Jonathan Sewall vs John Adams

Leading up to the American Revolution, were a chain of events that created a spark in the colonists to obtain independence from Great Britain. The American Revolution could not be tied to one single event but instead by the feelings and determination brought on by this chain of disgraceful actions. Gordon S. Wood explains what he believes caused the rebellion of the American colonists from Great Britain and how those causes help explain the outcomes of the revolution in his essay, “Radical Possibilities of the American Revolution.” Wood argues that the colonists were motivated to rebel against the British monarchy due to their need to preserve their liberties and through this revolution a radical change in government and American life occurred.

“Despite the view of some historians that the conflict between Great Britain and its thirteen North American colonies was economic in origin, in fact the American Revolution had its roots in politics and other areas of American life.” Great Britain and the American colonies had a relationship impacted with many hardships. I believe that there was a political struggle between the two groups, but that Great Britain and the American colonies used economics as a chance to show how much control they had. Multiple Acts written by Parliament, the colonies' Committees of Correspondence and Continental Congress created political friction between Great Britain and the American colonies.

4. What was the Revolutionary movement, at its core, really all about? Was it about the amount of taxation, the right of Parliament to tax, the political corruption of Britain and the virtue of America, the right of a king to govern America, or the colonies’ growing sense of national identity apart from Britain? Was the Revolution truly a radical overturning of government and society—the usual definition of a revolution—or something far more limited or even conservative in its defense of traditional rights?

When unreasonable taxes such as the Stamp Act, were implemented, the colonists passively expressed their complaints, grievances, and rights to others in the colonies or even to the king and British Parliament. They published pamphlets, letters, and other forms of expression that were widely viewed and read in the colonies, spreading and encouraging ideas of independence and rebellion. For example, in document 1, the images depict two clearly written phrases, “No Stamp Act” and “America, Liberty Restored.” These affirm their resentment towards

In 46 Pages author Scott Liell is able to poignantly illustrate the colonies metamorphosis from a dependent arm of the English Empire to an independent country, the catalyst for which was Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Liell is able to not only articulate the turning point of the American consensus towards independence, but he also very intelligibly depicts the sentiments of all facets of colonial dogma and the torrential effect that Common Sense had in loosening the cement that held those beliefs. Using fantastic examples of the opinions of Tories, Whigs, and those ambivalent towards independence, Liell efficiently and

Samuel Seabury, when writing the Letters of A Westchester Farmer, is debating in the press the legitimacy of the Continental Congress that meet in Philadelphia a few months before, condemning this gathering as subversive to the British Empire and Seabury equates the colonial demand for legislative rights as arrogant and “whiggish nonsense”. Alexander Hamilton challenges these

American colonists should support the Declaration of Independence and the Patriots in the Revolutionary War. Great Britain was taxing the American colonists because of Britain’s great debt from the French and Indian War. Britain made the quartering act, the stamp act, townshend act, and the tea act. This is taxation without representation and it was unjust. The Patriots were angry and rightfully so. The King was making the colonists pay taxes on imported goods to decrease his country’s debt, the Patriots were outraged and wanted freedom.

Many colonists remained loyal to the British Crown because they believed that it offered necessary protection and they

For a better part of the eighteenth century, the American colonists expressed vexation and disapproval of the "coercive " acts, which the British Government perpetrated on the colony through series of legislative acts by the British Parliament. Prior to the acts that the colonists in America termed as atrocious and oppressive, they were willing to cooperate and reaffirm loyalty to the King of England. Some of the legislations and declarations that colonists participated in was the sustenance of British soldiers in the colony, payment of import tariffs and other forms of taxes to support the British central government. These are but a few, the reasons as to why colonists objected to the mode of British rule in America. Another concern was the "Rights violations" by the English government regarding economic progress and representation. Because of these grievances, British colonists in America stepped up agitation through violation of the "tyrannical" Acts and petitions through the Continental Congress. The essay explores the grievances that Colonists in America held against the British government, in riposte to "My Dear America Cousin" letter.

Henceforth, the overall rundown of the book is based off the British view of the the American Revolution and how they viewed the colonist from a retrospect in the events happening. To begin with, King George the III had been placing taxes on the colonist, which made them furious over their relationship with him. The loyalist saw these “acts” as a part of

During the time period of 1600 to 1776, the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed massively. The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed greatly because of three main reasons: the relationships that the colonies and Great Britain were built on, the struggles that the colonists faced because of their relationships with Great Britain, and the anger that the colonists expressed because of the ridiculous taxes that they had to pay. Once the colonists realized that they were suffering under British rule, most of the colonists became eager to be independent from Great Britain. The colonists’ Second Continental Congress believed that the acts and taxes created by the British Parliament were unconstitutional, unjust, and unfair towards the colonists and because of that belief, the Declaration signers forever changed our country.

Changes in British policies toward the colonies between 1750 and 1776 played paramount in the evolution of relations between British North America and Mother England. Tension between England and the colonies mounted from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War to the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a result of the several implemented changes imposed by Parliament for the purpose of increasing income and tightening the grip on America.

While all of the above social, cultural and economic circumstances were playing out and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution, several important political developments came to fruition in the concluding half of the 18th century that sealed the certainty of the American Revolution and made it inevitable. These developments, namely, the relative strengths of the local and colonial governments at the time, the betrayal of the colonies by the British Crown after King George’s War, and the end of Salutary Neglect, proved to present insurmountable odds to the colonists.

James Thatcher, an American militia soldier for the Continental Army, kept a journal of his thoughts and feelings. His journal shows that he was also disgusted by the Brittanian claim to rule the colonies “as the only supreme and uncontrollable legislative power,” (John Thatcher January) when he said that “the people of these colonies consider themselves as British subjects, entitled to all the rights and privileges of Freemen. It is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them but with their own consent, given personally or by their representatives,” (John Thatcher January). This crime against the American's natural rights was Thatcher's reason for joining the Continental Army. John Thatcher’s personal accounts, which many Continental Army man and militia would agree upon as their motives too, supports the movie and also shows the impact the first Age of Enlightenment had on the people in the American colonies.

The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American