Prelude to American Revolution

The social, political, and economic consequences of the Revolutionary War and the early American Republic have served as a blueprint for global freedom enabling subsequent generations and the nations to secure the blessings of liberty. With the culmination of the French and Indian War, British and American ethos clashed causing the American colonists to create a new nation founded on the principles of self-government and human liberty. The following paragraphs will detail a succinct history of the events that shaped this watershed historical and political movement. The year is 1754.

After years of feeling envious of the Spanish spreading culture around the globe, the British decided to follow in their footsteps, hoping for the same successful results. They set their sights on the New World that promises, “Land as far as the eye can see” and religious freedom. So they set sail to travel to the Promised Land, only to soon find themselves in a major conflict. It’s not before long that the British are in battle with the current French habitants. Both sides try to receive as much help as possible, by befriending local Native American tribes. This war is now famously known as The French and Indian War.

This brutal, exhausting war lasts seven years. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris is signed to finally end the warfare. Taking note of this, the British Parliament issues the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade any British colonists to settle past the Appalachian Mountains. The tired, beaten-up, colonists were outraged. Some refused to comply and moved out west anyways. This is significant because this is the first sign of rebellious acts that the colonists made leading up to the American Revolution. The damage from the French and Indian War was far more devastating than people realized.

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Britain was severely in debt and stripped of resources. As a result, a few taxes were placed on the colonies. The most important being The Stamp Act of 1765. The idea was for the British to place a tax on all documents produced in the British colonies. This was the main form of communication, so having to pay even more for something they used very often frustrated the colonists to an even greater extent. Many colonists thought it was against their rights to be taxed without their consent. The phrase, “taxation without representation” became more and more popular within the general public.

Some colonists even formed rebellious groups and protested the British Parliament’s taxes. On March 5, 1770, a group of protesters were on King Street in Boston, Massachusetts. They began verbally abusing and harassing eight soldiers stationed in front of a building. Without order, the soldiers fired into the crowd, instantly killing three people and wounding others. This major event is known as the Boston Massacre. After several similar events, significant figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, and many others, signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776.

This document stated that America is declaring its independence against the British Government. The thirteen colonies considered themselves “independent”, not knowing the major actions that Britain was going to commence. The American Revolution had officially begun. A disgruntled colonist named Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet criticizing not only the British, but the colonists also. He thought that no one was actually taking actions in preparations for the war against Britain. He constantly used biblical references to try and influence people to take action.

This pamphlet, titled “Common Sense” is famously known as being the most popular pamphlet in the revolutionary era. In the midst of the Revolutionary War, the young country of America thought they needed some type of constitution; therefore, The Articles of Confederation were established. The A of C loosely linked the 13 states mainly to deal with foreign affairs. It didn’t create an executive branch. Each state had a single vote and 9 of the 13 states had to vote for a bill before it passed. The main problem with this was that Rhode Island had the same amount of power as Virginia, which had three times Rhode Island’s population.

Also, The A of C did not provide the government power to tax, raise an army or navy, and regulate commerce for national interests. States, however, could enforce taxes. Frustration continued throughout the American states for years. A farmer named Daniel Shay, led a small army and tried to revolt against the government. Shay’s Rebellion was stopped, but exposed several major problems. First, there was not standing army to stop a rebellion. Second, many people, including Thomas Jefferson, agreed with Shay. Jefferson stated, “The tree of liberty has to be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants from time to time.

It is as natural as manure. ” And thirdly, the A of C were not working AT ALL. In 1787, a quorum of 55 emissaries from 12 states gathered in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson called this a “Convention of Demigods”, but it was formally known as the Constitutional Convention. They issued many major compromises. One being the CT Plan/Great compromise. This set a standard to how many representatives in each state could be in Senate (equal) and the House of Representatives (based on population). Another compromise they established was the 3/5 compromise.

This stated that slaves were to be counted as 3/5 of person. This greatly impacted when bills or policies were in the voting stages. Lastly, The Electoral College was created. The idea of this was to be used for future presidential elections. They were to use the number of congressional electors from each state to determine the president based on the state’s power. For example, California would have more Electoral College votes than Oklahoma because it has a higher population. Realizing that the A of C has led to be a string of failures, George Washington appointed James Madison to construct the U.

S. Constitution. Many Anti-Federalists sharply criticized the Constitution because it did not recognize many civil rights. The first 10 amendments of the Constitution, commonly known as the Bill of Rights, is a necessity to the most precious of our rights. It prohibits too much intrusion by the government. In other words, it greatly limits the government’s power. As the country became more and more in debt, Alexander Hamilton argued that Assumption was the right way to go because the debts were caused by the shared goal of Independence.

In addition, it put the states under more power by the federal government. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison met with Alexander Hamilton for dinner in Philadelphia one greatly historic weekend. They made a deal: Jefferson would support Assumption and Hamilton would support moving the Nation’s capital to the Chesapeake area. This is why the capital is in the South and called Washington D. C. Once George Washington left office, John Adams took his place as President. Adams was not going to take any negativity for the way he ran things.

So the Adams’ Administration established the Alien and Sedition Act which enforced arrest on any people who criticized the government. Thomas despised the way Adams took things during his presidency. So Jefferson runs against him and sabotages Adams’ presidency and wins the Election of 1800, aka The Revolution of 1800. Immediately, Jefferson with the help of James Madison tried to thwart the federal government’s power. In conclusion, Early America, despite all the rebellious acts and criticism, served as a blueprint for global freedom enabling subsequent generations and nations to secure the blessings of liberty.

Thanks to many great leaders such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and many more, there is a standard set in the country that the Government must abide by. The impact of events such as the American Revolution, Boston Massacre, Constitutional Convention, etc. , the country has grown stronger and more knowledgeable about foreign affairs and globalization. Although America is still considered to be a young country, the history within this great nation is one of the richest in the world.

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