Leaders in the making of Americas Revolution and Goverment - Essay Example

One of the main causes that initiated the revolutionary war was the geographic distance that separated the colonies from Great Britain (Countryman 5). Many colonists migrated from Great Britain to gain independence and to seek their own personal freedoms that the King George III clearly neglected (Countryman 10). The desire to colonize the new world generally meant more liberation and strong urgency of independence. Another root cause the American Revolutionary War was the colonial legislatures that were enacted by the King (Countryman 13).

The enactment of these laws meant that that the colonies continued to be pass laws and pay taxes to atone the sins of the Great Britain. Tom Paine’s in his literary work the “common sense” described King George as a “royal brute.” King George III can be considered an “unfit leader” in many aspects. First and foremost is the fact that he used the colonist’s tax money to fund his poor decisions as a King but also to pay for his son’s misfortunes. In essence, he utilized the tax money to fund another of his son’s illegal marriage (Brooks 45).

Furthermore, he continued to useless acts such as the sugar and stamp act to fund his useless ventures. George III is often accused of consistently trying to keep Great Britain at war with America, despite the opinion of his cabinet. According to his perspective, the King wanted to "keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse"(“Boston Tea Party Facts”). King George III clearly had a safety net to protect himself when he was in trouble.

In order to fund his financial burdens, the King would impose illogical taxes to the colonists. The colonists saw this as an oppression towards their liberty as their hard work was subjected to pointless tariffs (Brooks 26). Clearly, King George III was not as noble as he seemed. He refuted to abolish slavery in the colonies and imposed his personal will at every given point (Brooks 22). The King dissolved many of the legislations that the colonies demanded. Undoubtedly, he would not allow new legislations to be enacted, which created an unsecure atmosphere with an unstable government that the colonists could not afford to possess.

Lastly, the root cause of American Revolutionary was due to the salutary neglect that the colonists had to face. Salutary Neglect was an accumulation of different policies that the Great Britain implemented during the eighteenth century, which comprised of a relaxed and indifferent enforcement of the Navigation Acts in the colonies (Murray 15). Although the British had a strict policy in mercantilism, the British Prime Minister had no problem enforcing salutary neglect (Murray 15). From the King’s perspective, salutary neglect deemed necessary in order to mitigate the risk of a revolution and maintaining his power in the throne (Murray 20).

In addition, enforcing salutary neglect would no doubt diminish any chance of stimulating the economy of the colonies. As an effect of flaring tensions between the colonies and the new tariffs that were levied by the highness himself, many American leaders began to adopt Liberal and Republican ideals (Murray 55). John Locke, the famous historian, was a key figure who influenced the American leaders to adopt to the “