Assignment #1: The American Revolution
First Essay Assignment Directions: You are to write an essay of 4 to 5 pages in length in which you address one of the three questions listed below. You essay needs to have a heading, numbered pages, be double spaced throughout, cited following either MLA or APA guidelines, and include a works cited list. !. Discuss the two motivations for settlement of the New World by the British as typified by the examples of Jamestown and New Plymouth and contrast this with the pattern established by the Spanish and Portugese. Go on to discuss how colonial America’ economic role within the larger British Empire. Discuss what factors you think led the Americans to develop a distinct identity apart from their understanding of themselves as English men and women. 2. Write an essay in which you discuss in detail the causes and major events leading up to the American Revolution. What were the various advantages and disadvantages each side possessed going into the war? Explain why the Americans won and what problems they faced after wining independence. 3. What were the major problems faced by any two of the following presidential administrations; the Washington Administration, the Adams Administration, the Jefferson Administration, the Madison Administration, and the Monroe Administration. For the two presidents you pick tell me what were the key factors both in terms of domestic as well as foreign policy that each administration had to deal with and how well did each president handle those issues. Finally, provide an argument for which presidency you think contributed the most to the future shape of American history. Sources: You must use at least three sources. Two of these sources must be books. One must be an internet source. Grading: The essay is worth 100 points. You will be graded on 1. accuracy of content 2. structure of your presentation (i.e., does the essay have a proper format, is the thesis well developed, and does the paper support the thesis.) 3. mechanics (i.e. spelling, margins, spacing, proper use of citations, etc.).
Assignment #1-The American Revolution
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The American Revolution was a war between the British and the 13 colonies in North America that began in 1775 to 1783. The protracted repression in the form of governance without representation of the British aggrieved the colonists and stimulated the rise of republicanism and defense for liberty (Hickman, n.d). The American revolution surfaced for a number of reasons including opposition to the new taxes and trade restrictions imposed on colonists as ways of generating revenue, opposition to land settlement proclamations that prohibited freedom of settling down in certain areas such as west of Appalachian mountains, opposition to the lack of American representation in the legislative organ in Britain, and opposition to the Quartering Act. Other causes include the fact that colonists had also been empowered to pursue self-governance after participating in the seven year war against the French. They gained confidence and pride in the fact that they no longer required the British to protect them. They were also deeply angered by the British’s policy that required them to finance war through taxes (Boucher, 1797).
The events leading to the American Revolution commenced after the French and Indian war in that ended in 1763. Britain and France had established colonies what is presently known as the United States of America and Canada respectively. The two imperial powers aggressively sought colonies in the western hemisphere and France at some point attempted to gain control over a stretch of land touching Mississippi river and Texas. Antagonism between the British and the French was most vividly experienced during the famous French and Indian war over Ohio River. Britain joined forces with the Americans and gained victory over the French (Woodburn, 2010). Britain suffered great defeat such as during the first two years and following General Braddock defeat Britain required injecting more resources into the war. Injection of more resources resulted in conquest over Canada and France lost its colonies in America with an exception of New Orleans. This war that lasted from 1754 to 1763 and it was one of the triggers of the American Revolution. The high expenses of the war coupled with the cost of managing the newly acquired colonies forced Britain to begin imposing extra cost burdens on colonists, which they loathed (Housel, 2014).
One of the events that triggered the revolution is the move that the British took by enacting the proclamation act of 1763 to bar Americans from venturing into the areas where Native Americans lived in the guise that it sought to prevent hostilities between the native Americans and the colonists. However, Britain had realized that its resources were insufficient to assume control over the colonists in the far west areas of the Appalachian Mountains. The Americans realized this and were aggrieved by the move to deter them from investing in the lucrative opportunities in fur, timber and land that were available in the area. This event was followed by other revenue raising laws that further infuriated American colonists.
The British required American colonists to provide basic needs to troops through the quartering act. This move deeply aggrieved the American colonists and one of the most conspicuous revolts was when the New York Assembly failed to released resources that the British army had requisitioned for a project to construct army barracks. The American colonists vigilantly opposed British taxes such as the stamp tax and the Townshend act which sought to tax every form of written material and imported goods in the colonists respectively. They opposed the stamp tax through sons of liberty and congress meetings with delegates from different colonies in New York that were initiated by Massachusetts. South Carolina, Massachusetts and New York Assembly championed against the Townshend Act and all American colonies boycotted imports which had serious repercussions for British Merchants (History Central, 2013).
The British responded to Massachusetts instigation of the boycott to the Townshend act by dispatching troops to Boston which sparked further concerted resentment of the colonists towards the British in 1768. This was followed by the 1770 Boston Massacre where the British troops killed five American colonists that were among the crowd that had taunted them on King Street. This sparked more anger across all the colonies against the British. In 1774, the colonists geared their efforts against tea imports and coerced tea firms to refrain from selling tea. They also interfered with the tea shipments preventing them from landing by dumping the tea in the Boston harbor and the British receiving no taxes in the famous tea party. The British responded by punishing Massachusetts through the Intolerable Acts in 1774. They closed the harbor, to prevent their access to basic supplies, required facing trial in Britain for officials suspected of serious crimes and restricted the Massachusetts residents freedom of association and instituted crown appointees in the Judiciary and council instead of elected officials. The government also enacted the quartering act by force and the Quebec act which expanded its territory to areas that had been sidelined in the proclamation act and the recognition of Catholicism as the only religion allowed. This was followed by the formation of the first continental congress in 1774 which drew participation from all colonies except Georgia. They agreed on not importing or exporting goods from and to Britain as a way of sabotaging Britain’s governance without representation ploy (History Central, 2013).
In going to the war Britain had advantages such as it h...