The American Revolution was not a pure conflict concerning the Americans and the British; it was rather a global conflict. The consequence of this conflict changed the colonial power balance and determined the destiny of the American colonists. The struggle for American independence irritated the most dominant colonial powers of Europe. The colonies’ discontent and the involvement of Europe, all occurred at the end of a period characterized by extreme imperial rivalry. To be specific, the occurrence of the war between the American colonies and Britain was twelve years after the Seven years’ war.
Nature of Colonists Reactions to Britain’s Policies
The American Revolution came by as a result of cultural, political and even social changes. The revolution commenced in 1775, and there were no actual events which could be considered as the trigger, it was a mere conflict between the Great Britain and the American colonies. The conflict arose due to perceived unfairness in the manner in which the colonies were treated by Britain and how they viewed fair treatment. The British also saw the colonies as objects which could be used in a way pleasing the parliament and the crown. The colonial legislature rendered the colonies independent of the Crown; they were given certain powers like tax levying, which was right in the colonists' perspectives ("LIBERTY! - The American Revolution | PBS"). Therefore, curtailing of the colonists by led to the conflict. The colonists then responded by strong resistance and the British were forced to implement ways of maintaining order in America. The acquisition of Canada did not bring forth the promise of a good connection with the Indian traders. Therefore, due to this challenging resistance to the policies, a decision was made to maintain a stand-up territorial army in America.
The British demonstrated a social responsibility by undertaking the duty of securing control over their areas. Different laws set to control imperial trade had earlier been enacted, however, the colonists evaded the laws and carried out trade with France, therefore from the British perspective, the colonies had an obligation to pay for their personal defense, and due to the already present resistance, it called for a more tight measures to regulate trade and navigation ("LIBERTY! - The American Revolution | PBS"). Thus, the British initiated attempts to restructure the imperial scheme, hence the enactment of the Sugar Act. The colonies met this with a loud outcry leading to their implementation of measures which ensured the rejection of the British products. Later on, the Stamps Act affected everyone since it extended taxes and locally produced product, and the colonists responded widely.
Moreover, the imperial wars proved to be a very costly undertaking especially on the side of the British. Therefore, this led to the need to retrieve some costs from the colonies. So, the Proclamation of 1763 was issued by England. This proclamation prohibited colonists from residing on the Appalachian Mountains especially on the west to further cut down costs. The response of the colonies was therefore connected to their ideologies regarding the land's politics.
Precedence for Protest
After seven years of war, the Britain was separated from its colonies in North America and for the Americans who resided during the crisis period, received an inheritance of constitutional liberty which were to be protected by disconnection of every tie with the Britain. The protest became inevitable after the enactment of the Declaratory Act, by the British Parliament. The Declaratory Act was a replacement for the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act stirred up extreme anger on the side of the colonists. The repealing of the Stamp Act demonstrated the invalidity of the colonists' arguments against the same. Therefore, the parliamentary act initiated the revolution. It was possible for the colonists to compromise. However, Parliament did away with their reasoning which marked the no return point.
North America presented itself among the numerous war fronts during the Indian and French war, as the seven years’ war was referred to by the colonists. The outcome was the falling of the Indian and the French partners to colonial forces and the British, offering official control of North America as a whole to England. It was however expected that the Native Americans who resided on the continent would not view it in that manner ("LIBERTY! - The American Revolution | PBS"). However, for the Englishmen, it called for celebrations to mark the longed for liberty and triumph, they enjoyed excess freedoms and rights as any other subjects from empires all over the world. The colonists did not hesitate to rejoice in the attained victory they had won for the mother country, liberty and independence they never thought, in their wildest imagination, would ever materialize.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the war propelled numerous driving factors responsible for the European’s participation in the war. The war left Britain trying to put together its empires in Spain, North America, and France, which were evidently struggling to stand up after a humiliating defeat. The colonists were completely angered by the policies by the British, which set the pace for the protests that were directed to the British. The war came to an end with the smashing of European rivals.
Works Cited
"LIBERTY! - The American Revolution | PBS". Pbs.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
