American Revolution - Essay Example

17 May The American Revolution The American Revolution lasted from 1754 to 1781, and had initially begun as a dispute between the Britishcolonists and Americans regarding the authority and control over the northern parts of America. The 18th century thus witnessed one of the greatest political upheavals that the world has ever seen as thirteen colonies that were a part of North America, broke free from the clutches of the British strong hold and combined to form the United States of America, as seen today. From the year 1650 onwards till around 1793, the people belonging to North America, though under British control, were given the freedom to live as they liked and thus they began to experiment with different forms of government and question their identities by conducting meetings and making their own legislatures; with so much freedom, they also began to trade apart from the Navigation Act under British control, and soon contested their ability to live freely in a new world, devoid of the colonists. From the year 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War that lasted for seven years were fought between Britain and France in order to decide who would get the right to dominate over North America. At the outbreak of the war, the Albany Plan of Union was drafted by Benjamin Franklin and the British tried their best in order to gather support from the North Americans at the Albany congress but failed to do so. According to the Plan, each colony was to be represented by a Council member forming the Grand Council, who would then seek to decide the amount of taxes that should be levied for social and defense purposes. However, this was rejected by the colonists because it would lessen their authority and control over the territory. During the course of the war, the French were able to muster support from the Native Americans, thus the war being called ‘Indian’. The British however won with an end result of having captured some major cities in France, and also conquering parts of Ohio Valley and Canada. A peace treaty was signed by France and England in order to declare an end to the war and in return for Canada, France received sugar producing Caribbean islands however in Ottawa, the war leader by the name of Pontiac rebelled and resisted handing over lands and territories to the British. He assembled people to raid the British and destroy their forts and buildings as a sign of protest. Before this however, in November 1763, a group known as the Paxton Boys that consisted of half a hundred Scottish and Irish men, massacred a formidably large Indian population in Pennsylvania and blamed the state government of being lenient and biased towards the natives. This enraged them and they aimed for equality, thus displaying their wants through a series of attacks. The British were extremely powerful and counter attacked Pontiac and his tribes which led to signing of the Proclamation of 1763 which forbade any American colonist from settling on Native American territory unless he had permission to do so by the means of either purchase or treaty. All these incidents led to the end of salutary neglect and subsequently, in April of 1763, the First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer took office in London – George Grenville. In the year 1764, he enforced the Navigation Act and also passed the Sugar Act according to which sugar would then be taxable as three pennies on molasses so that the costs that were incurred by the British government during the war with France could be undertaken in the form of payment and recovered so that the benefits would ultimately go to England. The colonial Americans however were taken aback by the amount of tax on the sugar molasses and expected it to be two pence per piece at the most because of which they began to then protest in order to remain in business. Apart from this, he also enforced the Currency Act by which he stopped the circulation of paper currency; the Stamp Act as per which taxes were imposed on printed materials; and the Quartering Act by which Americans were duty bound to feed and provide shelter to British troops. The provinces were to locally pay the innkeepers and hotels for their services, however the amount would be very less compared to what they would actually have earned and all because there was not sufficient space in barracks and other such places to keep all the soldiers and troops properly. All these actions were taken in order to profit the British in one way or the other by replenishing the treasury and finances that had drained during the war years, as well as tightening the control over America in order to further regulate their actions. In September 1764, when these new duties were to be imposed upon the people, a petition was sent to King George III by the Massachusetts House of Representatives demanding a change in the amount of tax to be levied, and the same to be done so after asking representatives of the people, directly, or those that would be affected by the change. Cities like Rhode Island, North Carolina and New York also debated over the matter of tax to be levied by arguing that those that would be affected by this heavy change were not taken into account while imposing the tax. In Virginia, at the same time, various resolutions were proposed however on account of two of them being too radical to handle they were not passed by the Parliament. The Stamp Acts were repealed because of the pressure that was imposed upon the Parliament nonetheless; it quietly passed the Declaratory Act at the same time, giving itself the right to tax the colonies at any time that it wished to. In the evening of 26th august 1765, the home of the Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor and Chief Justice Thomas Hutchinson was attacked by a mob from Boston while he was eating dinner with his family. The group broke into his home and looted and stole a large number of possessions from there however the Hutchinson family manages to escape just in time to avoid a bloody disaster. Following this incident, the Stamp Act Congress was formed and met in New York where the conflict that took place in Virginia was resolved and this paved the way for the first united coalition of the North American colonies. A new series of colonial taxes followed suit in 1767 called the Townshend Duties and would be accepted by the colonists as they were in charge of controlling trade. In Boston, things had not been faring well as a Non-Importation Agreement was issued by the merchants and traders with a condition of not importing anything that was manufactured and came from Great Britain in order to protest against the taxes, specifically the Townshend Duties that had been levied by the Parliament. In 1768, the Boston riots broke out as John Hancock’s ship was attacked by the British royal troops, for having violated laws relating to trade. This made the Parliament strict in its attitude and posted more British troops near the ports and waters in order to regulate the law; however, these stationed troops were soon hassled by Bostonians and led to the death of some troops. It soon became a massacre as more and more people began to get involved and this entire episode outraged the colonists extremely. Soon after, the American Revolution took its form as artist Paul Revere drew a scintillating image of royal troops firing at British troops in order to gather the sentiments of Americans against the British dominance that persisted and to fight back with vengeance and reason. John Adams then defended the men that were persecuted for having stirred the Boston massacre however he blames the working class rural community for having blown it out of proportion. In Chesapeake, Virginia, the financial turmoil then began to hit the locals as they understood that a recession was well on its way and thus they planned on boycotting and picketing British goods as well as take control over whatever British dominance they could find. For example, the burning of the Gaspee, the British vessel near Rhode Island was a demonstration of a protest act. Other important incidents that follow the burning were the legislation of abolition of slavery being passed as well as the dispute of salaries of court officials being discussed; all these measures were for the betterment of American society in order to free their people and not put as much pressure on their finances. In April 1773, the Parliament then passed the Tea Act which triggered annoyance in Boston first; an act trying to save the East India Company by shipping all the surplus tea to British dominated colonies to be sold at cheaper prices in order to finance the British. On December 16th that year, the famous Boston Tea Party demonstration took place as a group of Americans dressed in Native American clothing threw 342 chests of tea overboard as their response for the monopoly on the beverage. This sadly, led to the closing of the Boston Ports by the Boston Port Act then passed by the Parliament to safeguard itself from the sagging economy in America. These acts are also known as the Coercive Acts or the Intolerable Acts and this forced the Bostonians to reimburse the damages that had been suffered by the East India Company. The Quebec Act was also passed at the time enabling the expansion of French Canadian territories towards Pennsylvania and New York. The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia as an act of protest against the Intolerable Acts; the Parliament was aware that this was an action that was going to be taken as the Americans were not going to back down at all. In 1774 thus, King George III was sent yet another petition by which he was requested to repeal all the Acts that were unfair against the American masses in order to maintain a strong and friendly relation between the members of the two nations. The ban on British goods and boycott on usage of their products however still persisted and was a threat to the colonists that would pursue unless the Acts were revoked. Boston was one of the hardest hit areas as the people there were extremely prone to attacking the wrong doers and seeking justice. The Second Continental Congress subsequently was held in the year 1775 after the attacks at Lexington and Concord when British troops attacked and seized militia belonging to those territories. The very first shot that was fired has been popularized in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s famous poem ‘Concord Hymn’. The Olive and Branch Petition was signed, written by John Dickinson, at this Second Congress as an attempt to reconcile the conduct on both sides, professing the American affection and adulation for King George III however he refused to accept the same and instead issued a Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition with a view to bring any traitor to justice and not spare any American that acted in a manner against the Parliament. Both the House of Lords and the House of Commons supported the King’s decision and the American economy fell to an even lower state of deprivation without British support. Complete chaos ensued within the country as both sides began to resist each other; in Virginia the farmers took up salt riots; a proclamation freeing the slaves was declared such that the entire slave colony joined in the rebellion against the colonists; tenants refused to pay unfair amount of rent; and in 1776, Thomas Paine’s renowned pamphlets declaring the desire to achieve American Independence against the British, entitled Common Sense, was published in thousands across the country. In March 1776, the British retreat their position from Boston as George Washington was chosen command the siege that followed, and in June that very year, the drafting of the American Declaration of Independence was begun by Thomas Jefferson, later accepted by the Congress in July and signed in August. On 25th December 1776, Washington crossed Delaware under the stormy sky with a troop of soldiers as Thomas Paine kept his patriotic pen alive, motivating the countrymen about the raging war that persisted in the country between them and the British. The American army emerged victorious at Princeton and Trenton after which the Congress was more confident to reveal the signatures on the Declaration of Independence. George Washington then led his troops through Saratoga, Valley Forge, as well as areas in the South where he remained focused to defeat the British with all his might. With time, states like Massachusetts and Virginia accept and adopt the Constitution and in 1783 September, the revolutionary war comes to and with a treaty signed at Paris. England finally recognized the United States of America as a free and independent country and with all territorial boundaries taken care of, especially the area near the Great Lakes, the British ceded from New York City’s Staten Island and Long Island. That December, 1783, George Washington also left the military and resigned his commission before the Continental Congress. The American Revolution had truly revolutionized the country as well as its people and the Declaration of Independence by Jefferson is one of the most unique and strong demands presented against a tyrannical government at power, clutching onto the dominance of a country capable of thinking for itself. Works Cited "The American Revolution (1754–1781)." SparkNotes. SparkNotes. Web. 17 May 2012. . Read More