American History - Case Study Example

American History The United s Declaration of Independence was passed on July 4, 1776, which separated the thirteen American colonies from the British Empire. This declaration was a result of a number of events and ideas that led to the independence of the United States of America. The differences between the British population and the Americans were present for a long time but it was not until 1763 that these differences started coming to the surface. After the French military was defeated in the Indian War which lasted for nine years from 1754 to 1763, thirteen colonies had emerged in North America, each having its own government (The American Revolution). These colonies were a separate entity and did not hesitate to engage in battles with the British but they were not allowed to do so by the British Army. However, these incidents gave an idea to the British what these colonies were capable of doing and so the British Empire decided to negotiate with these 13 colonies (The British Empire). The British government drew the Proclamation Line stretching along the Appalachian Mountains to assure these colonies that their land will not be taken by the British government (The British Empire). This unfortunately did not work out as planned by the British Empire. The British population could not settle with this and did not comply with the Proclamation Line. According to the British population, they had defeated the French and Indians in the Indian war and so they wanted to take advantage of their victory by being able to use their land. For this very reason the British population ignored the negotiation made between the thirteen colonies and the British government and did not hesitate to take the land allotted to the Indians. This was a matter of great confusion for the British government because it had to choose between the lives of violators of Proclamation Line and their treaty obligations with Indians (The British Empire). To cope with this difficult situation, the British government decided to increase the number of troops guarding the Proclamation Line which required an increase in the budget of the British Army. As a result, the British government introduced stamp duty in all the thirteen colonies along with some other additional taxes which infuriated these colonies as they were already paying for their defense through the Navigation Acts (Murrin, et al). All the colonies were speaking in one voice over this new tax against the British government causing the government to withdraw this act. Further measure were taken by the government to introduce indirect taxes in the thirteen colonies but their severe opposition forced the government to withdraw these new taxes as well (The British Empire). These administrative acts of the British government encouraged rebels in the thirteen English colonies in America and the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms was issues in 1775 by the Congress (Library of Congress). In response to this declaration, King George III introduced the Proclamation of Rebellion by the Americans in 1775, which officially declared all Americans as rebels who were not to be given any help by the loyal citizens (MacDonalds). The thirteen colonies soon came to believe that the British Empire was no capable of taking care of their rights and the Declaration of Independence was passed by the Congress in 1776, which was mainly drafted by Benjamin Franklin. The declaration was influenced by a number of ideological, economic, and other factors. The factors mentioned in the declaration reveal the differences between the English colonies and the British Empire. It is obvious from the declaration that the colonies were not happy with King George III and the British government. The declaration gives the following account of the British government: “when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce [mankind]” (US History). The declaration states that the King refused to accept laws that were good for the English colonies, refused laws accommodating large districts of people, “dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasion on the rights of the people”, prevented colonies from establishing Judiciary powers, isolated these colonies from the world and prevented them from trading, imposed taxes without their consent, and waged war against the English colonies (US History). These are only some of the offences the British government had committed against the colonies. The citizens of the thirteen colonies were deprived of their basic rights and sent overseas for trial of crimes that they had not committed. The colonies were becoming increasingly unhappy with the tyrannical culture of the British Empire and decided to separate themselves from the British government all together. Even though Americans and Britons had their cultural differences, the Declaration of Independence would not have been issues if the King hadn’t issues declarations such as, the Navigation Acts, Sugar Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act, and finally the Stamp Act. It was these forced acts that infuriated the colonies and forced them to become an independent state. 2. The main reason why American Revolution took place was that the thirteen colonies did not like the tyrannical nature of the British Empire. Americans decided to get separated from the British government because they wanted democracy to prevail in their region and wished that all laws and rules be made with the consent of the majority of the population. Democracy and equality were the two main ideals of the American Revolution. Religion too played a part in it as the Americans did not want any King as their ruler but democracy and believed in God not King (Murrin, Johnson and McPherson). The following statement in the declaration of Independence is perhaps the most popular statement in the American history and also holds the ideology of the American Revolution: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (US History). Thus, the main goal of the American Revolution was to achieve liberty – establish a nation where democracy would rule. The revolutionaries of that time wanted freedom and independence more than anything else. However, the ideology had to go through many changes during the fight of independence. There were many tensions between the goals of the American Revolution and the founding of the Republic. When the war was waged by King George III against the American Revolutionaries, English Colonies had to form the Continental Army which meant sacrificing the freedom and liberty of their citizens (The American Revolution). The Americans were well aware of the fact that formation of an Army was against the freedom and liberty for which they were struggling but also knew that an army was necessary to achieve these ends. The continental army however, was different from the regular militia of that time. George Washington was given the command of the continental army and he made sure that the soldiers were given their fundamental rights (American Revolution). Soon after the Revolution, America was founded, and one of the biggest problems it faced was the formation of the government. The party system was looked down upon by the American ideology because the same system was followed in the British government and it was believed that the party system would give way to corruption. It was this very system which was later adopted by the nation and ended up being the system of choice. This happened because the revolutionaries realized that it was not possible to avoid the party system since it gave way to democracy, but they thought it to be possible to control its negative effects and so it was decided that the nation would have only two parties and no more. James Madison, the leader of the Nationalists Party, played an important role in the formation of the constitution along with Alexander Hamilton and Patrick Henry (The American Revolution). However, it will be wrong to say that the ideals of the American Revolution were abandoned in the new nation because even though some steps were taken against the ideology of the American Revolution, it was only done to make sure that the objective of freedom and liberty were achieved. It took a while for the revolutionaries to establish the government, but overall democracy was achieved in America. There is much difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America. The first difference that can be noted between the two is that of tone. One gets the idea from the declaration of Independence that the British government had abused its powers and taken away the freedom of colonists. It is evident from the Declaration that the colonists wanted independence from the tyrannical British rulers and wanted to be free, where as the constitution lacks the passion for democracy and appears to be a document crafted to give as much power to the new government of the United States as possible (Rice). Another noted difference between the two documents is that the signers of both the documents are different (Rice). Both the document don’t have a single common signer which means that the constitution was established by people who had played no part in drafting the ideology of the American Revolution. However, the original ideology was preserved in the constitution in the form of “Bill of Rights” (Rice). The Declaration of Independence is one of the most important documents in the History of the United States which made it possible for the thirteen colonies to become an independent state. Even though there are a number of differences between the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, the purpose of both the documents is to protect the citizens and provide them freedom and liberty. The constitution brought together the republicans and federalists and played a great role in bridging the differences present within the colonies. Works Cited American Revolution. "George Washington takes command of the Continental Army." 2010. The coming of the American Revolution. 17 September 2010 . Library of Congress. "Continental Congress, Declaration of Causes and Necessity for Taking Up Arms, July 6, 1775." 2010. The American Revolution, 1763-1783. 17 September 2010 . MacDonalds, William. Documentary Source Book of American History. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1908. Murrin, John M., et al. Liberty, Equality, Power, A History of the American People: To 1877. New Jersey: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009. Murrin, John M., Paul E. Johnson and James M. McPherson. Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People, Concise Edition. New York: Thomson Wadsworth, 2009. Rice, Brian. "Declaration of Independence vs. the Constitution of the United States of America." 22 February 2006. Associated Contents. 17 September 2010 . The American Revolution. "The Colonies in 1763." 2010. The American Revolution. 17 September 2010 . The British Empire. "The 13 Colonies." 2010. The British Empire. 17 September 2010 . US History. "The Declaration of Independence." 2010. US History. 17 September 2010 . Read More