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WHY REVOLUTION?
Presentation by Ross Bosse | Based on lecture of Dr. Peter
Leibiger
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To understand why Americans resorted to
revolution against England, it is importantto understand who the
colonists were andwhat their major political ideology was.
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IDENTITY OF COLONIAL AMERICA
The people were British
Identified themselves as
from colony 1st and British
2nd
Americans a term firstused in Europe to describe
the colonists
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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 thecolonies
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POLITICS IN ENGLAND
Two predominant political
parties
Tories > Supported the
King
Whigs > Supported theParliament
John Wilkes | Radical Whig
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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
EnglandJohn Wilkes as viewed in England
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THE RADICAL WHIGS
Favored universalmanhood suffrage
weapon against tyranny
People need to rebel inorder to protect freedom
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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 jury3. Taxation without
consent
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Americans couldnt get enough of Radical Whig writingthat
advocated for freedom and a strong middle class. Why?
1. Whigs describing the American world
2. Americans were geographic and political outsiders like
theWhigs
The result? Americans found it easy to believe that
Britishgovernment was conspiring against them!
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In the 1760s the British started crackingdown on the
colonies...all of the things theWhigs had warned against!
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THE STAMP ACT (1765)
Tax on printed paper
products and legaldocument
Money raised to pay for
defense(standing army
)incolonies
Violators tried in military
court without jury
Warning!
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A self fulfilling prophecyAmericas 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
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OUR CAUSE IS JUST...OUR UNION IS PERFECT
BEING WITH ONE MIND RESOLVED TO DIEFREEMEN, RATHER THAN TO LIVE
SLAVES
~Thomas Jefferson, 1775
Unhappy it is ... to reflect that a brother's swordhas been
sheathed in a brother's breast, andthat the once happy and peaceful
plains of
America are either to be drenched with blood orinhabited by
slaves. Sad alternative! But can avirtuous man hesitate in his
choice?
~George Washington, 1775
Response
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In the end, the American Revolution grew out ofincreasing
restrictions placed upon the colonies by the
British.
Advocates for revolution truly believed that the choicewas to
fight 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 sacredhonor was not
simply rhetoric!
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The End...
