I agree that Americans were on their way to independence before 1776. They were interested in governing themselves so they formed groups to resist the British government. This was in view of various incidences of dissent against authority of the British. The British found it difficult to govern the Americans as they were met with strong resistance. Citizens of Boston rejected the Tea Act because it was not favorable to them. I agree that Americans started pursuing independence before it was declared in 1776.
There was animosity between the white Americans and Indian Americans who were constantly killing one another. There was a bounty for scalping of Indians in which white Americans were the main culprits (Breen 2011). This was a major concern among the Indians who were still under British authority. Even as Americans continued agitating for their rights and declaration of independence, Some Americans were able to challenge the British authority. They achieved this through their involvement in the evangelical movement that was led by small communities that resided in New Hampshire.
The people were the main driving force behind the resistance. They made it difficult for the colonialist to rule the Americans. The small communities of American people were the force behind the revolution. It is in order to state that without the people the revolution would not have happened. American Independence was not only fought for by popular leaders but by the people who were the majority. The people were confident that they had a God given right to have their own independent state so that they could govern themselves.
The people were angry that the British treated them as second class Citizens yet they were strangers in America. The people formed an insurgency to counter the British rule and parliamentary rulings. They took part in the insurgency loosely as an organized group. They also took part in the insurgency spontaneously as organized militants. In late 1774, the American insurgents attacked the British Crown officials.
The members of the insurgency and local communities became part of the wider group members of the revolution. The people formed a group of representative leadership called the Quakers who assisted in denouncing the British Authority. They came from the communities that were colonies of the British as they were claimed that the British were operating on illegal authority. This turned to out as a difficulty as the British claimed that the Quakers were a bunch of outlaws and robbers taking advantage of the political situation in America (Breen, 2011). This led to a constant struggle between the British legislature and the colonies.
There were adverse animosities witnessed at some point. The struggle involved everyone in the colonies, not even members of religious groups were left behind. The legislature in turn formulated laws that would criminalize anyone who disobeyed the rule of the imperial government. The law stated that the Divine Principle of truth that the British professed led all those who attended to its dictates. Meanwhile the fighting continued without a sign of ceasing.
At one instance Mathew reported that the British troops led by General called Gages fired at and killed a number of American compatriots (Breen, 2011). This incident triggered trauma among the communities as everyone was interested in joining the insurgency. The British Military had killed most Americans and more were joining their own military to fight against the British. Many American men and women were courageous in joining the fight. Mathew’s own son John and his friends from Bedford joined military units who would then join another group of fighters from Massachusetts.
Mathew expressed confidence by the way his son and other relatives had joined the army in resisting the British who were oppressing them. Some of his daughters also responded to the revolution and the decided that they would fight the British Army no matter what the outcome. The girl’s roles would be to sit all night and bake and cook for the men who were constantly in the field fighting (Breen, 2011). The Boys always went away to fight the British and would come back sometime. They would emerge safe while others would come back seriously injured. For instance, John came back wounded one time when they came back from battle and he had to settle until the wound was healed before he went back for the battle.
Some of the fighters were not lucky to come back home alive. When John was serving the American Army, his father Mathew was trying to strengthen the insurgency in the southern part of New Hampshire (Calloway, 2006). They were committed to fighting for their country that they had to leave their families. Either they were fighting the British Army or they were looking for British loyalties. Either the loyalties were appointed or they were just sympathizers of the imperial government (Kierner, 2002). The insurgency cooperated with committees formed by members who came from nearby towns.
The revolution gathered momentum because more small communities joined in the resistance. Small communities joined hands in fighting a common ideological enemy. The enemy was regarded to be a Tory. There was an instance where an official named Patten travelled to Amherst to judge Esqur Whiting who was suspected of being a Tory (Calloway, 2006). Insurgency was common in small communities that would not be suspected to be the origin of any of the American founding fathers.
These insurgencies evolved to become a bigger war that rose to resist the Great Britain. American soldiers fought British Army on various battlefronts passionately. This went on until 1776 as most Americans had a great imagination of their newfound country even though Congress had not yet declared independence (Calloway, 2006). Americans who took part in the revolution were regarded as patriots who were ready to die for their country. They refused to legitimize the British crown and were committed to becoming an independent state. The Struggle of independence had started long before the independence was declared. I am in agreement with the notion that Americans were on their way to independence even before 1776. The declaration of independence in 1776 was a culmination of a long fought war between American patriots and the British imperial government.
References
Breen, T. H. (2010). American insurgents, American patriots: The revolution of the people. New York: Hill and Wang.
Calloway, C. G. (2006). The scratch of a pen: 1763 and the transformation of North America. Oxford [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press.
Kierner, C. V. (2002). Revolutionary America 1750-1815 Sources and Interpretation.
Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall.
