The principles of liberalism and
democracy — the political foundation of the United States — sprang naturally
from the process of building a new society on virgin land. Just as naturally, the
new nation would see itself as different and exceptional. Europe would view it
with apprehension, or hope.
Britain's 13 North American colonies
matured during the 1700s. They grew in population, economic strength, and
cultural attainment. They were experienced
in self-government. Yet it was not until 170 years after the founding of
the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, that the new United
States of America emerged as a nation.
War between Britain and France in
the 1750s was fought partly in North America. Britain was victorious and soon
initiated policies designed to control and fund its vast empire. These measures
imposed greater restraints on the American colonists' way of life.
The Royal Proclamation of 1763
restricted the opening of new lands for settlement. The Sugar Act of 1764 placed taxes on luxury goods, including coffee,
silk, and wine, and made it illegal to import rum. The Currency Act of 1764
prohibited the printing of paper money in the colonies. The Quartering Act of 1765
forced colonists to provide food and housing for royal troops. And the Stamp
Act of 1765 required the purchase of royal stamps for all legal documents,
newspapers, licenses, and leases.
Colonists objected to all these measures, but the Stamp Act
sparked the greatest organized resistance.
The main issue, in the eyes of a growing number of colonists, was that they
were being taxed by a distant legislature in which they could not participate.
In October 1765, 27 delegates from nine colonies met in New York to coordinate
efforts to get the Stamp Act repealed. They passed resolutions asserting the
individual colonies' right to impose their own taxes.
Self-government produced local political leaders, and these
were the men who worked together to defeat what they considered to be
oppressive acts of Parliament.
After they succeeded, their coordinated campaign against Britain ended. During
the next several years, however, a small number of radicals tried to keep the
controversy alive. Their goal was not
accommodation, but independence.
Samuel Adams of Massachusetts was
the most effective. He wrote newspaper articles and made speeches appealing to
the colonists' democratic instincts. He helped organize committees throughout
the colonies that became the basis of a revolutionary movement. By 1773, the
movement had attracted colonial traders who were angry with British attempts to
regulate the tea trade. In December, a group of men sneaked on to three British
ships in Boston harbor and dumped their cargo of tea overboard. This incident,
which took place on December 16, 1773, has been seen as helping to spark the
American Revolution and is now referred to as The Boston Tea Party
To punish Massachusetts for the
vandalism, the British Parliament closed the port of Boston and restricted
local authority. The new measures,
dubbed the Intolerable Acts, backfired. Rather than isolate one colony,
they rallied the others. All the colonies except Georgia sent representatives
to Philadelphia in September 1774 to
discuss their "present unhappy state." It was the first Continental
Congress.
Colonists felt a growing sense of frustration and anger over British
encroachment on their rights. Yet by no means was there unanimity of
thought on what should be done. Loyalists wanted to remain subjects of the
king. Moderates favored compromise to produce a more acceptable relationship
with the British government. And
revolutionaries wanted complete independence. They began stockpiling
weapons and mobilizing forces — waiting for the day when they would have to
fight for it.
THE
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The American Revolution — its war for independence from Britain — began
as a small skirmish between British troops and armed colonists on April 19,
1775.
The British had set out from Boston,
Massachusetts, to seize weapons and ammunition that revolutionary colonists had
collected in nearby villages. At Lexington, they met a group of Minutemen, who
got that name because they were said to be ready to fight in a minute. The
Minutemen intended only a silent protest, and their leader told them not to
shoot unless fired on first. The British ordered the Minutemen to disperse, and
they complied. As they were withdrawing, someone fired a shot. The British
troops attacked the Minutemen with guns and bayonets.
Fighting broke out at other places
along the road as the British soldiers in their bright red uniforms made their
way back to Boston. More than 250 "redcoats" were killed or wounded.
The Americans lost 93 men.
Deadly clashes continued around
Boston as colonial representatives hurried to Philadelphia to discuss the
situation. A majority voted to go to war against Britain. They agreed to
combine colonial militias into a continental army, and they appointed George Washington
of Virginia as commander-in-chief. At the same time, however, this Second Continental Congress adopted a
peace resolution urging King George III to prevent further hostilities. The
king rejected it and on August 23 declared that the American colonies were in
rebellion.
Calls for independence intensified
in the coming months. Radical political theorist Thomas Paine helped
crystallize the argument for separation. In a pamphlet called Common Sense,
which sold 100,000 copies, he attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy. Paine presented two alternatives for
America: continued submission under a tyrannical king and outworn system of
government, or liberty and happiness as a self-sufficient, independent
republic.
The Second Continental Congress
appointed a committee, headed by Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, to prepare a
document outlining the colonies' grievances against the king and explaining
their decision to break away. This
Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776. The 4th of July has
since been celebrated as America's Independence Day.
Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, an enduring symbol of American freedom. It was first rung on July
8, 1776, to celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
(Interior Department/National Park Service)
The Declaration of Independence not
only announced the birth of a new nation. It also set forth a philosophy of
human freedom that would become a dynamic force throughout the world. It drew
upon French and British political ideas, especially those of John Locke in his
Second Treatise on Government, reaffirming the belief that political rights are
basic human rights and are thus universal.
Declaring independence did not make Americans free.
British forces routed continental
troops in New York, from Long Island to New York City. They defeated the
Americans at Brandywine, Pennsylvania, and occupied Philadelphia, forcing the
Continental Congress to flee. American forces were victorious at Saratoga, New
York, and at Trenton and Princeton in New Jersey. Yet George Washington
continually struggled to get the men and materials he desperately needed.
Decisive help came in 1778 when France recognized the United
States and signed a bilateral defense treaty.
Without
the French, the Colonies would not have won their independence. Support from the French government, however,
was based on geopolitical, not ideological, reasons. France wanted to weaken
the power of Britain, its long-time adversary.
The fighting that began at
Lexington, Massachusetts, continued for eight years across a large portion of
the continent. Battles were fought from Montreal, Canada, in the north to
Savannah, Georgia, in the south. A huge
British army surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781, yet the war dragged on
with inconclusive results for another two years.
A peace treaty was finally signed in Paris on April 15,
1783. Our true independence!
The Revolution had a significance
far beyond North America. It attracted the attention of Europe's political
theorists and strengthened the concept of natural rights throughout the Western
world. It attracted notables such as Thaddeus Kosciusko, Friedrich von Steuben,
and the Marquis de Lafayette, who joined the revolution and hoped to transfer
its liberal ideas to their own countries.
The Treaty of Paris acknowledged the
independence, freedom, and sovereignty of the 13 former American colonies, now
states. The task of knitting them together into a new nation lay ahead.
Have you ever wondered what
happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Ø Five were captured by the British as traitors;
tortured before they died.
Ø Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.
Ø Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary
Army; another had two sons captured.
Ø Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or
hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their
fortunes, and their sacred honor.
Ø What kind of men were they?
Ø Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.
Ø Eleven were merchants,
Ø Nine were farmers and large plantation owners
Ø Men of means, well educated, but they signed the
Declaration of Independence knowing
full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Ø Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and
trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home
and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Ø Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he
was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his
family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was
his reward.
Ø Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of
Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett,
Heyward, Rutt ledge, and Middleton.
Ø At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted
that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his
headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home
was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Ø Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed.
The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
Ø John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she
was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill
were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves,
returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
Some of us take these liberties so much
for granted, but we shouldn't.
