Arguments For The American Revolution

Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution is a book that extensively covers the origin and ideas preceding the American Revolution. Wood’s account of the Revolution goes beyond the history and timeline of the war and offers a new encompassing look inside the social ideology and economic forces of the war. Wood explains in his book that America went through a two-stage progression to break away from the Monarchical rule of the English. He believes the pioneering revolutionaries were rooted in the belief of an American Republic. However, it was the radical acceptance of democracy that was the final step toward independence. The transformation between becoming a Republic, to ultimately becoming a democracy, is where Wood’s

The 18th century can be marked as a period of internal and external struggle for the American colonists. From improper representation, to unfair taxes, such as the Stamp Act, to being overall abused by Britain, the colonists were justifiably angry. From this anger, the slogan “No taxation without representation” was born and quickly began to emerge from the lips of almost every colonist all across America. The demand from colonists everywhere for no taxation without representation weighed heavily as a symbol for democracy, as it revealed the mindset of many – Britain was using the hardworking colonists and took their money without even giving them a say – and laid the foundation for the American revolutionary war, allowing more arguments and

“Despite the view of some historians that the conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen North American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American Revolution had its roots in politics and other areas of American life.” Great Britain and the American colonies had a relationship impacted with many hardships. I believe that there was a political struggle between the two groups, but that Great Britain and the American colonies used economics as a chance to show how much control they had. Multiple Acts written by Parliament, the colonies' Committees of Correspondence and Continental Congress created political friction between Great Britain and the American colonies.

The American Revolution paved the way for democratic rule in nations and ignited the spreading thereof throughout the whole world. Yet events that led up the start of the revolution have been mixed in their significance by historians. Both historians, Carl Degler and T.H. Breen agree that the British mercantile system had benefited the colonists, allowing them to have comfortable lifestyles. Madaras L, SoRelle J (2011)

The American Revolution was justified because the colonists were not being treaty fairy and equally by the British. And according to Jefferson, “people being oppressed have a moral obligation to rebel against their oppressors”. From the beginning, the colonists were not given the full rights as British men, just because they were not living in that country. The Navigation Acts passed by the Parliament to restrict colonial trade, and all of colonial trade with Europe had to go through England, overall they wanted to keep colonies in a position of economic dependency on Britain. And that was a serious damage in the colonial economies and people’s aspirations, it makes many colonists unhappy and smuggle goods to other country. And British

4. What was the Revolutionary movement, at its core, really all about? Was it about the amount of taxation, the right of Parliament to tax, the political corruption of Britain and the virtue of America, the right of a king to govern America, or the colonies’ growing sense of national identity apart from Britain? Was the Revolution truly a radical overturning of government and society—the usual definition of a revolution—or something far more limited or even conservative in its defense of traditional rights?

Many revolutions have taken place throughout history, ranging from the unremarkable to the truly memorable, such as the French Revolution, the Bolshevik Revolution and the American Revolution. Through an examination of the social, cultural, economic and political causes of the American Revolution, an exploration of key arguments both for and against the American Revolution, and an analysis of the social, cultural, economic and political changes brought about by the American Revolution it can be demonstrated unequivocally that the American Revolution was indeed truly revolutionary.

The American Revolutionary War in 1755 spouted from a conflict between the British government and British people living in the then 13 American colonies. The crown and his legislature passed tax measures, which the people of the thirteen American colonies fiercely opposed. American leaders took action against taxes because the government that created the laws offered no representation for those being taxed which is where taxation without any representation stems from. The crown only allowed upper-class men vote in England and most elections within American colonies, although the American voting class weren’t able to express on the ballots their views of the parliament.

The American Revolution was undeniably the most pivotal time period in respect to United States History, but who was really to blame for initiating the conflict? While both the British politicians and American colonists shared the blame for the kindling of the revolution, one party was certainly more at fault than the other: the British. Through short-term causes of taxation and incommodious trade acts, and long-term causes of salutary neglect and involvement in the burdensome French & Indian War, the British politicians proved to ultimately be the most responsible for igniting the Revolutionary War.

After the French and Indian War had ended in 1763, the British parliament passed various laws to collect more taxes in American colonies in ways to pay for their war debt. As a result, colonists outraged as they had been taxed unjustly without having any representation in the British parliament, which eventually led to an uprising known as the American Revolution. In the process of making a revolution, Thomas Jefferson, a revolutionist, and father of our modern constitution, effectively masters an appeal to ethos, pathos, logos, and strong dictions to inform King George III on reasonings behind American colonies’ justifications for becoming independent from the Great Britain.

No one will argue that the American Revolution was one of the most significant events in shaping American ideology. The impact on the economy, sociological and ideological make-up of America are still seen in today's society. Many great minds have passed commentary on the causes and impacts of the American Revolution such as; Bernard Bailyn, Louis Hartz, Joyce Appleby, and Gordon Wood. This research examines why these experts believed what they did about the causes of the American Revolution and how we can correlate those causes to the economic and political crisis America is now facing in the 21st century as compared to the 18th century.

Leading up to the American Revolution, were a chain of events that created a spark in the colonists to obtain independence from Great Britain. The American Revolution could not be tied to one single event but instead by the feelings and determination brought on by this chain of disgraceful actions. Gordon S. Wood explains what he believes caused the rebellion of the American colonists from Great Britain and how those causes help explain the outcomes of the revolution in his essay, “Radical Possibilities of the American Revolution.” Wood argues that the colonists were motivated to rebel against the British monarchy due to their need to preserve their liberties and through this revolution a radical change in government and American life occurred.

The American and French Revolutions were profoundly motivated by economics. Prior to the Revolution, British colonies in America were thriving. Colonists paid fairly few taxes and were permitted to participate in domestic economic activity, granted they adhere to the Navigation Act, an act requiring, “that all trade within the empire be conducted on ships which were constructed, owned and largely manned by British citizens. Certain enumerated goods whether exported or imported by the colonies had to be shipped through England regardless of the final port of destination.” (Baack) Its mother country however, was not analogous. England’s debt had nearly doubled due to their victory over France during the 7 Year War and was frantically

All of us alive today have grown up learning about the American Revolution. Although it contains the word “revolution” in its name, there are many who don’t consider the American Revolution a real revolution. After considering the definition of a revolution – a radical change of an entire system, usually by war, resulting in a change of the way of life of the people involved – and the American society before and after the American Revolution, it is obvious that those who don’t consider the American Revolution a revolution are mistaken. Among the many aspects of colonial society affected by the American Revolution, those most greatly affected by the revolution were the attitude towards slavery, the role of women, and the role of trade.

It is easy to interpret the American Revolution simply as a struggle for freedom. The magnanimous phrases of the Declaration of Independence have embedded in our hearts and minds glorious images of the Founding Fathers fighting for the natural rights of man. The American Revolution, however, also had a darker side to it, the side of self-interest and profit. The signers of the Declaration represented various classes – the working class, the wealthy land owners and merchants, the intellectuals, and the social elite. Each of these strata had its own set of expectations and fears, which lent a new dimension to the cause of the Revolution. The pressure of these internal, and often overlapping groups, combined with the oppressive external