The American Revolution is the historical event that ended with the Proclamation of Independence and the creation of the United States of America. However, despite the subject being taught ever since school, many people still have a lot of misconceptions about the war, its causes, and the opinions of the Americans regarding the sedition from the British Empire. The popular view tends to create an image of the American people suddenly becoming aware of the tyranny of the Empire and rising up to defeat it, fighting as one hand, one heart, one soul. The historical truth, as it often happens, is not as black and white. Instead, there are many shades of gray. Despite the revolutionary attitude of some of the colonists, a great number of them was not so eager on severing all ties with the British and had joined the protest in the hope of reaching a compromise. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the reasons why otherwise loyal citizens of the Empire turned their backs on it.
The first thing that must be realized is that up until the revolution and the Declaration of Independence, the majority of the American colonists, considered themselves British. They were a proud part of the British Empire and held it in high esteem. They considered the fashions and customs of the British to be the best in the world; they sent their children to London for education, and they were very proud of the constitutional monarchy that governed the state. They considered it the pinnacle of law, which protected the rights and interests of the common person against aristocracy and the interests of aristocracy against the king (Liberty! The Reluctant Revolutionaries). The Founding Fathers of the American state were all wealthy patricians who had friends even within the British Parliament. Because of these ties, both social and economic, a lot of them were not ready to make the big step and becoming an independent country. The first episode of Liberty! summarized the sentiment towards the sedition perfectly: “I pray there be some, decent, honorable way to put to an end this conflict, to be once again reconciled with old friends” (Liberty! The Reluctant Revolutionaries).
After the Seven Year War, the British Empire was left with a massive debt of over 120,000,000 pounds to both the internal and the external creditors. Had it not been for that money, the war and the American colonies would have been lost. The King and the Parliament decided that the colonies should help pay for it and for the army that was increased two times in its size. Ever since 1763, the Parliament had been introducing various acts, such as the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, and the Stamp Act (Oakes et al. 167). The last one was of paramount importance. It was the first tax in America that collected money from the colonists and for the Empire. The tax itself was meager, but the American elites saw it as an attempt to impose a tax on the colonies without their knowing or agreement. They feared that should this tax be complied with, then other taxes would soon follow. The imposed tax concerned many social groups – from merchants to lawyers to even sailors who liked to play cards. This caused an outrage – the colonists openly declined the tax. However, back then nobody even thought about seceding from the British Empire. They wanted to maintain their right to tax themselves, yes. However, nobody was ready to go so far over a small tax (Liberty! The Reluctant Revolutionaries).
While many revolutions are represented as a rebellion of the lower classes against the corrupt and oppressive government, the American Revolution was led by its most prominent citizens. They were the people that seemed they had everything to lose should such an event transpire. However, they viewed the attempts of the Empire to keep a tighter leash on the colonies as overstepping the boundaries – America was self-governed for over 150 years, and any sort of external influence was not welcomed here. The colonists were a very independent people, who knew the value of liberty and felt that any encroaching attempt to cross their rights paved the way for future tyranny (Oakes et al. 169). Naturally, the desire for independence encompassed many different social groups – the wealthy, the intellectuals and the radicals who were at odds with the arrogant and haughty representatives of the Empire ever since the Seven Year War. However, some did not wish for the confrontation to escalate. The merchant class and various moderates realized that the economic prosperity of the colonies was tied to the Empire, and did not wish to endanger it. They joined the opposition to the tax laws in an attempt to show the unity of the nation, to convince the Empire to compromise.
The fact that the Revolution indeed happened in 1776 was a rather spontaneous act. Yet, the reasons for it have been building up over the last decade. The two necessary requirements for it were the inability of the Empire to compromise, and the ability of radicals to convince the rest of the population that there was no other way of going about this (Oakes et al. 181). As history tells us, they have succeeded.
Works Cited
Liberty! The Reluctant Revolutionaries. Directed by Helen Howde, Muffie Meyer. PBS Home Video. 1997. Video.
Oakes, James, Michael McGerr, Jan Ellen Lewis, Nick Cullather, Jeanne Boydston, Mark Summers, Camilla Townsend, and Karen Dunak. Of the People: History of the United States to 1877 Volume 1, Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Print.