Use sources A, B and C and your own knowledge. How far was the outbreak of the war of American Independence due to the lack of willingness of the American colonies to compromise in the years 1770 to 1775?

Use sources A, B and C and your own knowledge.

How far was the outbreak of the war of American Independence due to the lack of willingness of the American colonies to compromise in the years 1770 to 1775?

(24 marks)

The outbreak of the War of American independence was partly due to the lack of willingness of the American colonists to compromise in the years of 1770 to 1775 but there were also a variety of other reasons. Some reasons include that Britain was too harsh to the colonies, the colonies were unreliable and untrustworthy and causes such as the first continental congress in 1774 and the Boston massacre also helped build up to the War of American independence.

Firstly, it could be argued that the colonies lack of willingness to compromise in the years of 1770 to 1775 was the cause of the outbreak of the War of American independence. The American colonists were not open to any of Britain’s policies and they spent a majority of the 1770’s resisting against Britain’s solutions to the problems in Britain and America. Because of this, by 1770 relations between British authorities and the leaders of the colonial legislatures had broken down. Moreover, events such as the Gaspee incident worsened relations between the American colonies and the British and it showed that the Colonists had no respect for the British policies and were not willing to compromise with the British’ ideas to improve relations. In addition, source A suggests that due to the American colonies not abiding to the British policies throughout the 1760’s the British felt that they couldn’t trust the colonies to obey various regulations and restrictions that were needed for the colonists to have more freedom. This suggests that the colonists were clearly not willing to compromise and this caused the British to be stricter, therefore making the colonists want more power and freedom.

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Moreover, it could also be argued that it was due to the British being to harsh and that if the British were more understanding and less greedy then it would have been less likely for the colonists to rebel and demand independence. Source A argues that Britain should have made concessions to the American colonists rather than using force against them, because as soon as they started using force the colonists felt like they were being treated wrongly and wanted more freedom as a country. Moreover, source A also suggests that if the British were more willing to compromise with the American colonists then they would have remained free to face the French threat and therefore this is suggesting that the British were not only a reason for causing the War of American independence but also were risking an the French threat and not preparing for that.

In addition, another reason for the outbreak of the War of American independence was that the British made some drastic mistakes and the colonies misunderstood what the British were trying to do and therefore retaliated more brutally than they should have. Firstly, there was the Boston massacre which was a big mistake from the British and the American colonists were not at all happy with the British after that happened in 1770. The Bostonians saw the ‘massacre’ as a huge attack from the British and retaliated as strongly as they could. They turned the funerals of the men who were shot into political demonstrations and made sure that the soldiers were put on trail for murder. This caused a great deal of tension between the British and the American colonies and the British believed that the colonists were taking it too far. Furthermore, the coercive acts caused a great deal of controversy within the colonies and in Britain and also weakened the relations between the two countries. The coercive acts were a way for Lord North’s ministry to punish and isolate Boston as it was seen as the centre of colonial troubles. The colonists believed the coercive acts to be intolerable and were greatly angered by the action that was taken in place. The port of Boston was closed to all ocean-going trade from June 1st until the destroyed tea had been paid for. The British believed that these acts were needed to sort out the colonial troubles but it angered the colonists and made them crave freedom even more-so, leading to the War of American independence. Also, source B suggests that due to the British encouraging discussion this lead to raising the colonies spirits of opposition and caused them to retaliate against the British policies more so. Moreover, source C suggests that the colonists believed that if they backed down on the British policies then they would be surrendering their status as a free man.

Furthermore, the first continental congress in September 1774 was also a cause of the War of American independence. All the colonies except Georgia sent at least one delegate to Philadelphia to the first continental congress ‘to consult upon the present unhappy state of the colonies’. This congress was a chance for the American colonists to talk about the British policies and the relations between the British and the American colonies and also a chance for the American colonists to discuss how to gain independence and over throw the British from interfering with America. While acknowledging alliance to the crown, the declaration of rights and grievances, agreed on October 14th 1774, denied that colonies were subject to Parliaments authority. This was the start of American independence and lead to the War of American independence.

Moreover, source C suggests that Britain was convinced that a dominant minority in the colonies was aiming at independence and that, if Britain didn’t reassert her authority in the colonies then the empire would dissolve and Britain would revert to being a minor power. This worried Britain greatly and therefore they were more forceful then they should have been and this may have lead to the War of American independence.

In conclusion, using all the sources and my own knowledge I have concluded that the most important cause of the War of American independence is a mix between the fact that the colonies were not willing to compromise with the British policies and that the British were too harsh on the colonies and therefore forced them to fight for independence in the end.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

lordharvey

20th of Apr 2012

Quality of writing

The spelling, grammar and punctuation of this essay is excellent, which is good as it means the examiner can spend time marking the argument they have created rather than trying to work out what they mean. However, the student should take care when saying ''1760's'' or ''1770's'' as you don't need an apostrophe because you are saying something belongs to someone or missing out a letter, and a repeated mistake like this makes the essay look untidy.

Level of analysis

The student does a lot of explaining why events happened or why they were significant, for example by using phrases such as 'This suggests...' This is better than only describing what happened during the war, because explaining it shows you have understanding and you aren't just writing down lists of memorised information. The evidence used in the essay is good: for example, in saying ''All the colonies except Georgia'', the bit ''except Georgia'' shows that they have a precise knowledge of what happened, and they are proving it by giving short but relevant detail. The conclusion of the essay could improve by adding the most important reason why they believe Britain was too harsh on the colonies, as this would show they can assess the arguments they have written to find the most relevant strengths.

Response to question

This student answers the question very well by doing two things. Firstly, they use all three of the sources mentioned in the question, which is good because it shows they understand what other people have written and believed about the topic. They could improve by taking one or two important words from each source and quoting them in their essay: this would show they can select the most relevant parts of the source to analyse. The other way that the student answers the question is by discussing several different reasons for the outbreak of the War of Independence: this shows that they appreciate there is more than one opinion on what caused it. It's good that they have summarised these in their introduction, as it shows they can organise their knowledge.

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