Political Endeavors in the United States 1763-1778
Introduction
In the last half of the 18th century, the American Revolution took place in the country such that thirteen colonies in North America converged to break off from their colonizer; Britain and after the war they remained joined together to form the United States of America. Although the declaration of 1763 forbidding the English from moving past the Appalachian Mountains was seen as a move by North America to reduce the colonizers occupation in the country, subsequent findings identified major flaws in the declaration as it was seen as betrayal by the Americans. This was attributed to the fact that the land which was prohibited for occupation by colonizers was reserved for the influential settlers and Brits who were awarded huge tracts of land from that area. Americans had been promised vast advantages and better lives by inception of the declaration but the government failed them as the patriotic endeavors were not realized by the unresponsive government.
Discussion
Problems associated with characterizing patriot endeavors as “revolutionary”
In 1763, Great Britain had amasses expansive property in North America where they exercised their powers in thirty five colonies which were under the royal rule. The colonizer expected the colonies to contribute a certain amount of money which would alter on be taxed after the war. This move was aimed at ruling out that parliament was not in full control of the colonies hence it was a mandatory aspect for the colonies. The money collected in the form of taxes was used by the colonizers to fund militias deployed at critical points of the colonies to protect the English, as well as, the Americans (Resch and Walter 2006).
During this period of enacting taxation legislations, Americans began opposing the move by the English to extort taxes from them yet they were not presented in parliament. This was a common slogan in those days however; the English answered by criticizing the slogan saying that the colonists were represented in parliament though not physically. This led to introduction of the Sugar Act and Quartering Act in 1765 that stated that only British sugar was to be sold in the colonies while British soldiers would be deployed to various stations dependent on the population. Turmoil erupted and a systematic boycott of British goods was experienced later on in the year (Kaplan and Nogrady 1989).
In a move to counteract the “no taxation no representation” slogan, the British government imposed the Stamp Act in 1765. This was the first ever tax imposed on the colonies attributed direct taxes being paid for all official documents in the countries. Subsequent boycotts and strikes were organized by the Americans in an attempt bring the taxes down such that the sales of British merchandise collapsed considerably. Therefore, the Rockingham government agreed to the repeal but maintained that parliament had the full powers of imposing taxes in all situations (Kaplan, 1989).
A year later, the Townshend Acts were enacted which dictated that taxes be imposed on all essential goods such as paper and tea. A reaction to this development of parliament resulted in the colonists organizing a subsequent boycott of the British goods and on March 5, 1770 a large mob of Boston residents gathered around a group of British soldiers in the region. The people in the mob threw rocks, threatened and clubbed one of the soldiers until he fell down. Many people lost their live and this was later on refereed to as the Massachusetts Massacre such that from that moment onwards, all colonial sentiments were directed towards the Britons.
After this boycott, a group of patriots who had formed a political organization called the Sons of Liberty encouraged the residents of Boston to remain focused in their quest for freedom. However, the activities and goals of these patriots were to build a rich and powerful nation, they were also eager to establish political equality, as well as, establish a localized society. Hence most of them although loyal to the royal British government held grassroots enlightenment campaigns which supported attainment of common good for all in society (Resch, 2006).
Subsequent events that were carried out at the same time include the American patriots move to destroy British warships, in addition to, dumping British goods into the sea as a way of showing their contempt. Further actions by the British to enforce unpopular trade regulations were met with skeptism and the patriots were always eager to show the British that they direly needed their freedom. Britain on the other hand reacted by prohibiting all meetings in towns in the colonies, as well as, closing the port of Boston until the full compensation of the sunk tea cargo was paid by the American government (Weintraub, 2005).
Consequently, in 1774, the colonies formed local government which was referred to as “Provincial Congresses” that were composed of representatives from each colony that were answerable to the American government as a way of responsibility. However, other colonies that did not send representatives in the congress remained under the rule of the British (Kaplan, 1989).
Soon after formation of the congress, the British sent more than 1000 troops of militia to North America to confiscate weapons, as well as, arresting revolutionaries who were causing turmoil in the region. The British militia encountered the local militia at Concord and the American Revolutionary War was initiated. Other colonies responded to the war by sending more troops to the battle field and over 1000 British casualties were left behind whole the American side lost 500 casualties. Efforts to reconcile the Americans with the colonists were not possible as King George III refused any proposals to end the rebellion which was labeled as “an act of traitors”. The war intensified and by the winter of 1775, Americans had invaded Canada and captured Montreal under the leadership of General Richard Montgomery. Consequently, in 1776, the Americans forced the British to vacate Boston such that the revolutionaries had full control of thirteen colonies as the royal officials had fled (Resch, 2006).
In August 1775, the King of Britain attempted to treat the rebel combatants who had been captured as criminals and preparations were under way to have them tried for treason. Similarly, the American government was also eager to try the Americans who had served in the British units and especially those who had been sworn into an oath of allegiance to the crown. The American prisoners in British hands were taken up Bunker Hill where they expected to be hanged but owing to the fact that an equal number of British prisoners were with the Americans, the British withdrew from trial and punishment (Weintraub, 2005).
Following the capture of most former British colonies the North American countries combined their efforts and in 1776 a constitution was formulated for the union of colonies. However, this revolutionary move posed grave consequences to the future of America due to uneven distribution of resources such that regions with more influential personalities had a larger control over the less wealthy. Later in 1776, when the Americans were busy declaring their regions independent, the British troops struck again and repossessed all previous colonies until 1783 when the were permanently evicted from the land. However, the Paris Treaty of 1783 was the turning point for British and American war as all formers colonies apart from Florida were given back to America and the war ceased completely (Kaplan, 1989).
During the eight years that followed reentry of Britain in America, there were no revolutionary activities that were exhibited as most scholars depict the revolution as a move by America to adapt the ruling of British. This was portrayed by a repeat of the same ruling strategies that had been depicted by the British (Weintraub, 2005).
Conclusion
The American Revolution war has been depicted in history as a war that led to evolution of a stronger and solid country such that the war made America learn vital lessons such as the need for unity. Consequently, Britain was determined to retain the colonies for a longer period of time due to the extra trading advantages derived from the regions. Hence it was not an easy road for America to achieve independence and thus there was need to form political associations which were composed of patriots who helped forge the needs of Americans to the British government. Due to divided interests of the groups there were subsequent conflicts which resulted from diverse objectives of the groups. Hence the uncertain future of the independent America was verifiable.
References
Kaplan, S. and Nogrady K. (1989), The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution. Amherst, Massachusetts: The University of Massachusetts Press,
Resch, J. P. and Walter S. (2006), War and Society in the American Revolution: Mobilization and Home Fronts
Weintraub, S (2005). Iron Tears: America’s Battle for Freedom, Britain’s Quagmire: 1775–1783. New York: Free Press.
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