Role of Ideas in the American Revolution

In The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon Wood attempts to disprove the common thought that the American Revolution was simply a war for independence from a tyrannical mother country. He explains how America formed such a unique from of government. The form that American government took was a collaboration of many different forms that emphasized the rights of individuals. Woods finds it essential to explain colonial life and the factors that dictated people’s lives to understand how radical the revolution was compared to other revolutions. In the 1700’s it was impossible for people to imagine a society operating independently of government, but through shifts in society and through parallel shifts in government that is what emerge. Up until the American Revolution society and government were interwoven.

The American Revolution, mostly known as the War of Independence, arose from tensions between the residents of Great Britain´s 13 colonies and the British crown. The colonies´ desire to obtain independence from the people that started their civilization was followed by a series of riots that led to a full-scale war. Indeed, the fight towards independence followed seven years of senseless war. (McCurdy, 516)

The American Revolution changed American politically by allowing the people to be governed by representation, a central government, and a state government. Americans wanted a government different from the one of England so they created their own. Document I, informs us from a Federalists point of view that abuses of government must be controlled, the need of control of

The American Revolution started when Britain started to tax the colonists without their consent. The stamp acts started a chain reaction of discontent. The colonists realized they were being treated unfairly and unequal to the citizens in Britain. Around this time when the Americans were facing discontent, many Enlightenment ideas were spreading. The colonists took many ideas like John Locke’s into mind when they planned their revolts. They were fighting for natural rights of

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 Revolution, today, is seen as a memorable event in history. It was a war against Britain for the independence of the thirteen colonies that began in 1775. Before the American Revolution began, there was a lot of conflict between the colonists and British authorities. The British raised revenue by establishing Acts such as the Stamp Act of 1766. The colonists were against it and tried revolting against Britain, leading to the Boston Massacre in 1770 of British soldiers shoot colonists and killing a few men. The colonists also retaliated against the taxations by dressing up as Indians and throwing tea into the ocean. Parliament began establishing acts known as the intolerable acts, which led to the revolution. In The Shoemaker and the Tea Party by Alfred F. Young, the author introduces and describes the life of a shoemaker, George Robert Twelves Hewes, and the events he was a part of leading up to and after the American Revolution. He shows the different meanings of the Revolution to people according to their perspective and view on society. The Excerpt from “Accounts of George Robert Twelves Hewes as Told to James Hawkes” by James Hawkes is a secondary source of what Hewes has told Hawkes about his memories of the Boston Massacre. Michael D. Hattem, however, gives a more contemporary view on the American Revolution in his article, “The Historiography of the American Revolution.” Though the course of history, the meaning of the American Revolution and the events

The American Revolution marked the historical intensity associated with this great nation. The revolution was multifaceted and was also dynamic in nature as it involved a lot of twists and turns that later shaped the course of the American citizens. There are numerous causes linked with the triggering and commencement of the revolution. The discussion below critically exploits and explores various reasons that led to the start of the revolution.

The American Revolution, one of the most significant events in our world’s history, has established a huge impact on not only life back in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but our society today. The Acts of Parliament highly benefited the British but did not afford those same rights to the colonists until the formal issuing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, in which colonial freedom was granted. The most controversial issue is which group caused it; a result of propaganda by the colonists. Multiple acts and protests contributed to this war, three influential ones being the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

The American Revolution, which occurred approximately from 1765 to 1786, is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, for good reason. The conflict rose from rising tensions amid the people of Great Britain’s thirteen American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Clashes between Britain’s troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. The American Revolution had tremendous consequences, and was not simply a victory of arms on the battlefield, but also a feat of economic and political ideals, and vital societal changes. This huge period of history set into motion greater changes in American life and created a country, demonstrating just how this revolutionary age in time more than earned its name. This battle of independence waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a young, largely divided nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.

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.

Was the American Revolution revolutionary, or was it just an ordinary set of ideas and effects of the circumstances that occurred? Even though it may’ve seemed like a great feat declaring independence from the greatest superpower in the world at the time, but that is about the only thing behind the argument of the revolution being revolutionary. While on the contrary, ideas that arose in “effect” of the revolution could quickly be debunked. In this essay, I will explain how the American Revolution wasn’t revolutionary because of three reasons- women’s suffrage, the poor/slaves being treated unfairly, and no large political/ social revolution/ change.

In addition to borrowing from British experience, our early government also avoided many English ideas. One large reason that America stresses equal representation was the Founders’ fear of recreating an overbearing government. Many colonists were enraged by the British system of government and the idea of taxation without representation. The British believed that all their subjects around the world had the same interests, and therefore thought it was only necessary to represent one part of their empire. This infuriated the colonists, eventually leading to the American Revolution. When creating the federal government, the Founders avoided a monarchy by ensuring that each state would have representation in Congress. Additionally, through

The American Revolution was a very improbable and unpredictable event. The British North American Colonists had just helped to win a war and have never been more proud to be British. Who knew, that in little over a decade, the same colonists would declare and gain independence from the British Empire. The Revolution was a defining moment in the history of the world. It shaped certain ideas and codified the language that still define Americans’ image of themselves. Also, it motivated other revolutions around the world, resulting in the events that lead to the world today. The Revolution was a good cause for the colonies and popular forces to fight of the British.

The American Revolution was predicated by a number of ideas and events that, combined, led to a political and social separation of colonial possessions from the home nation and a coalescing of those former individual colonies into an independent nation.