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There were many events leading up to the revolutionary war but the Stamp Act and Sugar Act had its impact. These two acts are a part of what got the conflict started between Great Britain and America; The Sugar Act, was a law that imposed taxes on certain imports and the Stamp Act, is a law that levied new excise taxes. The colonist posed such strong opposition against the taxes the British government were implemented that it was
Along with the British raising taxes, they also started making Americans allow British soldiers to live in their houses. The British government elected people in England to be the lawmakers and the Americans felt like the people in England would not understand their needs. With all these things occurring, the Americans never even considered the freedom from England. When the war started, the Americans came to realize it was their freedom they were fighting for and they were going to be independent. As the war went on, the Americans fought harder for their beliefs and freedom.
There were activists who were out to spread propaganda that went against the beliefs of the War Hawks. This came as a disadvantage to them. In one newspaper, an article listed reasons as to why the United States was not prepared for war. Foreign policy was also a reason that people were worried about declaring war on Britain. People also complained about countries such as Canada and France.
The Seven Years War had a long reaching effect on large numbers of people. The interruption of New York commerce was an unintended effect of the war, however it had consequences which could not have been predicted by the British policy makers. The tenacity of the New York businessmen threw a wrench in the cogs of the British war machine and changed the state of the economy permanently. Eventually leading to the American Revolution (Truxes
For instance, there were various problems that the country faced at the time, and they include a significant conflict with the British leading to the Revolutionary War, which was also known as the American War of Independence. It was the culmination where the colonists managed to overthrew the British rule. The revolutionaries managed to seize final control of the thirteen colonial governments where they got to set up the Second Continental Congress and also managed to form a continental army. The following year was formally declared independent and new nation of United States of America. The war cost the US significantly in terms of deaths and economy.
Another major change was the South’s economy. In the South, many people, businesses, and local governments fell into debt. This dragged down the South’s economy and made it rough for those who lived there. It became so hard for families to make money after the war that many moved away (Doc 6). Also, another major change was the education.
“ Yet the general economic picture was far from rosy… independence had drawbacks… state government had borrowed more money during the war than they could ever hope to repay… inflation had been ruinous to many citizens, and congress...failed… to curb economic laws” ( Kennedy, Cohen, Bailey 170). Between 1784 and 1785 depression took a hard turn on Americans. The depression led to low production of goods and the United States was almost bankrupt from all of the debt after the revolution. “The average citizen was probably worse off financially at the end of the shooting than at the start” (Kennedy, Cohen, Bailey 170 ). On top of that Britain wouldn’t allow American ships trade to Britain or the West Indies cutting off American trade.
Since there was debt because of the war, the economy was already very bad in Britain – therefore they taxed the colonies. When the colonies started boycotting British products and threatened to stop trading with them all together, it was successful because Britain’s economy wasn’t strong enough to handle those things. The merchants in Britain couldn’t afford to have trade with America end. If the British merchants were hurt, this would thus hurt The economy as a whole in Britain. In later decades, in the War of 1812, America would try to stop trade with Britain again using a method called embargo, which would not be effective because they did not have the debt that the War had caused.
There was approximately $12 million in foreign debt, $44 million owed to the various Colonies by the Second Congress, and roughly $25 million in state debts (Economic state, 2015, para. 3). There was no mechanism in place to help the individual states pay off their debts. Other aftermaths included losing protection of British ships as the Americans attempted to resume world trade, and an unwillingness on the part of the British to let Americans trade anywhere in their still formidable trade empire. All of this coupled with a rapid decline in demand of wartime products led to widespread inflation and unemployment in the early years of the
This got them virtually nowhere since nearly no states had the money to help out. Since America had been a predominantly agricultural society, a farmer turning into a soldier damaged the economy even more. This left few skilled workers behind to feed said soldiers who were already lacking basic supplies and uniforms. (Shi, David E. Pg. 164) All of these things left the American economy in shambles and almost caused them to lose the war and their independence.
Soldiers were allowed to live in colonist’s homes and needed to be fed. If the soldier’s needs weren’t met then there would be consequences for colonists that didn’t meet them. The Intolerable Acts also had taxes on numerous items and closed Boston Harbor. The effect of Boston Harbor being closed meant that the colonists could not get goods from over seas and this would impact their quality of life. There was also the Proclamation of 1763 which prohibited colonists from settling west of the Appalachian mountains.
Before the war, America’s trade and economy was terribly handicapped due to both France and Britain not allowing trading with the opposing nation. Politically, the U.S. Congress was referred to as the “War Congress” and certain members were known as “War Hawks”. Those that supported the war were primarily Republicans including President James Madison, although there was some division within that party and the Federalists were opposed to the war. Most people in New England were Federalists and their Congressmen argued that the war would threaten their seaports and livelihood. There were social impacts as well.
Post Revolutionary War, the United States were heavily in debt and had to pay for it on their own, unlike the help they got from Great Britain before. The poor were expected to pay for a war that they didn’t even want but the poor had no money since they were fighting in the war instead of working. The citizens were taxed unfairly. Another problem post revolution was that the colonists were cut off from trading with Britain and the sugar colonies. This affected the economy since they were the major trading partners of the United States.
Much of the food was shipped in from other parts of the country. Blacks had gained more rights. The Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the country. The Fourteenth Amendment said that blacks in the country were now citizens. Blacks also had gained the right to vote.
The Reconstruction of the United States After the war, there were many things going on in the Unites States. The south had lost the value of their land and the cotton, their main source of money. The taxes went up due to new public schools and the need to rebuild cities that were destroyed in the south. During this time the civil rights amendments were passed as well. However, some people still wanted control over the former slaves.
