"In the two decades before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a profound shift occurred in the way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and their colonial governments." Discuss.

Sowdhamani Bellapu September 8, 2003

Dr. Maskin AP US History

‘89

“In the two decades before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a profound shift occurred in the way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and their colonial governments.”

The American Revolution was more than a colonial revolt against Britain. It was an assault against the ideas and institutions of the Old Regime. The revolution was due to the radical change in the colonists’ principles and opinions.
The colonists at first did not intend to rupture the British Empire.

Thomas Jefferson

He affirmed his cordial affection for continued union with Britain by stating, “We mean not to dissolve that union which has so long and so happily subsisted between us…We have not raised armies with ambitious designs of separating from Great Britain.”

Americans, at first, denied any intention of independence. They only wanted freedom and rights.

Loyalty to the empire was deeply ingrained.
Colonial unity was poor.
They felt open rebellion was dangerous especially against a formidable Britain.

When colonists arrived in America, although British, they seemed to develop very different views from the people who remained in Britain. This stirred a few tensions that developed between the two peoples.

The colonials saw the British as docile and willing to put up with injustices and lack of opportunities.
The colonials saw themselves as those who ...

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Americans, at first, denied any intention of independence. They only wanted freedom and rights.

Loyalty to the empire was deeply ingrained.
Colonial unity was poor.
They felt open rebellion was dangerous especially against a formidable Britain.

When colonists arrived in America, although British, they seemed to develop very different views from the people who remained in Britain. This stirred a few tensions that developed between the two peoples.

The colonials saw the British as docile and willing to put up with injustices and lack of opportunities.
The colonials saw themselves as those who were willing to take an initiative and make new opportunities for themselves. They would suffer hardships to create better lives for their families
The British, in turn, felt the colonists could never fit into society in England.

Revolution arose from a set of conditions that made many Americans open to the idea of independence.

Regulation that was under the direction of the British government and not their own
Economic controls restricting trade and manufacturing
The (1754-1763) changed the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies.

Prior to the war, Great Britain had practiced a policy of salutary neglect, not insisting on strict enforcement of laws, because trade with the American colonies was making Britain very wealthy and powerful. During this period, the colonists developed a nearly independent political and economic system.

Series of British measures that were designed to tighten the bond between Britain and the colonies, which was asserting imperial rule over colonial interests

The Americans soon became aware of their inconsistent beliefs from before. Their eyes were opened to the British’s harsh acts.
The colonists saw these triggers to revolution as a deliberate threat to the liberties of the colonists and a conspiracy to reduce them to political subservience.

(First Continental Congress brought together all the colonies each with the single goal to gain freedom. The colonies wanted to appear united in their reply to Britain.)

Old Colonial Government

The British colonies were settled without any particular plan. They received little direction form the imperial government.
The crown never developed administrative measures over the colonies.
Colonial problems received little attention in Britain. While colonial governors might have provided the needed strength and stability for imperial administration, they had their authority undermined by inadequate support in England and by their challenge by powerful assemblies in America.
The relationship between the colonies and Britain was uneasy.

The colonies achieved much political competence. They had their own political institutions controlled by local elites who governed with the support of the people.
Economic prosperity added to their self-importance.
Before, the British never took any action regarding the colonies; but in 1763 when they decided to take action, the crisis of the British Empire began.

Other Influences

The European Enlightenment professed natural laws, which promoted that humans had “natural rights” to life, liberty, and property. If the government ever denied their people of these natural rights, it was the people’s duty to rebel.

Thomas Paine

Common Sense

“Monarchy was invention of the devil”
His book attested that “America gained nothing by its connection with Britain; the tie was a liability…it was time to part.”

He encouraged Americans to fight for their freedom from the English Monarchy.

The colonists now saw themselves as Americans. They questioned why the British thought they had the right to interfere with their colonial affairs when the British had neglected them for so long, letting them develop their own ways of life, government, economy, and trade. Great Britain, to them, had left a long time ago and the colonists were angered that they began to take control when they no longer needed the mother country. If Britain followed a lenient pattern of colonial rule as they had, the American Revolution might have been well avoided. Rapidly expanding in wealth and numbers, developing a cultural identity differentiating them from Britain, and possessing a political life of their own, the Americans were certain to resist control from Britain.

"In the two decades before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a profound shift occurred in the way many Americans thought and felt about the British government and their colonial governments." Discuss.

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