U.S. colonies were being controlled by the British Empire and forced to pay taxes to the king. The colonies were upset that they were forced to pay these taxes, but had no voice on the government. In reality, there would’ve been no revolution had there been no French involvement. America had been left to govern itself from 1715 until 1740, called the period of “Benign neglect.” They wanted to establish their own system of government and not be controlled by an abroad nation. America had taken note on how two great historical powers, Carthage and Rome, tore each other to pieces instead of joining forces.
They felt that the king was abusing his power as a monarch and therefore their rebellion was for a just cause of declaring the independence they wanted. The American Revolution created a new politically independent nation that could make its own decisions and was free of economic limiting statutes. The Revolution called for social change, but little change was initiated during this period. These political, social, and economic ideals helped design the framework of our democratic nation. Socially, the American Revolution only slightly changed America.
This paper will establish the argument that Britain no longer benefited from a mercantilist relationship with the American colonists after 1763. Before 1763, the colonists accepted Parliament's right to take actions on their behalf and even the primacy of England's economic interests over their own. Prior to the Seven Years' War, almost all parliamentary actions had been designed to regulate trade, and while the colonies at times regarded these acts as unfair or inopportune, they did not regard them as especially oppressive or burdensome. After 1763, however, Parliament's actions began to clash with the colonists' interests. At the end of the Seven Years' War, France surrendered Canada and much of the Ohio and Mississippi valley to British rule.
1. When the American Revolution began, it looked like the colonies faced insurmountable odds. How did a ragtag band of volunteers without a proper source of funding for food and equipment manage to overcome the most powerful army and navy in the world? How did each of the following contribute to the success of the American Revolution? George Washington’s leadership abilities Geography Foreign assistance Colonists’ spirit and attitude The Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783) led to the birth of a new nation.
Washington waited for reinforcements and then attacked this fort, Fort Duquesne in 1754, marking the first bloodshed in the war. In 1756, after the conflict between the French and British turned into a world war, the British government changed. This change brought William Pitt into office as the head of the ministry. Some of Pitt’s actions and decisions not helped win the war in America, but they also were responsible for creating nationalistic views amongst members of the colonies. Pitt treated the colonists as allies rather than as servants that must follow orders.
After the French Revolution though, the republic slowly began shifting to a totalitarian regime, first under the Committee of Public Safety and then completely under Napoleon Bonaparte .The facts show that the American Revolution was more successful in establishing a stable and long-lasting republican government that started a precedent for Europe, while the French Revolution’s republic failed to last, being turned into a totalitarian regime. Events leading up to the American and French Revolutions occurred for a similar reason: unfair representation. The people in the American colonies became progressively upset with Britain and its Parliament when they refused the colonists’ representation, while still imposing many different taxes on the colonists. Upset over this tax on one of their most valued imports, the colonists dumped all the tea into the Boston Harbor during the Boston Tea Party. This showed that the colonists were willing, and able, to live without depending on the British government.
America is a very strong and determined country, which help them win the Revolutionary War. Washington’s strategy of avoiding large-scale with the royal army made it impossible for the British to deliver a knock-out blow. Only once during the Revolution did an American army surrender to British forces. Also, the guerrilla tactics that Americans had learned during Indian wars proved very effective in fighting the British army. Another reason that helped the U.S. win the Revolutionary War was the intervention of France, Spain, and the Netherlands in the conflict made a crucial difference.
Hector St. John Crevecoeur strongly argued that the colonists emerged towards creating their identity through the molding together of a melting pot. After the French and Indian War, the colonists realized that they were much different than the British. Written law was preferred by the colonists over “word of law” which the people of Great Britain were fond of. The group of colonists in America who opposed the British referred to themselves as the “Patriots”. The colonists also abolished primogeniture and entail which pulled them further and further away from their mother country’s ways.
The American Revolution did not satisfy the colonial goals for civil, political, social, and economic rights; however the Constitution did. All the American Revolution did was drive the British out of America. With the British gone the Americans had the ability to strive for civil, political, social, and economic rights, but the Articles of Confederation became an obstacle in their path to their rightful goals. During the American Revolution the American people wrote a lot about what they wanted to accomplish and attain. In Document A, the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms, it is written that the American people feel they have been wronged by England because their rights are restricted and wish for these basic rights to happiness and such.
The War of 1812 is also considered an unnatural war because the Treaty of Ghent ended the war but resolved none of the issues that started it. The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Act, which had the purpose of establishing self-sufficiency for the U.S. and improving its economy, further weakened America and deepened the conflict with Britain. The British reasons to wage war against America were that it had chosen France as a trading partner. Failing in peaceful efforts and facing an economic depression, some Americans began to argue for a declaration of war to redeem the national honor. The Congress that was elected in 1810 and met in November 1811 included a group known as the War Hawks who demanded war against Great Britain.