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. The long-term causes of the war, salutary neglect and involvement in the French & Indian War, worked hand in hand and proved to be arguably the most influential of American independence. The term “salutary neglect” refers to the unofficial policy that Britain had with the colonists in the 17th & 18th centuries: British laws were not enforced in the colonies, so Americans learned to care for and govern themselves. This was especially prevalent when governing bodies like the House of Burgesses in Virginia were created as a means of government. But as the colonists adapted to live on their own, certain ideas became widespread throughout the land; these ideas in turn led to The Great Awakening and The Enlightenment. In The Great Awakening, colonists began to split from the Church of England and form their own Christian denominations as a revival of religion swept the colonies.
Between 1770 and 1776, resistance to imperial change turned into a full-on revolution. The American Revolution, also known as the Revolutionary War, was a time of revolting and political uprising, in which the 13 colonies separated from the British Empire, forming the independent nation known as the United States of America. Though the American Revolution began because the colonies wanted independence from Britain, many important historical events and revolts also lead to the tensions and resistance to what resulted in freedom and independence for the colonies from British rule. Events such as the Stamp and Sugar Acts, the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Intolerable Acts, and the Continental Congress led to expanding tensions and soon to the outbreak of the American Revolution.
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.
In the article, “Out of Our Past: The Forces that Shaped Modern America”, Carl Degler analyzes a variety of events that supposedly led to the American Revolution and formed America into what it is today. To begin, following the French and Indian War, the English were in heaps of debt and had no choice but to turn to their American colonies for relief. As a result, they imposed an authority and a set of taxes on the colonies that had not been present before. The colonists greatly disapproved of these changes because they felt that Britain was attempting to take away their liberties. The author also elaborated on events that could not have been revolutionary-provoking. For one, the restrictions asserted by the British could not have been a cause
Colonist taxed without representation,The Boston Tea Party, and Proclamation of 1763 are causes of the Revolutionary War.The colonist felt like their privileges were being taken away little by little. Colonist were tired of it and stood up for their freedom. Imagine how life would be like today if colonist wouldn’t have stood up for
After Britain won the French and Indian War, American colonists were proud to be British. In the years directly after the war, the 1760’s and 1770’s, this attitude changed completely. Britain needed to pay off the debt from the war, so they turned to the North American colonies, an area that had not received much attention from the mother country until this point. Soon, the increased British scrutiny led to laws, policies, and taxes that grated on the colonists. The British response to any form of protest from the colonies was generally even more controlling than the previous measure. Resentment and bitterness in the colonies grew until a change seemed inevitable. The major source of contention was how the British continued to take away freedoms and rights from the colonists. Harsh British control of the colonies caused the American Revolution.
During the years previous to the American Revolution, Great Britain increasingly asserted its dominance over the colonies. This assertive behavior caused tension between the colonies and Great Britain. Therefore, colonies debated the pros and cons of going to war with Great Britain in order to declare their independence. Increased British control led to revolution by the acts Great Britain forced upon colonists, colonists lack of representation, and Great Britain’s reaction to protests held by the colonists. Great Britain’s increased control led to the Revolution by the acts they forced upon colonists.
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 was not justified due to the validity of the reasoning behind Britain’s taxation of the colonies and hinderance of westward expansion and consequently conveys the fallaciousness of the idea that the Britain’s cruel enforcement of these laws gave grounds for a rebellion. Britain only taxed the colonies because of the massive debt they incurred in the Seven Years war or the French and Indian war. Moreover, one of the main motives for this war was to protect the colonies from the French and Natives, which warrants their taxation. In addition, the majority of the fighting was done by British soldiers, adding the the validity of the British taxing the colonies for the services rendered. Also, the colonists were paying only
In 1781 the first attempt in central banking was undertaken by an act of the Congress of the Confederation, thereby creating the Bank of North America. This bank was given exclusivity in the domain of issuing of national bills and credit. The idea was that this bank run by Robert Morris would act as the monetary agent of the US government which was needed to help deal with the funding of the Revolutionary War. Prior to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation & Perpetual Union in 1781, only the thirteen states had the sovereign power to issue their own bills of credit. Therefore before the ratification it was State Chartered banks that were providing the credit for the war, through the use of continental currency or “continentals.” These continentals were depreciating in value to the point of becoming distressed assets so it was Morris’s assertion that this private “for profit” monopolized commercial bank would be the only viable solution. With the ratification of the Articles of Confederation, congress also gained the power over the issue of bills of credit, so Morris went to work establishing America’s first central bank. It is also important to note that this function was not essential to continuing the war effort as with the defeat of the British in Yorktown in October of 1781 excluding several small skirmishes, the war had already ended. The Bank of North America essentially provided the greatest monetary benefit to the holders of large amounts of
When the American Revolution first broke out, many countries did not give the colonies more than a passing thought; most assumed that this rebellion would quickly be quelled by the world renowned British army and the colonies would once again be under their control. However, under the leadership of military officers and the guidance of laws and proclamations set forth by the Founding Fathers, America succeeded in their revolution against the control of Britain. Textbooks and teachers have praised America for years, stating that the revolution was a major turning point in world history, setting precedence for future revolutions, such as the French Revolution just a decade after the American Revolution ended. However, in later years, historians have begun to argue that the American Revolution was not the first of its kind, or unique in the way researchers previously stated. The Declaration of Independence, though groundbreaking in its own right, was influenced by documents and declarations in the English Civil War, such as the Petition of Rights and the English Bill of Rights. The Declaration of Independence, in turn, was a base for the authors and contributors of France’s Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen. Furthermore, for all the connections in the chain of antecedents for these documents and the documents themselves, such as philosophical and religious writings, they did not build off of each other in terms of giving rights to more and more people; women and other
The Daughters of the American Revolution was founded with the intent to preserve American history. However what was the rationale behind the need for an organization of this kind? Because the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) limited its membership to only descendants of participants in the war and created a focus on the importance of ancestry, leads the belief that there were another motivating factor behind an organization of this type. Influencing the founders of the D.A.R. was both the Civil War and the rising immigration to the United States. The Civil War ended with slaves becoming freemen and citizens, affecting the definition of citizenship. Also the war increase patriotic drive in the citizens which directly lead the forming of the patriotic group, The D.A.R. Immigration boomed during the nineteenth century and like the situation with freedmen changed the makeup of American citizenship. The D.A.R. was created as a reaction to theses social changes.
The American Revolution was much more than an insurrection against British tariffs and patronage decree. Rather, it was a bureaucratic catastrophe in which colonists from the thirteen American colonies denied the British sovereignty, eradicated the jurisdiction of Great Britain and established the United States of America. The upheaval was a primitive modern revolution in which generality traversed for liberty in the statute of law, constitutional privilege and supremacy. Ensuing years of contention and maltreatment, the colonists adjudicated to take action for what they postulated was ethical. The colonists were able to win the American Revolution against the British, despite the fact that they faced numerous disadvantages, by their
The American Revolution has provided no shortage of patriotic and romanticized images and ideals for the general public throughout history. Indeed, to this very day, Americans hark back to this ‘glorious achievement’ with pride and use it as fuel for everything from selling jeans (Levi/Strauss) to the creation of video games (Assassin’s Creed.) But the question has remained, for all the hoopla and “remembrance” that surrounds this period in western history – was this revolution justified? As the evidence will help provide, the American Revolution was indeed justified.
In regards to the American Revolution, the point that armed rebellion became inevitable arrived when after nearly five constant years of American colonist protesting. American 's had enough and needed to take a stand for the numerous inequalities they were forced to deal with. It was foreseeable that the American Revolution took place due to the unfair taxes that the British were giving Americans. Also, England was not allowing Americans their freedom, along with violence and the political dominance by the Parliament over the colonies by announcing the Stamp Act in 1765, which happened to nearly affect all Americans tremendously.
“The revolution was effected before the war commenced. The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people.” - John Adams, 1818