American Revolution and Early British Colonies - Essay Example

American Revolution and Early British ColoniesPart-AAmerican Revolution is considered as one of the most important events in the history of world as with it begun a new era of prosperity and opportunity. Much before the physical struggle for revolution begun, it had already started as many intellectuals and leaders of that era started to contribute through their writings.The ideological movement for America and what is called American enlightenment rests on the writings of John Locke. Chief among them were the ideas of liberty, religious tolerance, democracy and republicanism.

(John Adams and Wood). There were three most important Patriots whose writings greatly influenced and shaped the way United States is currently formulated. Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson as well as Alex Hamilton who were great advocates of the republicanism and advocated the formation of a united country based on different British Colonies. Patriots were the people who actually declared independence of thirteen British Colonies to form what is now called United States of America.The writings of Samuel Adams specially his circular letter resulted into the famous Boston Massacre.

His writings are considered as one of the key efforts towards the development of an environment which led to the revolution.Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is also considered as one of the most important contribution towards the events leading to the revolution. In this book, Paine extensively advocated the separation of America from United Kingdom. His series of writings with the name of The American Crisis is also considered as important contribution towards the actual revolution which however, materialized after some period of time.

Part-BThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was owned by the Massachusetts Bay Company and covered most of the areas which are now part of the New England. In Virginia, the first colony established was the Jamestown near Chesapeake Bay and it was financed by the London Virginia Company. Plymouth Colony was established by the people who escaped the religious wrath of the English Authorities whereas Cape Ann was also established as a fishing village in the region. (Taylor)The similarities between these colonies suggest that they were established for the purpose of achieving economic good.

The colonies around Chesapeake Bay specially were formulated to find out the gold as well as the tobacco. The colonies around Massachusetts Bay were also formed to achieve specific economic objectives for the companies which actually financed the exploration and settlement of these colonies.The early years of both these colonies were tough in the sense that the overall death ratio was higher due to diseases, hunger and starvation as well as wars with the local Americans. However, subsequently as these colonies started to spread, more and more people came in to live and adapt a new way of living in these colonies.

The colonies near Chesapeake Bay however, were different in the sense that they were more diverse in terms of economic as well as religious views of the settlers. The colonies in this area shared the power with the royal governor where county courts also played critical role in governing. The colonies in Massachusetts area were however, directly governed and ruled by the company men from England through a Royal Charter.BibliographyJohn Adams and Gordon Wood. John Adams:Revolutionary Writings, 1775-1783.

Washington: Library of America, 2011.Taylor, Alan. American colonies. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.