The Revolution: The Basis Of The American Revolution

The Basis of the American Revolution

The American Revolution, lasting from 1775 until 1783, was the inevitable war that resulted in the American colonies’ independence from the mother country, England. Social and political grounds, supported by economic reasons, were the main origins of the Revolution. The colonists felt strikes at their freedoms in their colonial governments and as English subjects. The British government imposed many taxes upon the colonists without their consent. It instituted oppressive laws and proclamations, and prevented the colonial governments from performing their duties. As a result, the colonists felt strikes at their individual rights, as the British government did not represent or respect them. As the colonists

They already had a sense of unity that came out of fighting together in the French and Indian War and experiencing the contempt of British regulars, highly trained soldiers, and it grew with the hatred of Britain’s new proclamation (Kennedy 112-13). As the taxes persisted, the colonists decided that they wanted nothing to do with Parliament. They acted upon nonimportation agreements, boycotting British goods. Every member of the public could participate in protests, such as signing petitions. Even women could support the cause by competing in spinning bees (Kennedy 121). The spontaneous movement against forced taxation demanded Parliament to give the colonists some representation. In a final plea to Great Britain for some form of sovereignty, Samuel Adams wrote, in the Declaration of Rights, “All persons born in the British American colonies are...well-entitled to all the natural, essential, inherent, and inseparable rights, liberties, and privileges of subjects born in Great Britain” (Document 5). The colonists simply wanted the freedoms that British subjects in Britain enjoyed, such as trial by jury, and some representation, like the House of Commons. They were not free, unlike the British merchants, to explore their commercial interests due to the Navigation Laws. The prolonged anger and frustration at the British government, for refusing to grant them their rights,

The ideas of the necessity for self-rule and demand for social freedoms reverberated in republicanism. In the midst of the Revolution, Thomas Paine was already preaching the superiority of a republic versus a monarchy in his political pamphlet, Common Sense in 1775. Americans wanted independence and freedom politically, socially, and economically, and a republic satisfied those desires by stating that all government officials should derive their authority from popular consent (Kennedy 138-39). The common people would have the freedom to express their opinions to their own government representatives, preventing economic corruption, such as taxation without representation. The integrity of these doctrines was illustrated in documents such as the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, as they appealed to the needs and wishes of the people and were adopted by the American government (Kennedy 164-65, 171). It is kept in the elections of House representatives, Senators, and the President of the United States (Kennedy 171). The ideas that sprung forth from the American Revolution created the foundation for American government after the war that still exists to this day. They are also present in the later years of American history, such as the women’s suffrage movement. After decades of restricted rights, large