ASSIGNMENT-1 DATE: 04-09-2019

Question: Trace the development of the American

Revolution by elaborating upon the mercantile policies of
Great Britain and the following acts. Briefly present a
historiographical sketch on the American Revolution.

HISTROY OF THE USA : INDEPENDENCE TO CIVIL WAR

INTRODUCTION: EARLY SETTLEMENTS

The early 1600s saw the beginning of a great tide of emigration from Europe to North America.
Spanning more than three centuries, this movement grew from a trickle of a few hundred English
colonists to a flood of millions of newcomers. Impelled by powerful and diverse motivations, they built a
new civilization on the northern part of the continent. Most European emigrants left their homelands to
escape political oppression, to seek the freedom to practice their religion, or to find opportunities
denied them at home.
Between 1620-1635, economic difficulties swept England ,it became impossible to find jobs as even
skilled artisan too could barely earn . Added by the Commercial Revolution that created a burgeoning
textile industry due to its forever demand of wool people were thrown out of jobs and forced peasants
to cultivate wool- hence colonial expansion became an outlet for this displaced peasant population.
America’s political conditions attracted people, as according to the arbitrary rule by England’s Charles I
gave impetus to the migration. In contrast to the colonization policies of other countries and other
periods, the emigration from England was not directly sponsored by the government but by private
groups of individuals whose chief motive was profit.
JAMESTOWN The first of the British colonies to take hold in North America. A new wave of immigrants
arrived on the shores of MASSACHUSETTS Bay in 1630 .Many of them were Puritans whose religious
practices were increasingly prohibited in England and was to play a significant role in the development
of the entire New England region. Under general court it guaranteed that the Puritans would be the
dominant political as well as religious force in the colony. NEW NETHERLAND AND MARYLAND -a
Swedish trading company with ties to the Dutch attempted to set up its first settlement along the
Delaware River three years later. Without the resources to consolidate its position, New Sweden was
gradually absorbed into New Netherland, and later, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Maryland’s royal
charter had a mixture of feudal and modern elements.

13 BRITISH COLONIES
There were Thirteen British Colonies in America on the Atlantic coast of North America founded
between 1607 (Virginia) and 1733 (Georgia). These were Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, New
York, and Rhode Island. These were the colonies later rebelled against the colonial rule of Britain and
came to be known as United States of America. The religious and civil conflict in England in the mid-17th
century limited immigration, as well as the attention the mother country paid the fledgling American
colonies. One of the casualties was the state’s Toleration Act, which was revoked in the1650s. In 1660,
the British once again turned their attention to North America. Within a brief span, established in the
Carolinas and the Dutch driven out of New Netherland. New proprietary colonies were established in
New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and In 1681 William Penn, a wealthy Quaker and friend of Charles II,
received a large tract of land west of the Delaware River, which became known as Pennsylvania .
Over the years ,the local population had become estranged from them. As a result, when the British
colonists began encroaching on Dutch claims in Long Island and Manhattan, the unpopular governor
was unable to rally the population to their defence. Georgia was settled in 1732, the last of the 13
colonies to be established. Lying close to, if not actually inside the boundaries of Spanish Florida, the
region was viewed as a buffer against Spanish incursion. Most settlers who came to America in the 17th
century were English, but there were also Dutch, Swedes, and Germans in the middle region, a few
French Huguenots in South Carolina and elsewhere, slaves from Africa, primarily in the South, and as
catering of Spaniards, Italians, and Portuguese throughout the colonies.

FRENCH-INDIAN WAR / SEVEN YEAR WAR (1756-63)

The two great European powers of the time i.e. Britain and France were arch rivals in America, Asia and
Africa in order to extend their political influence and make new colonies. The conflict evolved into a series
of maritime wars between two European powers as they sought to expand their own empires at the
expense of the others. These conflicts came to have a big impact on how English and French spread
around the world.
From the 1650s, the New World increasingly became a battleground between the two powers. The 13
colonies of Britain in America from north and west were surrounded by the French colonies. The French
had settled in the province of Canada to the North, and controlled Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean, the
wealthiest colony in the world. In the early 1750s, French expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly
brought France into armed conflict with the British colonies. This culminated into Seven Year War (1756-
63) between the two European powers. It is also known as French India War in Northern America. The
name refers to the two main enemies of the British colonists: the royal French forces and the various
Indigenous forces allied with them.
Apart from Britain and France, their respective allies and colonies in Europe, Asia and America got
involved in this war. The war escalated from a regional affair into a world-wide conflict for example in
India the hostilities was manifested in the form of Carnatic War wherein the English and French companies
and their regional allies in India got involved. In the Seven Year War, the French forces got the support of
the native tribes of America; on the other hand the 13 colonies sided with Britain. Representatives of the
colonies met at Albany Congress in 1754 and advocated for a union of the British colonies in North America
for their security and defence against the French. The Albany Congress also an adopted proposal of
Benjamin Franklin to establish a colonial union. George Washington the first President of United States
played a dynamic role in this war. Washington never gained the commission in the British army but he
gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills. After Seven Years’ War George Washington had
become the first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The most significant cause the American Revolution was the basic
contradiction between the interests of the metropolis and the colony. The colonial powers have all along
been responsible for this, as these continued to exploit their colonies much to the annoyance and
displeasure of their people. Apart from this the political awakening has been gradually coming in every
part of the world. This is what happened in America as well
Geographical constraints: The distance of the colonies from Great Britain created an
The Navigation Acts channelled the flow of colonial raw materials into England and kept foreign goods
and vessels out of colonial ports. The Navigation Acts incorporated multiple laws that were created over
a period of time. The Acts were passed with the theory of mercantilism, which restricted free trade. The
Navigation Act of 1651 banned imported goods from other countries, unless the ship or cargo had an all-
British crew. The second Act was extended to exports in addition to imports. Four more Acts were passed
between the years of 1662 and 1773, which proposed even more restrictions on trade. . Navigation Acts
of 1651, 1660 and 1663 ensured that trade was carried only in British or colonial ships; that most European
goods had to pass through Britain before entering the American colonies; that certain goods like tobacco
and rice declared enumerated goods could be shipped only in Britain; that bounties would be paid for the
production of certain enumerated goods to promote British economic self-sufficiency.

No taxation without representation: The British Parliament controlled colonial trade and implemented
the taxing of imports and exports since 1660. The colonist objected the right of British Parliament to
impose taxes on the American colonies. The logic behind this objection had its basis in the English
Revolution of 17th century. In the 17th century in Britain, the Parliament (House of Commons) became
gradually powerful institution and objected the legitimacy of those Acts passed by Kings related to the
taxation in which the consent of Parliament was not taken. The champions of Parliamentary politics in
England were of the view that since Parliament was elected body and the representative of the people
so it should have the exclusive rights related to taxation. The colonists were of the view that since British
parliament did not have representation of American colonies, principally it should not make the taxation
laws for them. By making the taxation laws for the American colonies, the British Parliament is actually
defying the principles and legacy on which it itself rests. American colonist came up with the slogan of
“No taxation without representation”. According to the revolutionaries the lack of representation in the
British Parliament was a clearly a violation of the rights of the colonists. Thus, taxation and all other
laws that affected the colonists directly and indirectly were not constitutional at all. During the
American Revolution, there were only a few British citizens that were represented and they were not
even a part of the colonies.
The following were the taxation laws which were opposed by the colonists:
1. Navigation Acts 1651 A series of Acts that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade
between England and its colonies.
2. Molasses Act 1733 Forcing the colonists to buy the more expensive sugar from the British West
Indies instead.
3. Currency Act 1751, 1764 Restricted the emission of paper money by the colonies of North
America
4. Stamps Act 1765 Act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on
stamped paper produced in London
5. Townshend Acts 1767 To raise revenue in the colonies to pay the salaries of governors and
judges so that they would be independent of colonial rule
6. Tea Act 1773 To reduce the massive surplus of tea held by the financially troubled British
East India Company in its London warehouses.

Thus it was the principles of taxation which was involved in the import duties and not the actual amount
which would come to the treasury. This was very much objected by the people of America. The
resistance of tax gradually changed into open defiance and lawlessness.
COMMON SENSE AND INDEPENDENCE
In January 1776, Thomas Paine, a radical political theorist and writer who had come to America from
England in 1774, published a 50-page pamphlet, Common Sense. Within three months, it sold 100,000
copies. Paine attacked the idea of a hereditary monarchy, declaring that one honest man was worth
more to society than “all the crowned ruffians that ever lived.” He presented the alternatives —
continued submission to a tyrannical king and an outworn government, or liberty and happiness as a
self-sufficient, independent republic. Circulated throughout the colonies, Common Sense helped to
crystallize a decision for separation.
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
Largely Jefferson’s work, the Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, not only announced
the birth of a new nation, but also set forth a philosophy of human freedom that would become a
dynamic force throughout the entire world. The Declaration drew upon French and English
Enlightenment political philosophy, but one influence in particular stands out: John Locke’s Second
Treatise on Government.
BATTLE
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The American Revolution proved to be important not only for the 13 colonies which gained freedom
from Britain, but it also propagated the modern ideas of liberty, equality and republicanism in
European nations and their colonies. The impact of Revolution was not just confined to the political life
and related institution.
For the first time in the history of mankind a written Constitution came into force which explicitly
talked about equality and rights. Americans succeeded in establishing themselves as an independent
country. In due course of time they grew strong and had deep influence on the social, political and
intellectual life of people everywhere but it explicitly and/or implicitly shaped the socio-economic
dynamics of the society as well. Revolution led to the growth of mass participation in politics and the
emergence of the free market based on the ideals of economic development and political equality.
American Revolution gave a big blow to monarchical society and aristocratic privileges. By this defeat
England learnt that if old colonial policy was continued, she might lose other colonies in the same way
too. As a result England came to follow liberal policy towards her colonies. After the Revolution the
patriarchal control of men over their wives declined the equal rights of widows and daughters were
recognized in matters concerning inheritance and possession of property.
VICTORY AND INDEPENDENCE
In July 1780 France’s King Louis XVI had sent to America an expeditionary force of 6,000 men under the
Comte Jean de Rochambeau. In addition, the French fleet harassed British shipping and blocked
reinforcement and resupply of British forces in Virginia. French and American armies and navies, totaling
18,000 men, parried with Cornwallis all through the summer and into the fall. Finally, on October 19
1781, after being trapped at York town near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, Cornwallis surrendered his
army of 8,000 British soldiers. Although Cornwallis’s defeat did not immediately end the war — which
would drag on inconclusively for almost two more years — a new British government decided to pursue
peace negotiations in Paris in early 1782, with the American side represented by Benjamin Franklin,
John Adams, and John Jay. On April 15, 1783, Congress approved the final treaty. Signed on
September 3, the Treaty of Paris acknowledged the independence, freedom, and sovereignty of the 13
former colonies, now states. The new United States stretched west to the Mississippi River, north to
Canada, and south to Florida, which was returned to Spain. The fledgling colonies that Richard Henry Lee
had spoken of more than seven years before had finally become “free and independent states.”
The task of knitting together a nation remained.

HISTORIOGRAPHY