American Revolutionary War

Introduction

The American Revolution was the political commotion during the end of the eighteenth century. The thirteen North American colonies united to break free of the British Empire and become a new nation; The United State of America. A revolution can be defined as, the change in power or the constitution stirring in a relatively short period of time (Sinclair 190). And this is precisely what happened two centuries ago in the United State. But the question needed to be answered is, was the American War of Independence really a war for independence or a revolution? The American War of Independence (1775-1783) was a climax in the political American Revolution rather than just a war for independence, ideologically influenced by the Enlightenment philosophers and writers of the Great Britain

Discussion

By 1763, Great Britain attained a pinnacle of power and dominion which led many Englishmen to believe that a new Roman Empire had been brought into being through the mastermind of William Pitt and the valor of British arms. In Europe, France and Spain was determinedly conquered and a great part of North America and India was brought under the Imperial rule. A horizon previously unknown to any empire seemed to be rising for the Great Britain and its established colonies. But fortune turned so swiftly that its highest point of grandeur became the witness of its fall. The same William Pitt who brought her to the heights of new horizon died fifteen years later in England's darkest hour in the House of Lords.

The British government began to device ways that the colonies could be tied into a more resourceful trading system with British colonies in the Caribbean and India. As a result, Britain forced a chain of taxes and other laws in order to display British authority; this triggered enormously unpopular sentiments in America against the Empire. Just like in France before the French Revolution there was an increasing opposition among the people against the monarchy, the aristocrats. Their once strong rule of tyranny on both the people and economies of each nation was now weakening. For instance, “In 1763 Britain was on the very pinnacle of worldwide power and her old enemies were seemingly prostrate. At the same time, however, the nation was beset with political instability and was stumbling on the edge of bankruptcy” (Jensen). Many prominent colonists considered these laws and taxes to be illegitimate and an infringement of their rights as Englishmen since their colonies did not have elected representation in the Imperial British Parliament (Nevis 24).

Although the Proclamation act was not intended to harm the colonist, the series of direct and hidden taxes imposed on the colonies later after the Royal Proclamation in addition to generate revenues, were a display of Royal authority over the colonies. One of those taxes was the Sugar Act of 1764. British were upset that Americans were not buying sugar from the British West Indies, as good mercantilist theory required, and they influenced the Parliament to pass the Molasses Act ...