The American Revolution is the political era between 1765 and 1783 when the Thirteen American Colonies disintegrated from the British Empire and formed an independent nation today called the United States of America. The Americans rejected the parliament authority to extract taxes from citizens without elected representatives in 1765. This battle continues until 1783 after the British sent combat troops to maintain peace, leading to the today called the American Revolutionary War (Fradin 12). The American Revolution had specific political goals while the creation of the new republic created some different effects on women, blacks and Indians.
The philosophical values of the American Revolution
The American Revolution held the following philosophical values that led to the emergence of a united nation. Firstly, they believed in perception and reality. According to the American Philosophers, the perception of reality defined people’s beliefs and opinions and not reality alone.
“ There is phenomenon in politics of cognitive dissonance, where you bend the world, hypnotize yourself into seeing the world in such a manner you forget about your first premises”. (John 132)
Secondly, the American Revolutionists believed that the world was shaped by political socialization and personal experience. Socialization can be promoted by families, media, schools, peers and political leaders.
Political goals of the American Revolution
The American Revolution introduced several radical changes in the opinions, principles, and sentiments of the Americans. The newly generated ideas had significant effects on social customs, political goals, gender and racial roles when the thirteen colonies created the United States. The America’s political culture was transformed after a series of debates and conflicts over government authority, federal control of western territories and varied state economies. The colonial thinking of some famous colonists such as Benjamin and Thomas was a desire to form a democratic government with balanced powers. There were specific political goals that led to the establishment of the American Revolution. These were; to become independent, to create the new rules that catered for the welfare of every citizen, to create a new system of governance, to get independent membership in the European state system and to get rid of tyranny. Heroes who led the American Revolution mainly fought for independence from Britain.
On the other hand, the American patriots wanted to establish an independent country with a system of self-governance. The declaration of independence outlined the reasons why the Americans wanted to be independent. Some of the major areas that the Americans needed relieved were taxation, laws, and lack of grievances. Under the new system of government, the Americans were free to govern themselves and set their own taxes that would favor every citizen irrespective of gender, race, of political status. England abandoned the rule of law after the declaration of independence because it equated their tyranny of numbers. Moreover, the declaration of independence led to the creation of a viable nation-state that was equal to the nations of Europe. It was the expectations of American patriots that the independent America would have a separate and equal station among other European nations like the Dutch Republic, Spain, France or Britain.
Generally, the American Revolutionary goals and were very excusive and assisted the united America in many ways. The Revolutionary helped Americans win the war, and paved the way for future political and economical alliances. In addition, the revolutionary created a path that led other nations around the globe into the era of freedom. Some American leaders like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Franklin Benjamin believed that the revolution the emerged on 1776 would go on and enter other places around the world. They inspired people who faced oppression and called upon them reclaim their dignity and fight for their rights and owners of the nation in order to overthrow the oppressing powers (Fradin, 55-58).
The impact of American Revolution on women
Before 1948 women’s rights movement women never participated in activities such as voting and fighting in wars. In addition, women were not entitled to own any property since they belonged to their father until married. The following rules changed during the American Revolution. The experience of the revolution had a significant impact on the women’s rights movement. Before established of this movement, women were inferior to men and anything under a woman’s possession was under the ownership of the husband. Many women took part in the British and American armies. Women demonstrated their patriotic rights to fight for the America’s independence and that of their own. In addition, during the American Revolution, women were given more public roles in the society after they gained their independence and liberty (Slavicek 44-47).
The impact of American Revolution on Blacks
Before the America Revolution blacks were used as slaves. The fight for independence by the Americans gave the blacks an opportunity to gain their own freedom. The whites increased the number if freedom suits to the state legislatures. Individual black slaves presented their petitions but the American patriots who fought for independence asked them to form a group in order to make their voices heard. In order to gain their freedom, the blacks had to take up arms and fight the British during the early stages of the revolution. In addition, the American Revolution gave chances for the blacks to join the army, which occurred after 1777 when the Americans required more forces. The blacks accepted the offer to join the forces, but the Americans promised them freedom in return (John 122-125).
The impact of American Revolution on Indians
The American Revolution affected Native Americans. Indians were the most affected people by the American Revulsion. Indians went through many hardships from the rule of the British Empire, but they were promised lands by King George II if they fail to support the Americans during the revolutionary war. Some Indian tribes involved themselves into war with the Americans in order to protect their lands. The Americans defeated Indians and forced them to surrender. This created a big impact to the lives of Indians who were forced to join the American army later to fight the British. The American Revolution however, assisted in the release of Indian women who were held captives by the British. In addition, all Indian slaves were freed after the American Revolution. On the other hand, most Indian women were farmers and the British troops destroyed their crops during the war while others were raped and murdered in cold blood. In addition, the war that erupted disrupted the trade between white settlers and Native people. Native women were mostly traders and suffered great losses (Woody 33-36) .
Generally, the American Revolution of 1765 to 1783 formed the best way for the Americans to communicate to the British because of their mistreatments. This period marked the road to freedom not only for the Americans but also for the American women, blacks and other Native Americans. This formed the beginning of freedom for the present day United States of America. The move by the Americans to fight for their freedom also encouraged other nations to fight for their independence.
Works cited
John Mead. "Declarations Of Liberty: Representations Of Black/White Alliances Against Slavery By John Brown, James Redpath, And Thomas Wentworth Higginson." Journal for the Study of Radicalism 3.1 (2009): 111-143.
Fradin, Dennis B.. The Boston Massacre. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2009. Print.
Slavicek, Louise Chipley. Women of the American Revolution. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2003. Print.
Woody Holton, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Chapel Hill : Published for the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture by the University of North Carolina Press. 1999.
