Essay On Was The American Revolution Inevitable

As Benjamin Franklin once said, “No gains without pain.” This could not be more of a true statement when speaking of the American Revolution. There are so many factors that are said to have caused it, that it's hard to determine what never needed to happen. Because of the French and Indian War, the British were suffering from debt. They needed the find a way out; therefore, new laws and acts were established. If the British would have treated the colonists as friends instead of their instant way out of dept, we could have never seen independence. Another reason that the American Revolution couldn’t have been avoided; because the colonists had already learned to fight, were tired of British

The British Crown originally taxed the colonists to pay for the debt that was caused by the French and Indian War. Many colonists thought it unfair because they were being charged to pay a debt that they felt they did not owe. The rebellion started small, and grew over time. The British response was to create more acts and laws to suppress the colonists. The patriots’

“No taxation without representation!” That is what every colonist in the Thirteen Colonies shouted before the revolution started. Or that was what most people thought. Not all colonists wanted to gain independence like people today thought they did. In the mid 1700s, the colonists decided to go to war with the British to gain their independence. This was called the American Revolution. However, not all colonists agreed to do this. About ten percent of the colonists were loyal to the King. They were called Loyalists. About forty percent wanted to declare independence from the British. They were called Patriots. The other fifty percent didn’t care one way or another and were neutral. This created a lot of tension due to the diverse point of views.

“I believe American independence was inevitable, not necessarily in 1776 but within decades. The continental colonies were growing too fast and as Paine pointed out there was something ridiculous about an island ruling a continent,” said Gordon S. Wood, American Revolution expert and historian. (allthingsliberty.com) The Stamp Act, Navigation Act, and Quartering Act, instituted by the British, caused the colonists to feel oppressed, creating their desire to be independent. The American Revolution was avoidable in 1776, but it was inevitable for all of history. The British started to feel less in control of the colonies, so they started to make acts that were unfair towards the colonists.

The American Revolution was inevitable. Colonists were infuriated by the stamp act and the fact that they had no direct representation in the parliament that levied the tax. The colonists tared and feathered tax collectors from Britian who would attempt to enforce the british laws. Colonists reacted in multiple revolts and boycotts, such as the Boston tea party. if the American Revolution did not occur, the british government would continue enforcing unjust laws and win more battles against the Americans. The American colonists would continue to rebell like petulant children.

The American Revolution took place in an era where the wish for independence were at its peak. The British were proven to cause this turmoil, due to their massive failure of statesmanship and unreasonable dismissal of colonial arguments and demands. However, this brings up a question: was the American Revolution inevitable or avoidable? Before this is answered, let’s summarize how everything began.

They treated their regulations very badly when they rebelled against the king. In fact the subjects opposed to the taxes oppressed on them even though it was rightfully laid upon. The colonists protested “No taxation without representation” but the British Parliament had all rights to tax because it was the sovereign of the British Government. At the same time the British Government taxed its citizens as well using their way to tax. There was no difference between the way they were taxed, and the rebels opposed to it thinking it was violating their rights. What rights state that even if the British taxed their own English subjects the rights of the colonists were violated? Plus it seems silly of an idea to allow a nation more than 3000 miles apart to have a say in government that may not only affect their nation. The colonists pleaded for a say in Government but it was ridiculed by the Parliament because the colonists didn’t realize the stature in England present at that time. Their main motive behind it was to get a say for their own nation which is not only what the Parliament

To begin with, the colonists grew fondly to the fact that they didn’t need to comply with rulings the British government had designed. This started the idea of Salutary Neglect, which was put to an end in 1763. After governing themselves for years, laws had begun to be reinforced as the result of the French and Indian War. It did not help their situation likewise that colonists had to pay for taxes but weren’t affiliated with the

This being said, when the colonies found out they had abruptly been taxed without having any representative being present when the decision was being made, they decided it was the last time the Parliament tried to take advantage of them. The Continental Congress was how they organized and agreed on their resistance to Britain and British rule. They discussed interests and views of the varying colonies. The First Continental Congress consisted of delegates from all 13 of the colonies with the exception of Georgia. Georgia at this moment still relied and wanted Britain’s help in fighting off attacks form the borders. All the delegates met in 1774 in Philadelphia to discuss their reaction to the Coercive Acts, more commonly known as the Intolerable Acts by the colonists since these acts were simply intolerable. Britain had just enforced the Tea Acts, an act that taxed many common goods including tea. Colonists were so angry about this new tax that they responded with the infamous Boston Tea Party, where Sons of Liberty members emptied three boats full of tea into the Boston

Prior to the American Revolution, each of the colonies had its own form of currency that was used to settle financial transactions. During the Revolutionary War, the Congress began issuing large amounts of paper money, known as Continentals, which would be redeemed for gold and silver after the war ended. The states also began to issue their own paper currencies, and since these issuances were not regulated, paper money soon became nearly worthless. When the war ended, the individual states continued to control and regulate their own currencies, using mostly coins from Portugal, Spain, France and England. However, there was no consistency among the states in exchange rates for these foreign coins, which made it difficult to carry out transactions. The creation of the dollar as the monetary unit and coinage for the new nation was logical and necessary because it helped to unify the colonies and to establish an identity for the new nation that was separate from its European origin.

The history leading up to the American Revolution is very interesting. The aftermath of the French and Indian war played a big role in what began the colonists dissent against Great Britain. At the start of the war the colonist were glad that the redcoats were there to protect them but after the fall of Washington at Fort Necessity they started to feel disappointed towards them. After the war, Great Britain, although they won, was left with huge amounts of debt. Because of the cost to train troops and the debt the British wanted the colonist to pay their fair share. The colonists were not happy with this, although the Great Britain paid most of the debt itself. Another factor was the Quartering Act(1765). It said that the colonists were responsible for finding or

The British thought that the people in America should be happy with virtual representation which basically meant all of the members of the parliament represent the entire population, the British people argued that the colonists in America were represent the same way as people in Britain that don’t have any say during elections. American colonists believed in actual representation which meant they wanted people from the colonies to actually have seats in the parliament, and because this wasn’t going to happen they believed they should only be represented and taxed by people known and chosen by themselves who served on their legislatures.

Trade continued to exist, where American products were sold to now the French, Spanish, Dutch, and English, and ports continued to prosper without excessive taxation and removal of the Navigation Acts. The upper class of the United States thrived, for the war was run to support their cause. Politicians rose to power, for Britain no longer interfered with American politics. Politicians could exercise their powers to gain influence and wealth, and aristocrats stood unchallenged by past British regulations. Despite this economic growth and social liberty, life for regular Americans continued without alterations, where many continued to farm to survive, and artisans worked and sold their products. There was no real social change for regular Americans, most of which suffered from the lack of war reparations or economic losses. Native Americans and enslaved Africans continued to be put under American law, where Natives continued to lose even more land, and Africans continued to be enslaved until the 1790s. The laws put into affect, such as the Articles of Confederation, only concerned themselves with wealthy Americans, and had distaste for allowing anyone without wealth to vote. The American Revolution was fueled by the support of the aristocrats and American bureaucrats to increase their political and economic

From 1763, Americans had only to be convinced that an arbitrary ruler- whether Parliament or King-was violating their inherent rights, to feel that rebellion was justified. This conviction was bred in them by the series of events that occurred between 1763 and 1776. The language used to protest the British Acts was legal, and political. But the primary cause of the Revolution was economics.

The colonists were angry that they had no representation in their own governments parliament and put under so much financial stress. That is exactly what Patrick Henry elaborated on to the virginia house of burgesses in 1765. He spoke these words “ We can under law be taxed by our own representatives. We have no representatives in the British parliament. So how can the British parliament place this tax on us.” (document 1) Which he was correct the British government could not tax them so much without the colonist having a ruling in what happens in their own government. That was when the colonists started to resist and wanted to request independence from England.