American Revolution Dbq Essay

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The American Revolution was a war between April 1775 and September 1783. The people of the 13 colonies fought a war to gain freedom from England. The war began when Britain began to overly control the colonies. England began to tax colonists on imported goods. The colonists were against this idea and decided to rebel against England. The war began and lasted seven years, ending with the Treaty of Paris, giving the colonies independence. Colonists renamed themselves the United States. So was the American Revolution revolutionary? What does the revolutionary term mean? Revolutionary, “involving or causing a complete or dramatic change’ (Oxford Language). Knowing the definition of a revolutionary, the question can finally be answered. The answer …show more content…

The American Revolution did not automatically bring the end of slavery to all states, but shortly after the war, the Northwest Territory outlawed it (Document E). Most states still had slavery until the Emancipation Proclamation. Another dramatic change made by the American Revolution was former slaves being let into segregated schools. One of the schools that offered classes to African Americans was “the New York African Free School, established in 1787 for the children of enslaved people and free African Americans,” (Document F). This shows that free African Americans were able to receive an education and learn in school. This is a dramatic change or revolutionary considering before they went from being owned and not being considered people to being able to go to school and being valedictorians. (Document F). Another dramatic change that occurred due to the Revolutionary War was the change and blur of the “social class” line. “Roughly 80% of the population was in the poor category,” (Document B). The upper class looked down on poor white males for many years Billiards in Hanover Town, Virginia (Document A), shows that after the Revolutionary War, they’re changes in social classes that let differences be put aside and allowed white males to become more united. This is revolutionary because before the war they would not even speak to one another and the rich thought little of the