Essay The Evolution of the Word Freedom

Before the Revolutionary War, the tensions between the colonists and King George of Great Britain were “very high”. The colonists were unhappy over the unfair treatment they were receiving from Britain. They were angry with the taxes and laws that King George had imposed upon them. Despite the taxes being for the French and Indian War, which Britain had fought to keep the colonists safe, they still were angered that they had to pay them. The colonists were unfairly taxed without representation and had a legitimate reason to be angry with King George and Great Britain. The only solution that seemed possible was war, so the colonists decided to declare war. The American colonists were justified for breaking away from the British because they were unfairly taxed and were treated unfairly by the British.

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.

In an excerpt from the Second Continental Congress, the colonists questioned, “What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power?” (Document 5). They felt as though they were unprotected under British rule. King George of England acted as a tyrant, freely taxing the colonies for no good reason. John Dickinson, a leader who served in the Stamp Act Congress, stated, “Never did the British parliament, (until the passage of the Stamp Act) think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising revenue” (Document 2). After the Stamp Act, none of the taxes were justified; the colonies were being taxed simply to create income for Britain. With the unlimited control and absurd taxes, the colonists were bound to start a

The level of resentment between the 13 Colonies and the British was enough to spark a revolutionary war and it did. The outrage over taxation without representation was only intensified when the town of Concord got word that the British were coming to confiscate their weapons and their gunpowder. According to Forsht (2011) author of the Boston Tea Party the British fought several costly war of which they wanted the American Colonies to pay by stamping them for printed materials such as newspaper, magazines and playing cards. Forsht (2011), stated that the American colonies had no representation in parliament yet they were being taxed by a government in which they had no voice. This was all going to change on the night of 19 April 1775.

The American Revolution was the uprising of the existing thirteen American colonies to gain independence from Britain in the mid 1700’s. The American colonists began questioning Britain’s authority as early as the French and Indian War. During the French Indian War, the colonies wanted to defend themselves against the French in North America. They asked King George for permission to raise armies in order defend themselves. Although their reason to raise an army was sincere, George II was suspicious of the intentions of the colonial government and disapproved their petition. After the French Indian War, Britain decided to raise money by taxing the American Colonists for reparations. Taxes such as the Stamp and Tea Acts created controversy

The period between 1763 and 1776 was a time where many areas of disagreement developed between the colonists and the British policy makers. The major areas of disagreement were caused by the British rules imposed on the colonies that prevented expansion, imposed taxation and limited colonial liberty. The first dispute was right after the Seven Years War (1756-1763) with the Proclamation of 1763. According to ushistory.org, the colonists, after the war, felt entitled and excited to begin settling westward, but the Proclamation prohibited such expansion. The war also put a large debt burden on Britain and in attempts to alleviate the debt they imposed many different taxes upon the colonists. The colonists did not believe they should be required

Have you ever heard of the American Revolutionary War? The Revolutionary War started in the colonies after the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767) and the Tea Act (1773). The revolutionary war started because the colonies were tired of being taxed by the British Government. The colonists were not being represented in Parliament so they told the British Government that they were being taxed without being represented, (“no taxation without representation”), which the colonists did not like.

After the French and Indian War when England was in debt from fighting a war around the world, England just wanted the colonists to pay, not for the war that they had just been through, but for a portion of the protection that they are currently receiving from the British Troops. The amount the colonists were paying wasn't even a fourth of the amount necessary to sustain the protection that they were receiving (Document F). In order for England to receive their money, the British government began to enforce their Navigation Acts which allowed the promising of the American Colonial Economy to support the English Economy. The British were enforcing their Mercantilist policies keeping all the profits from the Colonies within the English Empire allowing England to exercise its control over the colonial economy. The British enforced taxes that the Colonists didn’t appreciate, they didn’t even care if the tax helped them monetarily like the Tea Act of 1773 which made the legal tea cheaper than illegal tea even with the tax. The Colonists believed in “No taxation, without representation,” a saying which ignited a spark within Colonists to stand up to the British government. Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to put a stop to the Stamp Act which expressed his loyalty and love for England, but also showed that England should repeal their Act for the good of the colonies

America was going through many changes in the years of 1775 to 1783. Americans were preparing to break off from Britain’s harsh oppression. The colonists felt like separation from Great Britain was necessary to gain their independence they always desired. Britain, after the French and Indian War (1754-1763), was left with a massive debt that had to be paid. Without compromising with the American Colonists, Parliament started to tax them without representing them in Great Britain's government. Some taxes imposed by Parliament included Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Townshend Act. These acts had one thing in common and that was to gain money from the American colonies to pay off the accumulated debt. Colonist saw this as a violation of their freedom

Taxation was a big problem and a cause of the Revolutionary War. First, “With the French and Indian War over, many colonists saw no need for soldiers to be stationed in the colonies. Britain also needed money to pay for its war debts. The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies. They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens,”(www.historyisfun.org). The Colonist felt they didn't have the same rights as British citizens because they were being taxed for Britain's war dept and taxes. Meaning the Colonist were taxed for Britain's war debts. The French spent 1.3 billion livres on war costs. Britain was wrong for taxing the Colonist for their war dept,

In the early 1700s, the American colonists were content with the rule of Great Britain and the British King. The practice of salutary neglect kept the relationship between the colonists and Great Britain in balance. Most people were satisfied with this arrangement. However, certain events caused these feelings to change. During the 1750s and 1760s, Great Britain and the colonists joined forces against the French during the French and Indian War. Although the British won, the war left them with huge debts and new lands to protect in North America. To solve the problems, the British government passed a number of laws. Some of these laws ordered the colonists to pay new taxes. These new taxes angered colonists because they had no representatives

The level of resentment between the 13 Colonies and the British was enough to spark a revolutionary war and it did. The outrage over taxation without representation was only intensified when the town of Concord got word that the British were coming to confiscate their weapons and their gunpowder. According to Forsht (2011) author of the Boston Tea Party the British fought several costly war of which they wanted the American Colonies to pay by stamping them for printed materials such as newspaper, magazines and playing cards. Forsht (2011), stated that the American colonies had no representation in parliament yet they were being taxed by a government in which they had no voice. This was all going to change on the night of 19 April 1775.

In early 1620, the English Separatists set out to the New World in order to seek religious freedom from the crown. The separatists sailed across the Atlantic on a charter on the Mayflower agreeing that they would ship back goods to England, as a reimbursement for their land. When the “pilgrims” finally landed at Plymouth months later, they were forced to make an agreement with the Native Americans, since they had no right to be upon the Native American’s land. This agreement shortly became the first ever written document in North America, called the Mayflower Compact. These “pilgrims” pledged to free themselves from the English law to be established as a Separatist colony. They recognized that they might not agree with the undertakings of

The colonists came to America to escape religious persecution. After they broke free from England, they wanted to make sure that no one in the future in this country would have to be afraid of their government for practicing their own religious beliefs. People are leaving their home countries to come to ours because we have freedom of religion. If we don’t pay attention to violations of the First Amendment, then America will no longer be a free

Many ideas are important within the American culture, but to the American sense of patriotism, freedom is most fundamental. The idea of freedom is central to the American politics – which is at times referred to as liberty. Since the birth of the nation, freedom has been the vocabulary of the American language and its importance cannot be underestimated. The Declaration of Independence, for instance, ranks liberty as an inalienable right. On the other hand, the Constitution reckons that it purposes to protect civilians’ liberty. The importance of freedom has even stretched further than the political arena and has prompted the birth of civil rights movements and other activist protests. The Cold War and the Civil War were all for the cause of freedom. The importance that Americans attach to freedom can also be demonstrated from the erection of statues, banishment of slavery, use of liberty poles and a right to vote for adults. For many years, women and the African Americans have for a long time fought against denial and infringement of their freedom . However, given the importance that Americans affiliate to freedom in the conceptualization of their country, it has been the subject of modifications over the course of years especially before the Revolutionary War.