Free Essays on American Revolution

Argument on radical or conservative movement The 13 American colonies revolted against their British rulers in 1775. The war began on April 19, when British soldiers fired on the Minutemen of Lexington, Mass. The fighting ended with the surrender of the British at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781. In 1783 Great Britain signed a formal treaty recognizing the independence of the colonies. Through the hardships of life in a wild, new land, the American settlers gained strength and a firm belief in the rights and liberties of the individual man. They revolted because England interfered with their trade and industry, demanded unjust taxes, and sent British troops to compel obedience. At first they fought only for their rights. After a year of war they fought for a radical change in American life. Ever since the beginnings of settlement, England and America had been growing apart. In 1774, England was still an aristocracy, ruled by men born and bred to a high station in life. Their society was one of culture and refinement. The common people, deprived of abundant opportunity at home, accepted a position of dependence. They regarded hard work, deference to superiors, and submission to rulers as their way of life. But in America things had taken a different turn. The tone of society was essentially democratic. There were no lords or hereditary offices. The Americans did not like to look up to superiors, nor were their leaders set apart by privileges of birth and inherited wealth. The opportunities of the New World made men enterprising, energetic, and aggressive. Restraints were few, custom counted for little, and rank for less. Between these two societies there could not be much in common. With such opposing viewpoints and extreme change in social and economic structure, America began to yearn for independence and self-rule, and break away from the rule of Imperial Britain. The many taxe... Free Essays on American Revolution Free Essays on American Revolution The American Revolution: A Loyalist’s Perspective Growing up, we are taught that the Revolutionary war was a necessary war with unmistakable objectives and was fervently fought by all Americans in an effort to rise up against the tyranny of British rule. We are taught to view the war as a Revolution, a fight for freedom, liberty and the right to own property, a fight that would, in the end, be beneficial to every American. In reality, the American Revolution was not supported or condoned by all American colonists, as we are sometimes led to believe. Although, there are no accurate numbers of how many American colonists remained â€Å"loyalâ€Å" to the British during the American Revolution, it is indisputable that support for the war was far from universal. John Adams is quoted as saying that a â€Å"full one third were adverse to the Revolution †¦ an opposite one third conceived a hatred of the English †¦ the middle one third †¦ were rather luke-warm.† (Adams, 110) Due to these opposing forces within the colonies, the American â€Å"Revolution† could be more accurately described as a civil war, pitting neighbor against neighbor in a brutal struggle to define the economy and politics of new nation. Even after the war, it took years to settle the old hatreds and to have once again a newly independent nation united. All throughout the late 17th and 18th centuries, people flocked to â€Å"the new world† for a variety of reasons. Some to escape religious persecution, some to flee an oppressive government, but most had hopes of owning their own land and becoming wealthy farmers or merchants. Regardless of the individual reasons for the journey, it was generally accepted that America was â€Å"a land of opportunity†. As relations with Britain were beginning to falter towards the end of the 18th century, largely due to heavy taxation and imposing new governments, the country began to split. Though the Tories and Whigs within America w... Free Essays on American Revolution Argument on radical or conservative movement The 13 American colonies revolted against their British rulers in 1775. The war began on April 19, when British soldiers fired on the Minutemen of Lexington, Mass. The fighting ended with the surrender of the British at Yorktown on Oct. 19, 1781. In 1783 Great Britain signed a formal treaty recognizing the independence of the colonies. Through the hardships of life in a wild, new land, the American settlers gained strength and a firm belief in the rights and liberties of the individual man. They revolted because England interfered with their trade and industry, demanded unjust taxes, and sent British troops to compel obedience. At first they fought only for their rights. After a year of war they fought for a radical change in American life. Ever since the beginnings of settlement, England and America had been growing apart. In 1774, England was still an aristocracy, ruled by men born and bred to a high station in life. Their society was one of culture and refinement. The common people, deprived of abundant opportunity at home, accepted a position of dependence. They regarded hard work, deference to superiors, and submission to rulers as their way of life. But in America things had taken a different turn. The tone of society was essentially democratic. There were no lords or hereditary offices. The Americans did not like to look up to superiors, nor were their leaders set apart by privileges of birth and inherited wealth. The opportunities of the New World made men enterprising, energetic, and aggressive. Restraints were few, custom counted for little, and rank for less. Between these two societies there could not be much in common. With such opposing viewpoints and extreme change in social and economic structure, America began to yearn for independence and self-rule, and break away from the rule of Imperial Britain. The many taxe... Free Essays on American Revolution American History Essay Among the many complex factors that contributed to instigating the American Revolution, two stand out most clearly: England’s imposition of taxation on the colonies and the failure of the British to gain consent of those being governed, along with the military measures England took on the colonists. Adding to these aforementioned factors were the religious and political legacy of the colonies, and the restriction of civil liberties by the British. Parliamentary taxation was undoubtedly one of the greatest factors inspiring the American public to rebel in the years leading up to the American Revolution. One of the most striking examples of this kind of taxation was the Stamp Act of 1765. After many years of fighting, England badly needed revenues from their colonies, and they sought to acquire these revenues from the New World, thereby increasing their influence over the colonial governments. These theories of â€Å"New Imperialism† were what prompted Prime Minister Gren ville to pass the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act of 1765 stated that persons of almost any profession were obliged to buy stamps for their documents. In other words, the act imposed a tax on every printed document in the colonies. For example, a printer had to buy stamps in order to legally be able to distribute his publications. While the act itself was not so detrimental to the economy, it was the ideals behind the act (a direct attempt on the part of the mother country to further itself and raise revenues in the colonies) which drove the revolutionaries’ cause. In October of 1765, the same year the act was passed, the Stamp Act Congress met with delegates from nine colonies and petitioned the King of England, along with the two houses of Parliament. This petition and reaction to the act became the first formal cry for reformation with regard to England’s control over America. In addition to the Stamp Act of 1765, other various taxations aroused ... Free Essays on American Revolution From 1763, Americans had only to be persuaded that an arbitrary ruler-whether Parliament or King-was violating their inherent rights, to feel that rebellion was justified. This conviction was bred in them by the series of events that occurred between 1763 and 1776. The language used to protest the British Acts was legal, and political. But the primary cause of the Revolution is economics. In theory the colonists accepted the principle that natural laws rather than royal decrees should govern the economy. In practice only the southern colonies were bound to England by the tobacco trade. The New England and Middle Colonies, unable to find markets in Britain, found prosperity by trading outside the empire. Any attempt to stop this trade would lead to rebellion and consequentially ensued. The idea of mercantilism where the channeling of all trade through England, was a restriction upon economic prosperity of the New England colony. The dominant cause for revolution within the economic rationale is of economic servitude of colonies to England. The Grenville Ministry passed a number of Acts, but the primary Act of aggravation to the colonists was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was protested upon the principle of "no taxation without representation". The Stamp Act was affecting virtually all the colonists, and restricted economic prosperity, thus it was protested by colonists. The Townsend Act was also a factor in the economic theory, Sam Adams had said "The parliament was taxing illegally!", most colonists agreed, and a boycott of British goods resulted. When the British passed the Currency Act, this left the paper money valueless, and the colonists had to depend (economically) on England for Hard Currency. The colonies were economically subordinate to England by the Tea and Coercive Acts. The Tea Act was an Act where the colonist middlemen merchants were being bypassed, and the trading was done by the British. This impaired the ec... Free Essays on American Revolution One of the most important facets of any revolution is violence. This is often a response to the heightened repression or other intolerable demands from the government against its people. The American Revolution is no exception. Following the Seven Years War, England need to recover some of their finances which were lost due to the war. Parliament achieved this by the taxation of the American colonies; the Stamp Act of 1765 is an example of this. This act resulted in outrage from the Colonies and led to rioting, rhetoric, and the formation of the Stamp Act Congress. These actions quickly led to the repel of the Stamp Act; however, there were numerous new taxes levied to take their place. The Americans continued to object strongly to these new measures and formed organized political groups such as the Committee of Corresponding and the Sons of Liberty. These groups not only demanded less severe taxes, but Colonial representation in Parliament. When England denied them representation, t he Colonists decided to fight their colonizer for political freedom. Making the American Revolution the first anti-colonial, democratic revolution in history. With the battle cry of â€Å" No taxation without representation†, Americans went to war and it is from this violent uproar that the United States of America was born. The â€Å"thirteen† colonies which would later become the Unites States of America were originally colonies of Great Britain. By the time that the American Revolution took place, the citizens of these colonies were beginning to grow weary with Britain’s rule. Rebellion and discontent were rampant.. The main reason for their revolt against England was the taxation issue. The reaction against taxation was often violent and the most powerful and articulate groups in population rose against the taxation. Then in October of 1765, colonial representatives met on their own for the first time and decided to mobilize forces against their Mother c...