ipl-logo

Historical Events Leading To The American Revolution Essay

744 Words3 Pages

The historical events leading to the American Revolution are the Acts, Natural Rights, and the Revolutionary Writings. The Acts were laws that were passed by the British and restricted the colonies in many ways. Meanwhile John Lock and Montesquieu were arguing their ideas of Natural Rights. Also Thomas Jefferson made the Declaration of Independence while Thomas Paine made a pamphlet called Common Sense. The Acts were strict and harsh which upset the colonists and only added to the lead up of the American Revolution. First was the Tea Act. The Tea Act was a big tax on a huge thing at the time: Tea. Everyone drank this drink so the Act was highly hated. Next was the Townshend Act. This act was put into effect in 1768 and it taxed the imports …show more content…

Natural rights are rights given to each human from birth and according to John Locke these rights include, Liberty, Life, and Property. Locke disagreed with the idea of Divine Right. He claimed that rights never came from the king, but from God. He also argued that the people made the government to only protect those rights, and if one was to give out some of their own freedom, it would have to be to protect the community’s rights. This also meant that if a monarch was to violate these rules, the people have the right to overthrow the monarch. Though John Locke had challenged these Divine Rights, Montesquieu did too. Montesquieu said that the government should be more defined, and limited. This was why he favored the Separation of Powers. This was the idea to divide the government into branches. Specifically Montesquieu wanted three branches: a legislative branch to make the laws, an executive branch to put the laws into action, and a judicial branch to make judgments over the laws. He said that with this type of government, it would protect the rights of the people because it kept one group from ever gaining too much power. Montesquieu and John Locke both challenged Divine Rights but they each had their own approach on it, varying from Natural Rights, to a Separation of

Show More
Related
559 Words | 3 Pages

The Tea Act which took place in 1773, and was one of the last attempts from the British to control the amount of money it was making on the colonies. The Boston Tea Party occurred soon after this act started being enforced, resulting in hundreds of cases of tea being dumped into the Boston Harbour. The British kept on attempting to pass taxes in the American colonies but every new tax they passed fueled the revolutionary flame within the angered

Read More
866 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
542 Words | 3 Pages

Ultimately, Locke had a great influence in the American Constitution with the message within his philosophies on human rights and government. Baron de Montesquieu's • Montesquieu’s introduced the separation of

Read More
1401 Words | 6 Pages

It is evident that John Locke’s role in political philosophy is prominent and has significantly aided the development Western government. Overall, Locke believed that if a society could facilitate a government that didn’t violate anyone’s right to life, liberty, health, and possessions, they would all live a life of

Read More
426 Words | 2 Pages

Consequently, a limited government was created in response to these new thoughts. Furthermore, this new type of government was extremely revolutionary because it changed the way that the citizens had thought or viewed about the government. Two Enlightenment philosophers that influenced the creation of the government were John Locke and Montesquieu. John Locke had the belief that everyone had natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that if the government failed to protect these rights, they could be overthrown and replaced. Also, Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers helped shape the government.

Read More
628 Words | 3 Pages

To begin with, Montesquieu is best known for his ideas to revolutionize political systems. The separation of powers changed society by allowing people to think that not just one person should control and govern the laws of a country. The Spirit of the Laws which was a book written

Read More
1427 Words | 6 Pages

If this was not being done, he proclaimed that the people had the right to rebel. Other philosophers also convinced the French people about the corruption and misdeeds of the French monarchy. For example, Baron de Montesquieu frequently spoke that there should be a separation of power in

Read More
390 Words | 2 Pages

What Caused the American Revolution The American Revolution was a battle for leadership in the American colonies. At the time, England controlled nearly all aspects, mostly the political and economic, of the colonial lives. Their purpose was to strengthen England. The colonies wanted the freedom from all of the control because they were doing fine without England.

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

They were sending the message that they would not pay taxes on their tea. The British were furious with the actions of the colonists and needed to impose a punishment for their rebellion. This came in the form of the Intolerable Acts. These acts were an attempt by Parliament to gain complete control over the colonists. The culminations of these events led to the breakout of the Revolutionary War just short of two years after the Boston Tea Party.

Read More
579 Words | 3 Pages

When John Locke created this theory he knew that if there was no government, things would get out of control. In the state of nature, people wouldn’t be able to protect their natural rights because there would be

Read More
137 Words | 1 Pages

The American Revolution is the most important event that happened in world history because it is the creation of the United States. To emphasize, The Unites States of America would not be the unified and the independent country it is today. The Revolution offered many Americans the gratitude feeling of having freedom. The first thing to remember is that the American Revolution first began as an argument between the American colonist and the British over the empire of North America. The colonists had been allowed virtual self government for a century until the British government became more involved after the French and Indian war.

Read More
1227 Words | 5 Pages

John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu were political philosophers that debated the question of who was best fit to control the government. Locke and Montesquieu shared similar political beliefs such as natural rights and the separation of government powers. However, both philosophers did, in fact, have their personal views that helped them accomplish important achievements. John Locke published “Two Treatises of Government” and “ An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” which present a detail philosophy of the mind and thought. Locke’s “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding,” lays out his philosophical project.

Read More
569 Words | 3 Pages

John Locke would not think that democracy is a great principle of natural law but except in small groups. In Locke's perspective, people must freely consent to be governed - the thing is that no one will freely consent to have their natural rights violated - but pure democracy makes it too easy for a majority to impose laws on a majority that the majority would not consent. Locke claimed that men are naturally free and equal as part of the justification for understanding legitimate political government as the result of a social contract where people in the state of nature conditionally transfer some of their rights to the government in order to ensure the stable, comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property. Since governments exist by the consent of the people in order to protect the rights of the people and promote the public good, governments that fail to do so can be resisted and replaced with new governments. Locke states in the Two Treatises that the power of the Government is limited to the public good.

Read More
604 Words | 3 Pages

Locke's, The Second Treatise of Government spoke about the sovereignty. This rest with the people and also the government which is legitimate have natural rights as well as a social contract. He was favor of separation of the church and state. He was against the authoritarianism. He believed and wanted individuals to reason rather than act on their opinions.

Read More
864 Words | 4 Pages

The American Revolution (1700-1790) was a historical event in time, where the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States of America, gained independence from the British Empire. Many historians would agree that the Revolution was caused by events and the growing differences between the colonists and England. The cause of the American Revolution could be summarized in the saying ‘liberty vs. tyranny’. The American Revolution was a struggle by liberty-loving Americans to free themselves from a dictatorial British rule. In this period, the Colonies protested against the British Empire and entered into the American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence.

Read More

More about Historical Events Leading To The American Revolution Essay

Related Topics

Open Document