WHY REVOLUTION?

Presentation by Ross Bosse | Based on lecture of Dr. Peter Leibiger

To understand why Americans resorted to revolution against England, it is important to understand who the colonists were and what their major political ideology was.

IDENTITY OF COLONIAL AMERICA

The people were British Identied themselves as from colony 1st and British 2nd Americans a term rst used in Europe to describe the colonists

PROSPERITY
Colonists had a higher standard of living than those in England 18th Century Americans were the most prosperous people on earth Belief that the King was plotting to subjugate the colonies

POLITICS IN ENGLAND
Two predominant political parties Tories > Supported the King Whigs > Supported the Parliament

John Wilkes | Radical Whig

THE RADICAL WHIGS

Radicals on the fringes of the left-wing Focus on liberty Advocated classless society with no disparity in wealth large middle class Not taken very seriously in England
John Wilkes as viewed in England

THE RADICAL WHIGS

Favored universal manhood surage weapon against tyranny People need to rebel in order to protect freedom

WARNING SIGNS OF TYRANNY!

...according to the Radical Whigs

1. Government maintaining a standing army in time of peace 2. Government takes away trial by jury 3. Taxation without consent

Americans couldnt get enough of Radical Whig writing that advocated for freedom and a strong middle class. Why?

1. Whigs describing the American world 2. Americans were geographic and political outsiders like the Whigs

The result? Americans found it easy to believe that British government was conspiring against them!

In the 1760s the British started cracking down on the colonies...all of the things the Whigs had warned against!

THE STAMP ACT (1765)

Warning!
Tax on printed paper products and legal document Money raised to pay for defense (standing army) in colonies Violators tried in military court without jury

A self fullling prophecy

Americas over reaction to the various taxes, standing armies, and violations of rights drove the British to be more tyrannical over the colonies...

...kind of like an overbearing parent dealing with a rebellious teenager

OUR CAUSE IS JUST...OUR UNION IS PERFECT BEING WITH ONE MIND RESOLVED TO DIE FREEMEN, RATHER THAN TO LIVE SLAVES

Response

Unhappy it is ... to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America are either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?
~George Washington, 1775

~Thomas Jefferson, 1775

In the end, the American Revolution grew out of increasing restrictions placed upon the colonies by the British.

Advocates for revolution truly believed that the choice was to ght for freedom or become slaves of the British.

It would be costly in terms of money and lives lost.

We pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor was not simply rhetoric!

The End...