American Revolution.

American Revolution.

The ideas of enlightenment shed light on the American revolutionaries. The views gave the technocrats a sense of believing; thus, they were willing to fight for their freedom as the American people. Great men and women rose to the occasion to defend the dignity and freedoms of the American people. Determined with courage, wisdom, patriotism, and talent, they braved the cruelty of the British and fought for their fundamental human rights. People, such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abigail Adams, and Alexander Hamilton, went on unbowed by the oppression and the dogmatic traditions and regulations installed by colonial masters. According to Boucher (1797), the ideas of; fundamental human rights, economic freedom, opposition to taxation, isolation of colonial gentry, anti-Catholicism, need for sovereignty, and resistance to military oppression greatly impacted the revolution. The ideas were a collection from the dubbed “American experience”, British legal values, and the European enlightenment.

To begin with, the stamp act and Boston tea party influenced the idea of opposition to unlawful taxation that was melted upon the Americans. Previously, before the British made and consented to any law, they consulted the Americans, and the Americans were used to it. When the British enforced these laws on the Americans without consultation, it angered them; thus, it resulted in revolt. The British imposed these taxes to raise money to pay their debts that they had accumulated when fighting wars. These Americans wanted their grievances to be heard and taken into account.The British assembly also has politicians that represented their constituencies. Although the British claimed that they represented all their citizens, the American interests were rarely represented in the meeting. The Americans wanted a direct representation where one would articulate issues to the assembly concerning its constituency directly. The failure for the British to listen to the Americans was an indication that a crisis was looming.

Secondly, Smith (1960) states that American patriots were looking forward to political autonomy. Given that the Americans had progressively improved in commerce and trade and its population was increasing, they felt the need to be a sovereign state. The Americans advocated for political autonomy, whereby they would make their decisions on how their resources should be distributed among the states. The tyrannical rule by the British to use the police presence in the American streets as a means of making the American citizens obedient was quickly rejected by the American patriots. The Boston Massacre was an indication of a frosty relationship between the American citizens and British soldiers. The Quartering Act of 1765 and 1774 required the Americans to feed and house the British soldiers angered them. The Americans drew from John Locke’s ideas of enlightenment that man is born with natural rights of life, property, liberty, and right against property seizure. The Americans felt that the British were rather infringing these natural rights. The American patriots rose against such oppression and forged for a revolution so that their rights can be respected.

Lastly, historians reckon that economic freedom was perhaps another critical factor that leads to a revolution. The business class wanted the freedom to choose their nations of choice that they would trade. Which they believed will enable them to grow financially and even develop industries. The British had imposed upon them navigation restrictions that made it impossible to trade freely. This motivated the American patriots more to stage a revolution against the British.

In conclusion, the above-stated ideas influenced the American Revolution and even other factors that have not been explained in this paper. The British outright impunity led to the resistance that also resulted in the staging of the revolution.

References

Boucher, J. (1797). A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution; in Thirteen Discourses, Preached in North America between the Years 1763 and 1775: with a Historical Preface. London: Printed for GG and J. Robinson.

Smith, P. (1960). David Ramsay and the causes of the American Revolution. The William and Mary Quarterly: A Magazine of Early American History, 51-77.