US History project 1A - Essay Example

? US History Project 1A By of [Word Count] Introduction The American Revolution did not just happen; instead, a series of events preceded the American Revolution and independence. For instance, with the French Indian War coming to and end, King George III of England had to restrict the colonists from moving west to prevent further conflicts with Native Americans. However, to pay for the costs of the French Indian War, the British parliament had to seek tax from elsewhere. Obviously, the British Parliament had to tax the American subjects through Acts such as the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act, the Townsend Act and the Tea Tax (Mackesy & Shy, 1993). This over taxation led to the "Taxation without Representation” uproar. Additionally, other events such as the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party escalated the conflicts between England and the American colonies into a revolution. Consequent to the many events that led to the American Revolution, England and the colonists had different views of the American Revolution and call for independence. While some believed that the American Revolution was justified, others’ opinions opposed the revolution. This paper explores the events that led to the start of the American Revolution and the colonist and the English views of the revolution. Events Preceding the American Revolution In the years preceding the American Revolution, certain events, which culminated in the revolution and the independence of the American colonists, occurred. For instance, in 1754 a plan was drawn by representatives from Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire at a meeting in Albany, New York against the prospect of war between the French and Britain. Although the individual Colonial legislatures rejected the common defense plan drawn by Benjamin Franklin, the members of the Albany Congress approved the document. Though it failed, the plan was among the first major attempts by the colonists towards the formation of a union and the basis for the fight for independence. The other event that preceded the American Revolution was the ascension to the throne of the twenty-two year old Prince of Wales to become King George III after the death of King George II. In addition to the Acts mentioned earlier, the Parliament passed the Currency Act, which prohibited the American colonies from printing paper money. In 1965 came the enforcement of the Quartering Act at the request of the commander-in-chief of all British military forces in the colonies General Thomas Gage. This act required colonists to provide shelter and food for British soldiers and their horses. In the same year, a colonist group referred to as the "Sons of Liberty" rapidly grew throughout the colonies and became violent to stamp agents and supporters of the Stamp Act. In august of the same year, a mob burned the home belonging to Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Thomas Hutchinson, followed by serious rioting in New York. Closer to the independence and bowing to pressures caused by the unrests in among the colonists and pleas from British merchants that were hurt by the colonies' boycott of British goods, the British Parliament repealed most of the acts in 1770. However, others such taxes, such as the tax on tea was retained. December 1770 was marked by the ending of the trials of Captain Thomas Preston and eight other soldiers charged with murder in the "Boston Massacre". The English point of view Generally, in the 1763-1783 periods, the British had constantly varied and fluctuating views of the American Revolution. That is, there was never a massive conviction among various segments of the British population, Tories, Whigs, or radical eighteenth-century Commonwealth-men on the American Revolution and independence (Mackesy & Shy, 1993). In fact, only a few British greatly perceived the political principles and issues central to the British and colonist conflicts. Furthermore, even in situations where such men had a common stance on the basic political theories and had similar conceptions of the Empire, it was common for them to differ in practical opinions towards the colonists’ call for independence. The vastly divergent views of the British towards the American Revolution and independence are thus mere reflections of the normal human differences regarding matters of complex social, political, religious and economic nature and dimensions (Mackesy & Shy, 1993). However, the two main representative British responses to the American Revolution and independence were the principles of government and sovereignty. These principal differences were evident in the practical politics taxation, revenue, regulation, freedom, representation, and subordination conflicts. On November 23, 1765, Francis Bernard, the royal governor of Massachusetts Bay between 1760 and 1769 wrote in a letter from Boston that to the British government, the colonist/American governments were regarded as mere corporations with the mandate to make by-laws (Pearson, 2000). Worse still, the colonist authorities existed only at the pleasure of the British Parliament. The Colonial Point of View Debates have continued to rage even in contemporary society whether the colonists were justified in declaring independence from England. While England had its own reasons to oppose the declaration of independence by the colonists, the colonists were justified to a large extent by their call for independence. The first reason was the unfair taxation by the British without representation in Parliament. In addition, the British colonial powers took away the colonists’ right and freedom to assemble and were using quite unconventional tactics to intimidate the colonists (Mackesy & Shy, 1993). Although the British government felt justified in taxing the colonists after going to war to defend them, the colonists did not have a say on how the debt would be paid. The other justification of the declaration of independence from England was the passing of the Townshend Acts by the British Parliament to offset the French Indian War. The colonists thus boycotted the purchase of luxury items, propelling England to pass the Tea Act, which targeted imported tea and gave the British East Indian Tea Company monopoly in the industry, cutting the middleman out of the industry (Pearson, 2000). This move put the American merchants nearly out of business. To try and stop the colonies’ rebellion and agitation for independence, the British government started taking away the colonists’ basic rights such as the right to free assembly. Such acts further angered the colonist. The situation became worse when an assembly was defined as a meeting of two people on the street, forcing all the colonists to meet secretly. Even though it intended to intimidate the colonists, the more England attempted to scare the people, the angrier they got and the more they called for independence (Mackesy & Shy, 1993). That is, the British’s tactics only served to push the colonists even further into rebelling against Britain. The other justification for the call of independence from England was that British soldiers in America were ordered not to but were provoked by the rioting and violence of groups formed to rebel against the British (Pearson, 2000). Consequently, violence such as the Boston Massacre broke out, propelling British soldiers to open fire and kill rioters. The fact that the soldiers were later found innocent angered the colonists. Despite the fact that the British might have had good intention in the beginning, they had so much pride that they would not agree with the demands of the colonies. Thus, had they listened, and worked with the colonist, they might have worked out their differences. Ultimately the arrogance and greed of the British cost them their colonies, a war and their dignity. Conclusion The American Revolution arose as a result of the myriad conflicts the colonists had with the British colonial powers. For instance, the colonists felt that they were being taxed heavily without any representation in the parliament. Furthermore, due to their rebellion against the England, the colonists faced brutality from the British soldiers. In fact, riots, violence and massacres such as the Boston Massacres made the situation worse for the British authorities as the rebellious nature of the colonists became worse. The fact that the British had divergent views on the American Revolution and call for independence implies that there were ill and benefits of the British colonial rule in America. Therefore, the colonists were justified in the American Revolution and their call for independence from Britain given the many grievances they had, particularly pertaining to their rights to representation and freedom of assembly and association. In fact, the divergent views by the British shows that a section of the British did not support the manner in which the colonists were treated, more so by the British King and the English Parliament. References Mackesy, P., and Shy, J. W. (1993) The war for America, 1775-1783. Bison Books. Pearson, M. (2000) Those damned rebels: the American revolution as seen through British eyes. Da Capo Press. Read More