Introduction
Foremost, in the years leading to the American Revolutionary War, patriotic societies in the thirteen colonies no longer relied on the Mother Country; in fact, they sought self-governance because the period allowed the same.
After the Seven Years’ War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris, the English Monarch emerged victoriously and removed the threats posed by the Spanish and French forces. Hence, “ambitious colonial leaders were no longer threatened” and could claim more control (Zinn, 2005, p.59).
At the same time, the “colonists contributed soldiers and economic resources” to aid in the war effort and as a result, the Americans considered themselves an extension of the Mother Country as opposed to being mere settlers in colonies (Foner GML, 2011, p.185).
Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776): “Great Britain tends directly to involve [North America] Continent in European wars and quarrels, and set [the people] at variance with nations who would otherwise” be allies (Foner VOF, 2011, p.97).
Additionally, the Seven Year’s War was expensive for Britain as the Crown immersed itself into massive debts to gain enough money for the war effort; therefore, by 1763, the British Parliament was solely focused on obtaining enough money to pay off the debtors. The problem was, part of the methods devised to gain more money for the Monarch entailed imposing taxes on the colonists.
As the Britons asserted, since the battles with both Spain and France was to protect the American territories, it was a widely accepted consensus that the colonists “ought to help pay the war debt” (Ripper, 2008, p.66).
Contrastingly, Berkin, Miller, Cherny, and Gormly (2007) inform readers that the colonists insisted the debt was subject to “those who remained in the Mother Country” (p.118). After all, the economic opportunities in England were considerably higher than those that were available in North America especially when one considers the fact that expansion had yet to take place.
Such conflicting political ideologies lay the groundwork for the American Revolutionary War as the colonists viewed the English Crown as one would a tyrannical ruler. The “fears of religious and political tyranny mingled in the minds of many colonists” (Foner GML, 2011, p.197).
Paul Revere’s engraving of the Boston Massacre in which British soldiers opened fire against unarmed Americans provides a perfect illustration of the hostilities between the two sides (Berkin et al., 2007, p.131).
Association of the New York Sons of Liberty (1773): “It is essential to the freedom and security of a free people that no taxes be imposed upon them but by their own consent, or their representatives (Foner VOF, 2011, p.87).
Now, the different political and social perceptions mentioned above spilled over to affect the economic sphere of the American territories as the British Parliament endorsed legislations that went on to impose duties on the colonists and control their commercial structure.
The Currency Act of 1751 was already in place by the end of the Seven Year’s War. As per the terms of the law, gold and silver coins were the “only legal form of currency” as opposed to the “printed paper money” the colonies sought to use in trade (Foner GML, 2011, p.157). Silver and gold ensured that British Merchants would have ready and lucrative markets in the colonies.
The next economic acts were the 1765 Stamp Act, the 1767 Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act of 1773 (Ripper, 2008, p.66-69). Given, Britain enacted other laws without the consent of the colonies, but the noted three directly affected the economy of the people. For instance, through the Tea Act, the Crown allowed the East India Company to dominate the overseas markets by reducing the prices of tea it imported (Berkin et al., 2007, p.135).
In retaliation, the colonists either boycotted British goods or destroyed them to prevent Americans from purchasing the same. In a 1774 engraving of the colonists’ reaction to the Tea Act of 1773, the artist depicted Bostonians “pouring tea down the throat of a tax collector” while the background of the piece showed the Boston Tea Party (Foner GML, 2011, p.194).
Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act (1765): The colonists are “entitled to all privileges and immunities of natural born subjects, to all intents and purposes as if they had been abiding and born within the realm of England” (Foner VOF, 2011, 83).
In conclusion, economic, political, and social disparities warranted the American Revolutionary War and for that reason, as far as the colonists were concerned the three spheres remained intertwined in the quest for democracy.
References
Berkin, C., Miller, C., Cherny, R., & Gormly, J. (2007). Making America: A History of the United States (5th ed., Vol. II). Boston: Cengage Learning.
Foner, E. (2011). Give Me Liberty!: An American History (3rd ed., Vol. I). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Foner, E. (2011). Voices of Freedom: A Documentary History (3rd ed., Vol. I). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Ripper, J. (2008). American Stories: To 1877 (Vol. I). New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Zinn, H. (2005). A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
