Final Essay
Dawning like the sun on a new day, the United Sates of America has risen to become the most powerful nation on Earth. The United States of today is a land of freedom and inspiration, and a place where dreams have a real possibility of coming true. Though the United States may be very strong today, it wasn’t always like this. In the years leading up to the formation of the United States, many of what are considered “natural rights” were not established, and the nation was in chaos trying to fight for these rights from the overruling British empire led by King George III. Several things led to the formation and firm establishment of the United States, the three most prominent being the imposition of taxation acts, acts of rebellion
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These actions were some of the first and most crucial events that led up to the Revolutionary War. The first major stand that the Patriots made was the Boston Tea Party. In the Boston Tea Party in December 1773, members of the Sons of Liberty camouflaged themselves as American Indians and a British tea ship a dumped $700,000 – $4,000,000 worth of tea in today’s terms. This act enraged the British king and Parliament, causing them to create the Coercive Acts, which angered them even more. Later, in 1775, a group of Massachusetts minutemen decided to stash weapons and ammunition so that the British Redcoats couldn’t find them. When Thomas Gage decided to take these weapons, a small skirmish occurred between the two forces at Lexington and Concord. This small battle, in which the Patriots drove the British all the way back to Boston, was the first battle of the Revolutionary War. Even after independence was won, many problems still existed that caused major crucial events within the now states. One event stemmed from the lack of control that the Articles of Confederation gave to the national government. Since the national government had no power to regulate the minting of money or taxation, inflation became a large problem. In Massachusetts, rather than printing more money to pay off war debts, the state raised taxes on land. Farmers in Massachusetts, having lots of land were heavily taxed, but because of inflation, the gold and silver that they owned wasn’t worth enough to pay off farmers’ debts. Some farmers were even imprisoned because of their debts. In September 1786, Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, led a rebellion in western Massachusetts in hopes of closing court so that they couldn’t charge debtors. Though the members of the rebellion were eventually either captured or had surrendered, the event pointed out
Shortly after the Revolution, America was left to govern itself. States were really countries ruling themselves and not long after, many problems occur. This led to the true last battle of the American Revolution, also known as Shays’ Rebellion when Daniel Shays led an armed rebellion in Springfield, Massachusetts to protest against the government for unjust economics and corrupt politics. Many believe Shays’ Rebellion to be unnatural and horrid, but it was justified by the Regulators’ actions as a response to the inadequate government. Based on the economy, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, the letter from Washington, the letter from Jefferson, and the letter from Shays, Shays’ Rebellion was justified by the Regulators for
The end of the Revolutionary War brought on an age of high taxation because of war debt. Many people were unable to pay the new taxes and so the government confiscated their property as payment, angering many people. People who were unable to pay the debts were thrown into jail, only to be freed by Shay later. Shay’s rebellion focused on taking back what belonged to the people as well as working towards a stronger central government. Shay and his men marched to Boston to demand that their debts be forgiven and forgotten. All of this trouble could have been prevented if the government continued the production of paper money in moderate amounts in order to avoid inflation, as feared
After the Revolutionary War, the Articles of Confederation were created to govern the new nation. The states were loosely tied together by a weak national government that had little applicable power. The states were left to individually find ways to pay for their war debts. Massachusetts did so by heavily taxing its people. The taxes were so heavy that in many cases people were paying more than they had paid under British rule. Daniel Shays, feeling outraged and betrayed, helped to organize the already present groups of fellow angry farmers into a rebel army. His army numbered close to 2,000 men. January 25, 1787 was to be the day that Shays would lead his men to attack the federal arsenal at Springfield. Due to communication difficulties, about 400 of Shays men were not
The United States would lose its name and stand divided if the Constitution did not bring the thirteen colonies into one body. Within this governing body, fears arise from the difficulty of controlling power in a central government, while still trying to keep unity between the states. Understanding that the United States was formed based on the people’s irritation with the corruption of the control of power in England, the Constitution reassured the people that their freedoms were going to be kept, but it required their trust. The founders of the United States Constitution established a just government through encompassing equal representation, with the people as the foundation, and protecting the injustices that could arise with the misuse of power.
Shays' Rebellion was the first uprising of the new nation. The battles were fought in Massachusetts. During the time period of 1786-1787, The United States government decided to raise taxes, in order to raise capital and
When America’s founding fathers broke away from England, they weren’t the first colonial Englishmen on the American continent, there were plenty of French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russian colonial outposts established before them. What makes the English colonies along the Eastern seaboard story so important, was the fact that 13 colonies joined together to form what is now known as the United States. Furthermore, this 13 colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation free from Great Britain’s rule. In the mist of declaring independence from the most powerful nation on earth, America’s founding fathers created a governmental system that was unfamiliar during their era. America’s founding fathers created a government designed to protect civil liberties and encourage independence, a complex yet young and evolving system.
America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.
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 the years leading up the Revolutionary War, American colonist grew increasingly resistant to British authority over the colonies. The British passed a series of taxes that sparked controversy of Parliaments authority to pass legislation over the colonies. These events eventually lead to the Boston Tea party, which was a protest of the Tea Act and British rule. The British response to escalating situation in Boston was a show of force placing the city under military rule. These actions untied the Americans colonies under the goal of Independence. The American Revolution was lost by the British due to supply and terrain issues, unclear strategy, and military miscalculations.
In 1776, the Unites States finally gained its independence from Great Britain, leaving the US to face new challenges about governance and international relations. The new states, which were originally thirteen colonies would now have to come together to try to be a player with the world biggest super powers. The unification of the colonies as an independent nation also meant that he people must be unified as well culturally, politically, and economically. As an independent nation, the Unites States would face many successful, yet challenging events resulting in the unification of the American identity. Early international relations would be shaped by the desire to gain international respect while integrating the crucial American culture of religion, race, and honor.
The government struggled with stopping the farmers because they did not have enough money the get a military force, therefore they couldn't fight back. Shays’ Rebellion was a call for the Massachusetts government to enforce laws that would help the poor people. A meeting was held, talking about the problems of the Article of Confederation. Eventually after four months the United States Constitution had been released. The United States Constitution enforces stricter laws with stricter consequences. Now they could tax the citizens in a fair and organised way and could have federal courts and
To help with the war debts the confederations turned to the states to assist in funding the war debts. However, the states having their own personal debts, while establishing ,were reluctant to tax their people, feeling it would inhibit growth and sales of properties. The state of Massachusetts, however, instated a huge tax on their occupants and took great measures to enforce them. Provided that, the Massachusetts residence were infuriated and sought revenge. Massachusetts citizens decided to take actions, after a series of civil conventions to settle the tax issue ended in futility. At first, they targeted the courthouses forcing them to shut down. The military refused to get involved due to pity for the citizens. The rebels were not poor people they just wanted justice. One of those farmers and former army captain was Danial Shay. Daniel Shay was disparaged by the Massachusetts governor, James Bowdoin. Bowdoin was formerly a strong advocate against
On February 27, 1911 the Secretary of State sent a telegraph in regards to how the Japanese reacted to a new treaty with the United States. Count Komura’s speech further expressed how the foreign minister as well as the public felt regarding the situation. However, the foreign minister stated that the speech had not been official, public knowledge. Therefore, conflict caused by the treaty needed to be resolved via communication and negotiations. Previously written Japanese newspaper articles had been translated into English in order to better establish the communication lines between the United States and Japanese officials regarding the public’s thoughts and concerns.
The Constitution placed a great deal of power back into the hands of a strong, central government much like that of a monarchy. “The extraordinarily powerful national government that emerged from Philadelphia possessed far more than the additional congressional powers that were required to solve the United States’ difficulties” (Wood 151). The U.S. government was extremely revolutionary though, in the way that it viewed and handled sovereignty. “Unlike the British in relation to their House of Commons, the American people never surrendered to any political institution…their full and final sovereign power” (Wood 160). Throughout the entire American struggle to establish a suitable government, the citizens maintained their ability to influence policy in a way that the British never could.
During the late 1700’s, there was several protests lead by farmers that were against tax collections. The government was requesting $3 million from the states. The states requested the money in gold or silver not cheap paper money. This amount was so large, it quadrupled from the previous year’s requisition. Most states did not want to enforce the tax. Rebellions took place from New Hampshire to South Carolina, it was Massachusetts that had the worst. The farmers of Massachusetts began to petition but they went unrecognized. Them being unrecognized led them to forcibly close the county courts. The rebellion is Massachusetts was led by their leader, Daniel Shays. Which how it got its name, Shay’s Rebellion.” The rebellion was getting out of