Privateering and its Impact on the American Revolution

The purpose of mercantilism was to increase power, wealth and self sufficiency for the mother countries. England, Spain and france would often compete with each other to gain colonies in regions such as North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. Raw materials such as lumber, wool, iron, cotton, tobacco, rice, and indigo were what England needed to be able to create manufactured goods. However, mercantilism in the American colonies were more dependent on the manufactured products of England. The Navigation Acts that were a series of laws were enforced by England so that they could make the American colonies more dependent on the manufactured goods of England.The American colonists were expected to buy manufactured goods like cloth, furniture,knives,

It is generally agreed upon that the Revolution was guaranteed- even foretold- since the idea of settling on it was even suggested- no one can give a large group of people the idea to run themselves and still keep control from thousands of miles away. England had it, but lost that control of their child nation in 1766 when they revoked the Stamp Act and gave the colonists the notion that they had the power and authority to independently run the budding country. After being allowed this minute freedom, the colonists were not pleased with Parliament 's taxes and attempts of an iron fist hold on the Americas- and along with their opposing views on nearly everything, decided that they were no longer pleased with being considered British. Salutary neglect also contributed to the colonists ' inflated sense of pride- aptly named because at this time England 'neglected ' the colonies, giving them room for individual theories, politics, beliefs, and the abilities to run their own lives for a while. The freedom was too much for them to go back to how things were before when England decided to tighten their grip. At this time, the colonists started a war to free themselves.

Marcus Gravey stated that, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” With that being stated, are the people of the United States, Canada, and Mexico trees without roots? At a young age students learn that Christopher Columbus “sailed the ocean blue in 1492”, a simple song used to assist children remember that America was discovered in 1492. In addition, Thackeray and Findling describe how Columbus’s discovery presented an unimaginable amount of opportunity for Europeans, and therefore, Spanish, French, and later British explores and settlers began to flock to this new world.

left intact the slave system of the South, which for 80 years after the War of Independence

So first off, let's talk about Mercantilism. What is bad about it you may ask? Well lets see from a coloniest point of view. So the mother country gets rich, as the colonies do not. The colonists must sell basically all of their raw materials to the mother country for whatever price the Mother country decides (a cheap price). They must buy manufactured goods from the Mother country (at a high prices) so do you see what I mean.

The American colonies were justified in their response to the taxes King George III and Parliament applied on the colonist as Britain allowed this new world to form its own reality and sense of independence by refusing to financially support the colonies and ignoring the large gap that developed over time between the colonies and Britain.

When a revolt occurred in American History, there were countless reasons that triggered the public eye to perform acts of violence or open confrontations to the government or a famous ruler. To be more specific, the Bacon’s Rebellion was one of the most famous uprisings in the 1670s and the outcome was being defeated. Nathaniel Bacon, who was a Virginia settler, instigated the issue and wanted to start a rivalry towards the Native Americans. William Berkeley, who was the Governor of the Virginia Colony, was very easy-going about the situation and wanted no tension towards the Native Americans. Bacon believed that the Native Americans was invading Jamestown’s territory area, and he wanted Berkeley to take action by advancing better security. Since nothing was being done on Berkeley’s side of the bargain, Bacon took it upon himself and initiated his opinions to the community. Bacon informed other settlers, servants and slaves to oppose against the Native Americans. Even though this rebellion was about fighting over property, it sparked a lot of additional motives within a one-year period. The revolt had countless cause/effects, and diverse civil rules and beliefs between Berkeley and Bacon. In the 1600’s, events like culture clashing and land rights played a huge role of the riot and molded the background to the Bacon’s Rebellion. Also, the importance of the rebellion encouraged affective outcomes like the Declaration of the People and it becomes one of the first rebellions in the American Colonies.

The thesis Webb Garrison is trying to display is that about a century before the privateers had been involved in trying to win the American Independence. On April 1861 the confederacy was free under international law to license privateers. The possibility that privateers could be captured and executed , the confederate government made a choice to use Union prisoners of war as

James Forten Sr. was born on September 2, 1766. He was born in Philadelphia, PA. He became a member of the Continental Navy, the navy of the Colonies at the time, at age 15. After his service in the navy, Forten was an apprentice in sailmaking and became a wealthy businessman. He also became a leader of the black community in Philadelphia before the Civil War. He devoted himself to the abolitionist cause and he refused to supply rigging: the system of ropes, cables, or chains employed to support a ship's masts and to control or set the yards and sails. Forten died in 1842.

Above all, the bravery of these men would go down in history. In addition, the Continental Army used slaves as wagoners, artisans, pilots, and seaman. Albeit some slaves were freed, most were returned to or sold back into slavery at the end of wartime. Mainly, the majority of blacks were laborers; an exception was James Armisteead Lafayette, who turned to spying on the enemy, and bringing a plethora of useful information back to the leaders. Black seamen were of the utmost importance to the armies due to the fact many of the already had the knowledge and experience to man the ships; namely, James Forten, initially ordered to be a powder boy on a Navy ship, who then later became successful in

An estimated seventeen million men, women, and children were enslaved and transported from Africa to the West Indies by Europeans between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. Before these individuals became slaves, there were indentured servants. Between the colonial era and Revolutionary War many changes in the practice of labor were made. Expansion of slavery throughout America brought about different conditions of slave life and Paternalism. Slavery in America was very different before and after the year 1790; these changes greatly affected the conditions in which these individuals lived and are worth analyzing.

The British did not use what little “fans” they did have to fight in the revolutionary war. The colonists immediately assumed that the war would be over quick with no problems they thought that the colonist would be no problem. What they did is they decided that they should capture Boston, it was a vital port for the colonists it would weaken the colonists, but after the battle of bunker hill they figured out that this strategy was no good. After the British lost the battle of Saratoga the colonist, who had no navy and untrained troops, started receiving help from foreign countries. It made them look more powerful and feared in the eyes of the British.

Directions: Write a one sentence description of each event. In the second sentence, explain how this event impacted the relationship between Great Britain and the American Colonies and helped led to the American Revolution. (*something to consider-these events have social, political, and/or economical impacts)

Putting myself in the the position of a sailor back in that time I can see why many were attracted to the life of a pirate. The life of a sea faring man during the early 18th century was a grueling way of work. Wages were low, decease was rampant, ships were cramped, and discipline from officers was brutal, sometime murderous. The pirate life symbolized freedom and liberty and a brotherhood that stood for being “ one for

When the word pirate is mentioned, many people think of ship carrying men across the seas as they pillage other ships. While this is true to some extent there was much more to the lives of the men that were known as pirates. Pirates were mostly men from French, English or Dutch heritage, and were privateers or merchants. Many of these men were sanctioned by their government. By the Spanish they were call piratas or unsanctioned sea-raiders, and would have a heavy influence of trade in the Caribbean and on the Spanish Empire.