American Revolution Dbq Essay

The American Revolution was a conflict fought between the American colonists and the British. The colonists were unhappy with what they perceived as a violation of their rights by the British. In events leading up to the American Revolution, the British were heavily taxing the colonists as well as neglecting them in terms of their demands and passing laws that were seemingly oppressive. The colonists who supported England were referred to as Loyalists whereas those who sought independence were known as Patriots. Between the years 1763 and 1783, the views on American independence were extremely complex as they varied depending on the time period, their religion, and where they were located.
To begin with, although not a popular opinion at the

Patriots were pro-Revolution, meaning they supported American independence and were prepared to separate from England in order to achieve their goal. In Document 3, Samuel Adams voices his support for the Patriot cause when he says, “All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society they belong to… [men] have a right to demand and insist upon the performance of such conditions.” By stating this, Adams is promoting the idea of self government by insisting that men have the right to leave a government or society in which they feel oppressed or feel as though their natural human rights are being violated. This idea clearly supports the colonists who were fighting to gain independence from England. Moreover, in Document 6, Charles Inglis provides an economic perspective to motivate other colonists to want to separate from Britain. He states that, “Certain I am that our commerce and agriculture, the two principal sources of our wealth, will not support [the expense of a Revolution]... [Britain has] left us still in debt! What then must our situation be, or what the state of our trade, when oppressed with such a burden of annual expense!” Here, Inglis is acknowledging that there perhaps is not enough money to support a Revolution, but rebutting that the only reason for this is that Britain has so heavily taxed the colonies in order to make a profit that it has left the colonists in debt and with little money to provide the basic necessities of life. By stating this, Inglis incites colonists to think of their economic futures should they continue to be dependent on Britain. Lastly, in an inspiration excerpt from The American Crisis by Thomas Paine, Document 7 attempts to rile up the colonists by saying that, “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we