all the battles and acts the British had placed on the colonists, they had suffered greatly and decided to break away from Britain. But, were the colonists valid in disuniting from Britain and conducting war? The American colonists were justified in waging war and splitting from Britain because the British were unjust to the colonists , they imposed unnecessary acts against the colonists and the British ignored all requests for change.
Americans went through a long and difficult journey before they were truly able to be free from England. Colonists in America fought in the American Revolution to terminate British rule; the battle for independence continued with the War of 1812. Although all the odds were against the Americans, they managed to be victorious in both wars by rebelling, standing up to British threat, and strategizing.
From the time period 1775-1800, the American Revolution would impact the United States in political, social and economic ways.
According to the theory of mercantilism, the colonies only existed to serve the interests of Britain. But it seemed as if Britain was abusing their right over the colonies. They enforced many policies such as the Stamp Act, the Townshed Duties, and the Tea Act which caused many problems for the colonists. One problem that the colonists faced was the Stamp Act of 1765. This act imposed a new tax on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards and dice. The Americans did not agree with it. It was not the cost of the stamp that angered them, it was the principle. They had no say in what the British Parliament did. The tax provoked a fire storm of protests, and the boycotting of British goods began. Some colonists did not limit their protests to words. In several cities, groups of people attacked officials who defended British policy. The Stamp Act was not a good idea, and one year later it was repealed. But that wasn't the end. The Townshed Duties posed as another difficulty. These duties required the colonists to pay minor import duties on tea, lead, oil, papers and painter's colors. Since Britain had imposed unnecessary taxes on the colonies before, this was not new. John Dickinson encouraged protesters to join in the battle by writing the first twelve "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania". Protests began once again and cut British trade in half. Britain sent troops to be stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshed Duties, and the colonists refused to quarter the troops. The Townshed Duties were repealed in 1770, three years after it began. And three years after that, a new act arose. Parliament passed the Tea Act in an attempt to save the East India Company from bankruptcy and reassert its right to tax. A group of Boston patriots destroyed a shipment of tea in a protest known as the
The American Revolution was sparked by a myriad of causes. These causes in themselves could not have sparked such a massive rebellion in the nation, but as the problems of the colonies cumulated, their collective impact spilt over and the American Revolution ensued. Many say that this war could have been easily avoided and was poorly handled by both sides, British and American; but as one will see, the frame of thought of the colonists was poorly suited to accept British measures which sought to “overstep” it’s power in the Americas. Because of this mindset, colonists developed a deep resentment of British rule and policies; and as events culminated, there was no means to avoid revolution and no way to turn back.
The American Revolution had everyone on their toes, wondering what would be the outcome of this vital battle between the British and the American colonists. American colonists were furious at Britain for the way they controlled their every move, and applied tons of unfair restrictions on them, and all this madness is what started the American Revolution. Were the American colonists justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain? The Americans were definitely justified by waging war on Britain, because the British had unfair acts and taxes on the colonists, had harsh restrictions, and also because British was very violent toward the Americans.
Now, able to express their grievances and frustrations, the Colonies were able to essentially “stick it to the man” against Britain. Thomas Jefferson writes how Great Britain’s king had “impos[ed] taxes on [them] without [their] consent,” and “depriv[ed] [them] of the benefits of trial by jury.“ He goes on to say that the king had abolish[ed] [their] most valuable laws; and alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of [their] governments.” (Baym 342) This list of complaints goes on and on. The king took away all of their fundamental rights, and the colonists were fed up. Thomas Jefferson says that he didn’t just take away their rights, but he took away their basic human rights, and “waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him.” (Baym 343) These are very strong words from Thomas Jefferson, but they reflect the way these colonists felt. They were angry, and they had every right to
The Introduction In 1607 through 1776 was leading up to the revolutionary war during this time colonists and settlers came from Europe for religious freedom and land.It was a hard and harsh time but it help form todays America.
In the event of America’s victory in the American Revolution lead to the birth of a new nation. However, before the American Revolution the original colonies of America were already becoming impatient with British rule. This was mostly a result of a foreign country trying to rule people an ocean apart, and by rule this meant collecting taxes Americans found unfair. This rebellion against British rule became more prevalent from the passing of the Stamp Act of 1765 created mostly by George Greenville. The passing of this tax was Britain’s way of reinforcing their authority in the colonies and lessening their financial burden. However, from British standpoint that was not the sole purpose for the acts as they also wanted to build a defense against foreign nations and insure Britain benefited from her Acts of Trade (Alden 4). This ideology of lessening their burden through taxing the colonies failed instantly, because the colonist refused to pay the taxes at all cost. It became impossible to sell the stamps and anybody who dared try was threatened with violence. American’s rebellious nature against the new taxations methods lead to the creation of The Stamp Act Congress. The Stamp Act Congress denied the right of parliament to levy an internal tax in the colonies, and voiced American’s discontent. The colonist insisted the detested the law be repealed, and reinforced their demand by refusing to import British goods. Leading Britain to become furious with her distant subjects as the colonist began declaring acts of tyranny against them. With the refusal of British imports in America and constant riots British troops were sent to Boston to protect the Customs Commissioners, but were met by angry colonist leading to the Boston Massacre ...
Life was prosperous in America. Great Britain, who had a tremendous amount of war debt, needed to find new sources of revenue in the colonies. This was something that sparked the colonies reason for independence. They no longer needed to be obedient to Britain. The British government began to rely on the colonies and their money. The new revenue raising acts that Britain was enforcing hurt the colonies. This gave them more of a reason to rebel. The Stamp Act single handedly hurt the colonies thoughts on Great Britain. William Smith Jr said, “This single stroke has lost Great Britain the affection of all her Colonies.” I like this quote, and agree that at this point, the colonies were completely done caring for Britain. It was obvious they were not going to let their anger go, they wanted to stand up to Britain. Something I really got out of Gordon S. Wood’s writing was how quickly life was changing. His paragraphs went back and forth about the excitement of the emigrants to create a new nation, then the hardships they had to overcome. At first it seemed as if the lives of the emigrants were simple. Like they were taking a vacation to somewhere great. He made sure to prove his
Within this political framework, there existed the concept of liberty. “The English had no standing army, no letters de cachet; they had their habeas corpus, their trials by jury, their freedom of speech and conscience, and their right to trade and travel; they were free from arbitrary arrest and punishment; their homes were their castles.” The vast majority of the colonists considered themselves British, and as such, they were entitled to these rights and freedoms. Republicanism coexisted with the notion of liberty. “According to the classical republican tradition, man was by nature a political being, a citizen who achieved his greatest moral fulfillment by participating in a self-governing republic.” The colonists took this virtuous duty seriously, especially when it came to r...
Most Americans know the causes of the American Revolution and how it turned out. The real mystery is, was the Revolutionary war avoidable. The colonist motivation was “Taxation without representation” which touched the hearts of others. From the Sugar Act of 1764 to the Tea Act of 1773, colonist were taxed an abundant amount of money. The reason was Great Britain needed money to pay for the French and Indian war. Therefore, they placed a financial burden on the colonist! They were also forced to have soldiers sleep in their houses. This, to most colonist, was also a financial burden. Hence, the American Revolution was not avoidable. Great Britain took the colonist for granted and used them to their advantage. They also weren't willing
The American Revolutionary War was a very significant time period for the History of the United States. The colonies were ruled by the British Parliament and they began feeling as if they were being mistreated as they were forced to pay unfair taxes and their power as a whole was being very limited. Evidently they wanted to gain independence from the British. At first they attempted to take a non-violent stance and reason with the British government, but the British were reluctant to do so. As a result the American Colonist over time resulted in declaring war against them in 1775. Whether this war was inevitable or not has been debated for many years now; however the war was inevitable due to the fact that the American Colonist attempted to reason with the British Parliament to begin with but was quickly turned down. The word “Inevitable” means certain to happen or unavoidable. This means the question is asking whether the American Revolution was avoidable or not and although the question is very arguable and there is evidence to support both sides there is more evidence supporting the fact that the war was inevitable.