THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.   Term Paper ID:29852 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Discusses radical aspects of the Revolution. Belief of many colonists in self-governance. Attempts to reach accommodation with the British Crown. British denial of colonists' demands for greater autonomy and other issues such as excessive taxes that led to Revolution. Radicals such as Sam Adams. Events leading up to the Declaration of Independence. Paper Introduction: How Revolutionary Was the American Revolution? In the early 1770s, colonial America was gripped by various tensions linked to increasing animosity between the colony and the Crown. On March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre in which British "redcoats" fired on a crowd of angry citizens and killed five men took place. Though the Crown removed the British troops from Boston and convicted several of crowd endangerment or manslaughter, the Boston Massacre demonstrated that the patience of the colonials with respect to the perceived tyranny of the British was fast disappearing (Martin & Roberts, 1989). It is the purpose of this essay to offer an answer to the question of “how revolutionary was the American Revolution. It will be argued herein that what began as an attempt on the part Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. 147). The Great Awakening was described by Johnson (1997) as the proto-revolutionary event or the formative moment in American history whichpreceded the political drive for independence and made it possible. The Second Continental Congress met inPhiladelphia on May 1 , 1775. Though the Crown removed the British troops fromBoston and convicted several of crowd endangerment or manslaughter, theBoston Massacre demonstrated that the patience of the colonials withrespect to the perceived tyranny of the British was fast disappearing(Martin & Roberts, 1989). A History of the American People. America and Its People. New York: Dell.Morgan, E. Local conventions elected representatives to the First ContinentalCongress, which sent a petition to King George III asking forreconsideration of Crown policy. Other problems of the eraincluded excessive taxes imposed on the colony to pay off the British wardebt, colonial antagonisms toward forced military service, America'ssmuggling of taxed items, various other taxes imposed on the colonies(i.e., the Revenue Act of 1764, the Molasses Act duty of 1733, the StampAct of 1765), and the failure of Parliament to permit meaningfulrepresentation for the colonies (Martin & Roberts, 1989). Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.Foner, E. Morgan and Morgan (1962) stated that the Stamp Act crisis,in which Britain imposed heavy tax duties on a variety of products andprocesses (such as land deeds, port clearances, and marriage licenses), wasa critical element in the fomenting of revolution. Bailyn (1967) believes that these issues were exacerbated by otherissues that were emerging as the 177 s began. (1959). As historianHendrik Van Loon (1959) has pointed out, Parliament had become unwilling tolisten to reason or to give any concessions. The underlying politicaldimension of the Great Awakening is that it taught different colonies tograsp and appreciate what they had in common. Though in most cases the taxes of the Stamp Actdid not impose unbearable economic burdens on the colonials, itwas the underlying principle of taxation without representationthat most offended and angered the colonials. Sam Adams stands out among this group.Adams, says Bailyn (1967), represented that New England tradition ofindependence that a Southern Richard Henry Lee initially rejected. The Stamp Act Crisis. This document is said to have "proclaimed to the worldthat Americans had been terribly mistreated by the parentstate" and dedicated the colonies "to the establishment of awhole new set of political relationships guaranteeing allcitizens' fundamental liberties" (Martin & Roberts, 1989, p. On June 7, 1776, Richard HenryLee of the Virginia delegation presented a formal resolutionto Congress demanding separation from the British and callingfor the creation of a national government and the formation ofalliances with foreign powers to support war (Martin & Roberts, 1989).Thomas Jefferson agreed to write a draft of this resolution and on July 1he presented this "declaration" to the Continental Congress. On July 4,1776, the delegates signed into effect the Declaration of Independence. Atthat time, under the leadership of Lord North, the British government andthe East India Company, sought to enforce a monopoly of the tea trade inAmerica. At the outset,opposition to imperial policies invoked time-honored British principles -no taxation without representation, trial by jury - and employed modes ofresistance long familiar in and accepted by the mother country. Even the eventualrepeal of the Act did not allay the fears of the Americans withrespect to the treatment they could expect from the Crown (Morgan & Morgan1962). A deepening military conflict and doubts among manycolonials as to the wisdom of armed rebellion and independencecontinued through 1775 and 1776. H. S., & and Morgan. New York: W.W. As Eric Foner (1998) has suggested, American freedom was born inrevolution and during the struggle for independence inherited ideas ofliberty were transformed. Amongthose implications was the right of all men to enjoy the benefits offreedom in a rational society. Though both moderates andradicals were present at the Congress, the vast majority ofthe delegates agreed to form a Continental Army for thedefense of the colonies against a strong British military presence (Martin& Roberts, 1989). There were, of course, radicals like Sam Adams who foundnumerous occasions to agitate in the years of 177 . The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787. Moderate voices such as thatof John Dickinson sought to reduce the tensions andhostilities, but other voices such as those of Thomas Painewere calling for revolution. At that time, anti-Britishanimosities were at fever pitch. When such efforts failed, the climatefor a more radical response to what the colonials understood as repression(if not overt oppression) was established. Theformal announcement of separation from Empire served to announce that themilitary hostilities which had already begun would be continued. The Revolution, says Foner (1998, p. Many of thecolonials, including Alexander Hamilton, attempted to reason with the Crowand to convince the colonials that it would ultimately be possible for themto participate more fully in a representative government positionedoverseas. On March 5, 177 , the Boston Massacre in whichBritish "redcoats" fired on a crowd of angry citizens and killedfive men took place. The Quebec Act, which was passed at aboutthe same time, prompted the Virginia landowners to call fordelegates to the First Continental Congress (Miller, 1958). For the first time, the goals and ambitions of both the elites andthe masses took on common cause (Johnson, 1997). How Revolutionary Was the American Revolution? A History of the United States. This suggests that the "revolutionary" aspects of theAmerican Revolution were not resolved in the conflict with Great Britain. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Buel, R. (1962). The early colonialcharters had already established the basic "rights" guaranteed to allEnglishmen, and had these rights been extended to include participation indecision-making at the parliamentary level, the Revolution need notnecessarily have occurred when and how it did occur. Kloppenberg (1987) believes that the influence of these and otherradicals became dominant only after other efforts to secure some reasonableaccommodation with Great Britain. Thus, thepath to revolution in America began with growing resentment focused onrepressive economic and political policies imposed upon the colonies byGreat Britain. ReferencesBailyn, BB. Nevertheless, it was not until December 16,1773, the date of the Boston Tea Party, that active rebellion occurred. New York: Harper Collins.Miller, W. (1989). It will be argued hereinthat what began as an attempt on the part of the colonists to reach somemore agreeable accommodation with the British Crown regarding the legal andpolitical status of the colonies became, as a consequence of Britishintransigence, a genuine revolution (Bailyn, 1967). What also helped to "make" the Revolution was the arrogance,ignorance, and failures of many of the British statesmen and the wealthyBritish class that profited enormously from their economic relations withthe American colonies (Johnson, 1997). Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. These measures, known in America as "the Intolerable Acts,"ordered the closing of the port of Boston, the quartering oftroops on its citizens, and the shipment of capital offenders toEngland for trial. It wasonly after it became apparent that the Crown would not permit any looseningof its grip on the colonies (and the wealth and resources of the colonials)that a radicalizing influence began to shape the ideas of men such asJefferson, Lee and John Adams. Once this fear was diminished andthe French power in North America began to collapse in 1759, the attentionof the colonists turned to their domestic interests (Johnson, 1997). The New Englanders were the driving force behind thisdecision, which led to the appointment of George Washington as commander-in-chief. It then took little effort forthe passions of otherwise relatively conservative individuals to becomeinflamed. Thus, theRevolution was not, as in the case of so many contemporary revolutionaryefforts, an initially radical revolution designed to overthrow a governmentsimply on the basis of ideology. Van Loon (1959) takes theposition that it was England's failure to respond in any adequate manner tothe legitimate demands of the colonies for inclusion in the politicaldecision-making process that necessitated the revolutionary ideologicaltransformation that took place in the colonies. T. Norton.Johnson, P. (1997). Men such as Thomas Jefferson,Benjamin Franklin, Josiah Quincy, and Thomas Paine were not in any senseordinary men. It was this encounter which effectively "began" theAmerican Revolution. M. Additionally, fear ofFrance had been among the many factors binding the American colonies toBritain in the mid-eighteenth century. This setof activities ranged from petitions to pamphlets to crowd activity (Foner,1998; Johnson, 1997). (1998). Wood (1969) whobelieves that unlike many prototypical "revolutions," the AmericanRevolution was not an effort to subvert law and established order, butrather to achieve the capacity to participate in law and order as fullpartners. After the success of the Revolution, in its struggle to create aviable national government, the new Americans had to grapple with many ofthese same problems. Though it did not begin as a radical ideologicalor political effort, the American Revolution became such an effort largelybecause of the refusal of the British to respond in an affirmative mannerto the logical demands of the colonists. As of 1763, however, the colonists were not actively plottingrevolution. Paul Johnson (1997) suggests that exacerbating the tensions thatexisted in the early eighteenth century was a new spiritual awakening - theGreat Awakening - that culminated in the mid-174 s with a spiritualoutpouring that had profound political implications for the nation. These events and actions created "an emerging pattern of resistance"as colonial animosities began to intensify in the form of extra-legalactivities such as crowd intimidationand violence, economic boycott, and outright defiance ofimperial law. Anglo-American political culture contained thenotion of freedom and it was the denial of freedom that precipitated theRevolution (Foner, 1998). It is the purpose of this essay to offer an answer to the question of"how revolutionary was the American Revolution. (1987). British responsewas to impose a more stringent oversight on the colonies in the form ofGeneral Gage as Governor of Massachusetts. Quoting John Adams, Johnson (1997, p. It helped to creategeographical unity while changing men's attitudes. (1959). The virtues of liberalism: Christianity, republicanism and ethics in early American political discourse. They were ultimately visionary in their belief thatindividual rights should assume primacy in any society created by man. Thisreligious revival crossed all sectarian boundaries and transformed a numberof European-style churches into American ones. Questionsof what constituted fair representation, what the powers of a centralizedgovernment should be, and how the franchise was to be extended had played apart in revolutionizing many colonials, including Sam Adams and the otherradicals. This was not to be, despite the fact that centuries of Britishcommon law and tradition called for participation (Wood, 1969). The Americans were not an oppressed people with myriad shacklesto throw off. The battle of Bunker Hill on June 16, 1775 had beenfought and the Americans had taken heavy casualties (Miller, 1959). The Revolution was inthe mind and hearts of the people: and change in their religious sentimentsof their duties and obligations." From this perspective, the revolutionwas a marriage between the rationalism achieved by American elites who hadencountered the philosophy of the Enlightenment with the spirit of theGreat Awakening among the masses. Adams,along with Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, created a networkof local "committees of correspondence" to keep alive the ideaof rebellion (Miller, 1959). Bernard Bailyn (1967)argued that many of the colonists firmly believed that the principles ofthe Enlightenment and the age of Reason mandated greater participation inself-governance; had such opportunities been forthcoming, and had Britishreaction to colonial demands for greater autonomy been less severe, theRevolution may well not have occurred when and how it did. 3),"bequeathed to future generations an enduring yet contradictory legacy.Its vision of the new nation as an asylum for freedom in a world overrun byoppression resonates in the political culture today." The notion of"liberty" did not simply enter the American colonial vocabulary in 1776;the term and all that it meant was part of the Enlightenment ideologicaland the British common law. (1969). Boston tea merchants joined forces with the Boston mob andtogether dumped the Company's tea into the harbor (Miller, 1959). New York: Harper Collins.Kloppenberg, J. However, says Wood (1969), the refusal of the Crown and ofParliament to pay heed to the reasonable demands of the colonials created asituation in which revolution may have been necessary. Itwas Jefferson's linking of popular sovereignty with liberty that gave theAmerican colonists a strong, clear, and plausible conceptual basis fortheir actions against the British Crown (Johnson, 1997). Foner (1998) stated that the colonials did not set out to transformthe rights of Englishmen into the rights of man. Securing the Revolution. New York:Wood, G. When General Gage sent a trooptoconfiscate arms secreted by the Massachusetts Assembly atConcord, the Minutemen, led by Paul Revere, responded withthe "shot round the world" (Miller, 1959). (1967). S. (1972). The Story of American Freedom. Thoughmen of property throughout the colonies were at first appalled by theviolence, the passage of the Coercive Acts by Lord North's Parliament in1774 led to widespread resentment against the Crown. Similar comments have been advanced by Gordon S. Though the Congress planned to convene ayear later, events brought it back into session sooner. In the early 177 s, colonial America was gripped by varioustensions linked to increasing animosity between the colony andthe Crown. The Story of America. K., & and Roberts, R. New York: Collier.Van Loon, H. They were rather in search of expanded decision-making powersin the context of Empire, and were in the pursuit of that ambition willingto engage in such non-violent actions of rebellion as economic boycott ofproducts with tax or stamp duties. What emerges from this discussion is the realization thatwhat began as legitimate and even lawful efforts on the part of thecolonists to secure for themselves the same liberties and rights that wereautomatically guaranteed in Great Britain was transformed into a trulyrevolutionary movement. 116) stated that "theRevolution was effected before the War commenced. This report has considered the question of how radical the AmericanRevolution was. By that time, Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys had taken FortTiconderoga on the Vermont frontier from the British and Benedict Arnoldhad begun to prepare for a futile attack on Quebec to make Canada thefourteenth colony. Journal of American History, 74, 9-29.Martin, J. It was enhanced by the determination of a small handful ofmen like Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson to secure independence(Kloppenberg, 1987). Looking back to the period before the Revolution, Richard Buel (1972)suggested that many of the crises that would later trouble the new Republicwere the artifacts of unresolved issues from the earlier period. Bailyn (1967) suggests that there were, all throughout the yearsleading to the Declaration of Independence and the subsequent war withgreat Britain, many in the colonies who were truly radical andrevolutionary in their thinking. The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.