The Onset of Resistance and Revolution The American Enlightenment and The Great Awakening initiated changes in America lasting for decades. The ideals of the American colonists changed throughout the late 1600s and 1700s concerning religion and liberties. The British impositions with taxes, tariffs, and unjust laws drove American colonists to resist British rule, ultimately leading to the American Revolution. The American Revolution drove change throughout the colonies and land to the West of the colonies. Post-revolution, life changed for colonists, enslaved people, women, and Native Americans alike. Stemming from European Enlightenment, American Enlightenment brought forth the idea that people had a right to life, liberty, and property. …show more content…
Impacting the personal level on which the colonists felt their spirituality, the Great Awakening caused rifts between the so-called revivalists and the old establishment religions. The revivalist mentality drove colonists to believe spiritual power be derived by dedication to God rather than bestowed upon the politically high-ranked (Bushman, 1989). This imparted division between the colonists and the leaders since the colonists felt equality with the community leaders in the eyes of the church, thus contributing to their rebellious …show more content…
These acts asserted more British control over the colonies by demanding internal and external taxes on the goods the colonists produced and received. The British sent troops to enforce tax and duty laws, attempting to thwart the resistance, which ultimately backfired. The Boston Massacre in 1770 brought change to both sides, with the British repealing some rules of the acts and the colonists reevaluating just how strong the resistance should be. Although the British seemingly began to ease their control over the colonies, several more instances of taxation and rule tipped the colonists into total resistance. The Boston Tea Party brought conflict to a new level and drove the British to crate the Coercive Acts, which imposed additional restrictions on the colonists by closing their ports and stripping their rights of