The American Revolution Summary

A New Beacon of Freedom “These are the times that try men’s souls.” This thought, voiced by Thomas Paine in The American Crisis accurately describes the feelings of most colonists following the Seven Years’ War. Although the colonists were once content under British rule, they soon became restless and rebellious under England’s post-war regulations. Despite the newfound political peace in Europe, Britain was still in economic turmoil. Having spent seven years battling numerous military powers and exhausting all of their resources, they were in deep debt. As a result, England imposed the consequences of their misfortunes on the American colonists. Under the Treaty of Paris, Americans were forced to help pay off England’s war debt through

Many of the goods were imported by primarily upper class merchants and arrived directly from England. This association with England, though beneficial to the colonists, was only furthering their dependence on Britain. Thus, a group of working-class men from New York challenged local merchants, along with the British government, claiming they would quit participating in trade and all forms of business if the English government would not repeal their unlawful acts. The exact act they were defying was called the Townshend Act, which heavily taxed all goods coming into America. The colonists were furious, openly scorning the fact that the Brits were using the Americans’ dependency for their own gain. Knowing they were as deserving of equal rights as the Brits, a leader among the working-class of New York named Brutus rose up. Brutus shared these thoughts, which accurately represented the thoughts of many colonists at the time, saying, “Amidst all the disparity of fortune and honors, there is one lot as common to all Englishmen, as death. It is, that we are all equally free” (87). Deciding that their only choice was to boycott all foreign products, Brutus displayed his passion for the cause of American freedom like this, “Where are all the riches, the luxuries, and even the conveniences of life, compared with that liberty wherewith God and Nature have

This group of political revolutionaries quickly became well known and well respected as word of their rebellion spread. Men such as John Hancock, Paul Revere, John Adams, and Sam Adams made up the core of this band of brothers fighting for freedom. Formed soon after the enforcement of the 1765 Stamp Act, these middle class men led numerous boycotts, most of which resulted in repeals. In addition to the Stamp Act, they worked against all of what the Americans called the “Intolerable Acts”, including the Townshend Act and the Tea Act. In December of 1773, they published a public newspaper resisting the Tea Act and blatantly accused the Brits of ignoring the colonists’ rights. They said “It is essential to the freedom and security of a free people, that no taxes be imposed upon them but by their own consent, or their representatives” (89). The British denied the colonists the same rights they granted themselves, so “what property have they in that which another may, by right, take when he pleases to himself?” (89) The Sons of Liberty concluded their article by saying that anyone who aided the British or supported any of the Intolerable Acts would be considered “an enemy to the liberties of America” (92). The popularity of the Sons of Liberties’ work is proof that the political tide had turned and the colonists were far from