The American Revolution - Essay Example

? The quartering of British soldiers during the American Revolution The American Revolution occupies great importance in history of human civilization. It paved the way for the first really democratic government that was based upon freedom of its people. The revolution was of such importance and magnitude that it influenced the French Revolution to uproot the French monarchy and even in later years kept on influencing thinkers who were strongly devoted to the ideas of freedom and fraternity. The American Revolution was the triumph of great American thinkers, political leaders and American people over the British tyrannical rule of colonialism on their mother land. Though, according to critics the revolution in its nascent stages was mainly initiated by the American thinkers and intellectuals, mostly bereft of the support of the common people (some even claims that 70% of the population favored British rule on American land and only 30% of the population was in favor of the American Patriots). However as time passed by the revolution felt strong wind in its favor and that no doubt came from the common mass, without whom no revolution at any part of the world can experience a long lasting success. The erratic rules that were frequently imposed on the Americans by the British government, led by King George the third; combined with high level of taxes that were totally biased towards the Americans, initiated a slow burning furnace of hatred amidst the heart of many Americans. As referred by Ward “The quartering of troops on private property was one of the objectionable measures that contributed to the coming of the American Revolution.”1 The quartering act acted as a positive catalyst to hasten the outburst of the hatred of the American people that finally transformed into The Great American Revolution. The East Coast of America was the first to fall prey to the British Colonialism. In 1700s the mentioned place was colonized by the British and the period might well be marked as the initiation of an oppressive rule that was often erratic and clueless while governing those people whom it had colonized. The need of formation, implementation and monitoring of the law was indeed needed but with much more rationality that the British Government had shown. To maintain the domination on a foreign land and to look after the basic securities so that it should not fall in hand of the enemies; maintaining of troops is needed on that land. Maintaining a large troop will definitely seek the three basic needs of any human being, namely food cloth and shelter and all these involves a cost that has to be maintained from the government revenue. To solve this problem and to find a single solution to this double trouble the quartering act was thought of and implemented by the British Government. In brief the act required the people living in American Land to provide barracks, bedding, utensils, certain specific staple provisions as well as a daily quota of cider and beer to the British troops implemented on American soil and all that at free of cost. Such an act must come with a prelude that acts as a veil on the eye of the commons and the Britons were masters in such act. During the French and the Indian war posting British troops in American land was indeed needed. Again it was obvious while those soldiers were looking after the safety of the colonists they should also provide shelter and food from their own account. This was a war time emergency and many Americans realized that. There was almost no resistance while quartering for British troops on American soil was passed for the first time during the Indian and French war. But it was expected as soon as these wars would be over the temporary law would also be abandoned. In sheer contrast the coming time witnessed the legalization of Quartering law for the first time in 17652. Again, quartering stressed the already tiring financial status of the colonial legislatures under further financial burden3. However, the initial quartering act that was enacted in the month of March of the year 1765 at the request of General Thomas Gage who predominantly considered the lack of barracks for British troops that he felt with bitter experience during the Seven Years’ war soon was amended and inevitably that went against the interest of the Americans. The initial quartering act made way for the provision of barracks to the British troops posted on American soil. However the amendment that came in 1766 regarding quartering act paved the way for more exploitation. The amendment gave access to the British soldiers of inns, alehouses and unoccupied private houses. A careful note should be taken that here previously under the quartering act of 1765 barracking implied seclusion and the amendment that followed in 1766 resulted in sharing own home and rooms with British troops much to the dislike of the American people. The changed act increased interaction among two sets of people who by no means can be termed as friendly with each other and owing to this if anything the amendment of quartering act in 1766 blessed the land with was increased level of conflict among the British troops and American people. Here the disgust of the New York assembly over this amendment is worth mentioning. The anger of the eminent members of the assembly came out in January, 1766 through the words “they carried a disproportionate burden under the Quartering Act”4. Though the members had no other options left but to partially surrender to the will of the act and agreed to supply some of the provisions mentioned in the amended act. The problem was not only restricted to sharing the settlements but also inducted towards the job market. In those days jobs were scarce in America as mentioned by Zinn “when jobs were scarce”5 and the British troops living in America also put their hand to it. These acts never went unnoticed of the eminent American assemblymen of New York and in the ending month of the year 1766, they turned down any possibility to allot provisions to British troops. However, in less than a year these rules which were issued by the New York assembly were declared as null and void by the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom (the Board of Trade was a committee of the Privy Council). They had also declared that this will remain so until all the colonies comply with the Quartering act. For the time being the colonies were bereft of any choice but to follow the orders of the British government. However, this certainly had initiated a drift between the British government and the American assembly that were that time fragmented among different colonies. The reaction to Quartering act by different colonies followed different paths. Pennsylvania agreed to the asked provisions, South Carolina provided everything except salt and beer, New Jersey agreed to quartering, Massachusetts provided what being asked though after initial disagreement. Owing to the stringent opposition from the Boston radicals no more supplies to the British troops had been determined and most of the New England following this footstep declined to be abided by this law6. This drift owing to the disagreement between Quartering act has been illustrated as “ill-feeling remained on both sides”7. This growing friction has been illustrated by Howard Zinn as “after 1768, two thousand soldiers were quartered in Boston, and friction grew between the crowds and the soldiers”8. Within a span of two years on 5th of March, 1770 the dormant aggravation of American civilians broke off on the British troops when a group of American civilians threw snowballs towards the British troops who were stationed at Boston and that spread agitation among them. It immediately resulted in retaliatory action from the British soldiers and a fight broke free among the American Civilians and the British soldiers. This eventually claimed five American lives and known as Boston massacre. The Boston Massacre might be considered as the first blow of Quartering Acts and was the mark of the growing agitation between the British troops and the American people. The Boston Massacre might be termed as the first step towards the great revolution that followed afterwards. The colonists after the massacre started to disobey the British rule at a higher degree and level; this eventually created a feeling of insecurity to the British government that they might loss control of their cherished American colonies and there by a big chunk of their resource as well as revenue base would be lost forever into the womb of time. Courting this situation, the British government felt the need for an immediate amendment of the existing Quartering law and to that goal a New Quartering Act had passed on 2nd June, 1774. The new law or the amendment of the existing law was claimed as the part of the Coercive Acts that eventually bored deep into the existing Quartering act and extended its legislative rights and privileges. Following the new law apart from provisioning British troops in commercial, unoccupied or abandoned buildings as mentioned in the previous Quartering law, the British troops were now also eligible for private houses. Abuse of private property can be traced in the worst manner during the British occupancy of Philadelphia. Big hole was cut through the floor of the parlor and was used as an outlet for the excretions of the soldiers living there. The British troop when came to Philadelphia; thrown the poor out of the almshouse and stationed there with their belongings9. The physical and psychological effect that the American colonists experienced while sharing their household with the British troops is well documented in literature. This specific feature reflects through the writings of Peggy Noonan who has illustrated that how the American people might had felt sharing their households with their arch enemy the British soldiers who were the protector of the monarchy that they were dying to throw away of their land “These were strangers in the house. The colonists did not appreciate having agents of the very government they wished to throw off reading in the parlor and eating at their table. And the troops stationed in civilian houses were soldiers—sometimes coarse, often uneducated, occasionally unruly, sometimes alcoholic. There were complaints of violence and ill treatment.”10 Furthermore the colonists were neither equipped with the resources both in terms of place and food that can support a troop of soldiers besides supporting their family. Again the British troops were nothing short of a social menace; not only they vandalized public and private properties of America and destroyed more than they can take, beside the most heinous act they were subject to was raping of American woman at an unprecedented rate. This gets illustrated through the words of Frank “In one day in the New Jersey county of Hunterdon, six different women delivered depositions charging rape by British soldiers; the youngest girl was only thirteen years old”11 The evils of Quartering act bestowed the American land with these catastrophes and that was when the anger of the colonists started to take revolutionary turns and gathered immense force and determination to overthrow this disgraceful coexistence with the British army and there by the colonial British power. The 4th July 1776 Declaration of Independence was signed announcing that colonies will no longer be a part of the so called British Empire. The disgust that colonies had nurtured deep into their heart against the Quartering act reflects through the words in the Declaration of Independence “for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us”12. To abolish any future possibilities against its nationals a culmination of thoughtful words made its way into the Third Amendment of the Bill of Rights “no Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war.”13 References Frank, A. American Revolution. Goleta, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008 Garraty, J.A. & E. Foner. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991 Noonan, Peggy. “Expect the Unexpected”, 2008. http://peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=85 (accessed on May 10, 2011) The Declaration of Independence, In Congress, July 4, 1776. US History, http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/ (accessed on May 10, 2011) The Charters of Freedom, “Bill of Rights”, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html (accessed on May 10, 2011) Shelton, H.T. General Richard Montgomery and the American Revolution, New York, NY: NYU Press, 1996. Volo, D.D. & J.M. Volo. Daily life during the American Revolution. New Jersey, NJ: Greenwood Publishing group, 2003. Ward, H.M. “Going Down The Hill”: legacies of the American Revolutionary War. New York, NY: Academica Press, 2009 Zinn, H. A People’s History of the United States. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005. Read More