The revolution changed the colonies government from monarch to a republic. Each colony became a state and natural rights ideas became central to the government, system of law by people. The American Revolution was no different than any other revolution in history and that it accomplished what the founding fathers wanted to accomplish and that is by securing the rights of citizens. The end of the French and Indian war would bring a turning point to the relationship of the colonies and Britain. Britain’s policy of salutary neglect would be discontinued and the would bring about tighter control on the colonies.
The American Revolution was a result of the colonists unrest caused by their abhorrence towards their British Mother Country. For several centuries the colonies had been subject to rule by the English Crown and it’s Parliament. They no longer wanted to be controlled by a country an ocean away, and in turn sought independence. A huge factor in the start of the American Revolution was the French and Indian War that changed the age-old bond between the colonies and England. Decades of conflict followed, starting with the revolt as a result of the Stamp Act in 1765, leading to the eruption of war in 1775.
Was considered the |substantial resentment towards the colonists among English leaders, who were not | | |beginning of open hostilities between Great Britain and the colonies. |satisfied with the financial and military help they had received from them. This set in | | | |motion more plans to give over more control of the colonies to the government which would| | | |lead to the American Revolution. | | |Passed in 1764, the British placed a tax on sugar, wine and other important |Commonly regarded as a prelude to the American revolution, the Sugar Act and the Stamp | |Sugar Act |things. This meant that trading with Britain would mean they would not be able |Act were designed to increase British tax revenues.
The end of salutary neglect meant the American colonies were not happy with England. England tried to form a coherent policy through the navigation acts but did not enforce it. From 1763 to 1775 Britain began to try to use a coherent policy driven in part through
It was treaty after treaty trying to avoid warfare and give all countries an identical playing field. America, while struggling for independence in the Atlantic, finally achieved their goals through warfare. The triumphs at Tripoli and the Algiers “had allowed the United States to attain the long-sought goal of extending its independence to the high seas” (Lambert 211). The Algerian War ended the thirty year process of America trying to rid itself of piracy from the Barbary States. This now showed that the US, through the actions of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, was not only an autonomous trading power in the Atlantic, but also “matched its place in the world with its national boasts” (Lambert
The British forgot about the role that the American troops had in the war. The colonists began to develop nationalist perspectives. Unlike the way the British drafted their soldiers and utilized savage methods to keep them in line, the colonial forces were made of volunteer soldiers. Their officers tempered their forms of punishment, but at the same time worked to keep the soldiers motivated. There was some friction in the economic relationship between Britain and its American colonies.
Policymakers in the US were not interested in peace, but rather what they could get out of peace. When it came to negotiating, they blatantly denied Britain’s proposal to allow their Native American allies to stay in their Midwest territories when such a limitation would require the ever growing population of the States to sacrifice precious farmland. Also, the British conceded valuable fishing rights to the American government for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. The treaty did not even mention the problem of impressments that the US tried to pass as justification for declaring war in the first place. The participation in this war also resulted in an explosion within the US Navy that made future overseas endeavors possible, and the United States gained serious respect from European powers that had previously noted the budding country as a cute experiment.
The British treated Americans indifferently when they were actually the same country. Although the economy and diplomatic relations were significantly changed, the most important factor contributing was the political system. The colonies were not allowed to let their own economy flourish. The British set laws such as the Navigation Acts and rejected Mercantilism to restrict the American economy and help the
When the French and Indian War broke out between the British and the French, Britain hoped to use the colonies as an extra source of wealth to fight the war. As the area for war expanded from India to North America, the cost of the war increased dramatically. This lead Britain to impose new forms of taxes such as the stamp act which put a tax on legal documents and the sugar act which put a tax on sugar (which at the time was a commonly used product used in the colonies), and new regulations like the navigation acts, to prevent the colonies from trading with foreign nations. The colonies did not agree with Britain’s imposition of the new laws as they were not fighting the war. The colonists believed that they should have separate laws from Britain because they are not directly represented in parliament.
(Cranny p.55) Normally, when Britain went to war, Canada would automatically be at war as well, but King took a big step in not following orders from the mother country. Another accomplishment King succeeded in was demanding to be able to sign an international treaty without a British representative’s permission. (Cranny p.55) Once again, King did not follow the rules. He was supposed to receive a British representative’s signature for treaties, but he continued to push for greater Canadian independence. Secondly, The Balfour Report allowed Canada to receive autonomy and gave Canada equal status with Britain for creating laws.