The American Revolution was a period of great change in colonial America, with the people of New York being no exception. The fight between Patriots and Loyalists forced New Yorkers to make a choice. The options were to support the rebellion or to remain loyal to the British crown. I believe that abstract ideas played a significant role in the decision-making process of New Yorkers during the Revolutionary Era. The ideologies and philosophies that influenced New Yorkers in 1775 and 1776 were varied and complex. For the colonists, these abstract concepts created a unified foundation of beliefs an ever-changing time.
At the heart of the American Revolution was the idea of liberty, with many colonists feeling that their freedoms were being infringed upon by the British government. In Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” he argues for independence saying “Until an independence is declared the continent will feel itself like a man who continues putting off some unpleasant business from day to day, yet knows it must be done, hates to set about it, wishes it over, and is
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John Locke published his “Second Treatise of Government” in 1689 and this created the idea of self-government that would influence colonists and even the Declaration of Independence. One of his significant quotes supporting this concept is “Men being, as has been said, by nature, all free, equal and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent.” Patriots everywhere began to use Locke’s philosophy to justify their own revolutionary thoughts. The idea of self-government was particularly important to New Yorkers, many of whom were merchants and businessmen who valued autonomy and resented British attempts to regulate their