Influence of American Revolution of the Civil War
Influence of American Revolution of the Civil War
Introduction
The American Revolution and the Civil War are two wars that have shaped American history and the American society. The American Revolution started with 13 colonies forming the Continent Congress declaring their Independence from the British rule in 1776 and ended with the Loyalists winning the Revolutionary War (Becker, 2013, p. 5). The Civil War was started when Southern states declared independence by seceding from the Union. South Carolina was the first state to secede in 1860 and they were later joined by Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee to form the Confederate States of America (Keegan 24-36). The war started in 1861 and ended with a Union win in 1865. In between the war, President Lincoln signed the Emancipation proclamation in 1863; identifying the end of slavery as the ultimate war goal. Both wars included Americans fighting each other for values and rights they believed in. In the American Revolution the Patriots fought against the British Loyalists for the Independence of the United States of America from British rule. Whereas, in the Civil War the Union fought against the Confederate states over the issue of slavery and ensuring the country remained one. The values of freedom, citizen’s rights, and standing up to oppression learned during the American Revolution played an important role in triggering the Civil War.
Rights of Citizens
The American Revolution influenced the Civil War as people’s rights were being tampered by the British government. Several acts such as the Quartering Act, the Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Tea Act enacted in the North American colonies by the British Colonies was considered as unjust and highly oppressive and ensured that Colonists were not allowed to have a representative in the Parliament (Maier, 2016). The limited freedom of Colonists forced them to declare independence from the British rule, a narrative that inspired the abolitionist movement in the mid-19th century to end slavery and led to the Civil War.
The oppression of slaves in the Southern colonies gave fire to the abolitionist movement (McCormack, 2011). The idea of citizen’s rights inspired the Union to fight for the rights of slaves in the Southern colonies. The oppression of slaves in the Southern colonies gave fire to the abolitionist movement. Several Southern slaves also joined the Union to fight for their rights. In fact, many slaves laid their lives fighting for the Union’s war cause that was legalized in 1863 with the Emancipation Proclamation. The thought of citizen’s rights and fight against oppression was engrained in the American by the 13 Colonies in 1776 when they signed the declaration of independence against the oppressive British Government.
The right to overcome oppression and fight for a cause was learned by the abolitionists through their forefathers who had fought for the American Independence. Those values made it impossible for many to ignore the torturous treatment of slaves and their lack of freedom. Other issues such as the fight over the addition of new states as either Free states or Slave states further increased the heat between the industrialized North and plantation-based South. After the election of Abraham Lincoln as the President who won with the support of the abolitionist, Southern states started to secede as for them losing their slaves would ensure an economic debacle (McCormack, 2011).
Failure of Agreement
The American Revolution was the result of British rulers deciding that the colonies would be taxed without representation in the Parliament. Even though several arguments pursued for resolving the dispute between the Patriots (American colonies) and British government failed to provide the Colonial Americans their basic rights, despite collecting heavy taxes. The failure of any agreement finally broke the camel’s back as the American colonies banded together and declared Independence. Something similar happened a few decades later as the Northern and Southern States failed to reach agreement over Slavery and the balance between Free and Slave states (Kranewitter, 2008, p. 48-51). Also, the addition of new states to the country and decision of making them Free or Slave states further created political tension between the North and the South. Therefore, the founding fathers left a lasting impact on the future generations that they should not bend their knees to oppressive rulers and fight for their cause.
During the Civil War, the Southern states often related their secession from the Union on the same grounds as they claimed that the failure of agreement and growing abolitionist movement in the North forced their hand. The plantation economy of the Southern states was based on free slaves that worked long hours for free and even their offspring were born slaves. The possibility of abolition created fear in the minds of the Southern states as they were scared at the thought of losing their slaves. The Southern states were also concerned about losing the balance between Free states v Slave states (McPherson, 2007, p. 13-16). The election of Lincoln in 1860 and growing strength of abolitionist movement made it tougher to the Southern states to negotiate. The end result was secession that they had learned from the American Revolution, when the colonies were supressed to accept higher taxes under the British government.
Declaration of Independence
Both American Revolutionary War and the Civil War had one thing that triggered both the wars: The Declaration of Independence. In case of the American Revolutionary War, 13 colonies formed a shadow government and declared independence from the British Rule in 1776. Similarly, the Declaration of Independence by the Confederate states from the Union was the landmark moment that became the foundation of the Civil War. There is a direct link between both the wars, as failure of the powerful party to respect the values, traditions and needs of one party led to the political tension and disagreements between them.
The Declaration of Independence in 1776 had a lasting impact on the American political scene even after the independence. It was seen as a heroic moment in the American history where the people took matters in their hands and fought for their civil rights. The feeling of a just war was reincarnated in 1861 when the Union fought back against the Confederate states as they wanted to ensure that country remained unified. The Declaration of Independence clearly outlined that – “All men are created equal” (Greene, 1976, p. 5). Abolitionists used to openly condemn the practice of slavery after several years of Independence and considered it unconstitutional.
Values of Freedom and Justice
Freedom and Justice are other important issues that can be used to understand the influence the American Revolution had on the Civil War. During the American Revolution, colonists banded together to fight against the British for attaining freedom and justice from their oppressive taxes and non-representation in the Parliament. The colonist mainly wanted to fight for their freedom from a system that’s rigged against them and forced them to pay taxes to the British government, with the British controlling the government and restricting political entry to the Colonists (Maier, 2016). Mainly, the system was designed to work in the favour of the British government and unjustly limited the involvement of Colonists in governance of the British American Colonies.
The same values of freedom and justice came to par during the Civil War. The abolitionists wanted to ensure that justice was provided to the slaves in the Southern states by freeing them from the unlawful and inhumane practice of slavery. The secessionists wanted freedom from the Union that wanted to abolish their culturally and economically important concept of slavery that would surely dismantle their plantation economy and used to seek justice in the form of equal distribution of land between Free and Slave states (McCormack, 2011). Overall, the freedom and justice were the deciding factors that were learned from the future American generations from their forefathers who fought the American Revolutionary War.
Conclusion
The American Revolution had a lasting impact in the political and historic memory of Americans and it played a major role in influencing and instigating the American Civil War. The values of freedom and justice learned from their forefathers that had fought in the American Revolution, enforced the abolitionists and secessionists to fight for their respectable causes in the American Civil War. Political manoeuvres of the Civil War such as the Declaration of Independence were also inspired from the days of the American Revolution. Failure to agreement also was common between both wars as the parties went war to protect their values and needs. Finally, both wars were fought over individual rights as one party overpowered and restricted the role of another leading to disagreements and war ensued.
References
Becker, C. L. (2013). The Declaration of independence: A study in the history of political ideas. New York, NY: Random House.
Greene, J. P. (1976). All men are created equal: Some reflections on the character of the American revolution : an inaugural lecture. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
Keegan, J. (2009). The American Civil War: A military history. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.
Kranewitter, T. L. (2008). Vindicating Lincoln : Defending the Politics of Our Greatest President. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Maier., P. (2016).THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1763–1783. Retrieved 28 August 2016 from, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/american-revolution-1763-1783
McCormack., J. (2011, 6 July). Weekly Standard: Founding Fathers Opposed Slavery. Retrieved 28 August 2016 from, http://www.npr.org/2011/07/06/137647715/weekly-standard-founding-fathers-opposed-slavery
McPherson, J. M. (2007). This mighty scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
