What was the American Revolution?
THE RevolutionAmerican it is also known as the independence of the United States and was declared on July 4, 1776. With this process, the Thirteen Colonies of North America were separated from the colonial bond that existed since the mid-seventeenth century and the transformation of the United States into an independent nation, with a system republican and federalist.
Although it was based on ideals illuminists, which preached ideals of freedom and equal rights, the independence of the United States was carried out by the colonial elite and aimed at guaranteeing the interests and privileges of that class. She served as an inspiration for other similar movements in America.
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reasons for independence
The independence movement of the United States was motivated by discontent with the expansion of the metropolis' exploitation over the colony. The Thirteen Colonies were constituted with a high degree of autonomy - unlike what happened with the colonies Spanish and Portuguese – and, from the 18th century onwards, the English attempts to reduce this autonomy generated dissatisfaction.
During the 17th century, England was involved in a series of conflicts, both in Europe and North America, which affected its coffers. Of these conflicts, the most important was the Seven Years War (1756-1763) that put the English and the French at war. At the end of this war, England emerged victorious, but heavily in debt.
The English victory in the Seven Years War allowed them to gain access to a large amount of land in the west, which was of interest to the colonists. The British Crown, however, prohibited the occupation of these lands to avoid confrontations with the indigenous nations, displeasing the colonists of America.
With the involvement in these wars, England found itself in debt, and the colony came to be seen as a way to obtain economic recovery. This caused several taxes aimed at increasing the collection to be decreed by England. These taxes and laws were also intended to impose control over the colony's economy to make it more dependent on the metropolis.
This need to control the economy of the Thirteen Colonies and make it dependent on goods English was a consequence of the industrial development of the metropolis, which happened with the Revolution Industrial. Increased metropolitan control over the colony led England to enact a number of rather unpopular laws in America.
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First, the Stamp Law of 1765 in which it was decreed that every document printed in the colony would only be considered valid upon receiving an English seal. This decree provoked many protests in America, which caused the British to repeal this law the following year.
The trigger that led to the beginning of the independence movement was the tea law, which determined the monopoly of the sale of tea in America to the East India Company. This displeased local elites and caused a small uprising known as Boston Tea Party, in which settlers invaded Boston Harbor and threw more than 300 cases of tea overboard.
The colonists' demonstration of rebellion was accompanied by strong repression by the colony, which responded by occupying the colony of Massachusetts, imposing a ban on meetings in that city and demanding the payment of damages by the colonists. These determinations became known as Intolerable Laws.
After the Intolerable Laws, the colonial elite gathered in the First Continental Congress of Philadelphia, in which representatives of the colonies, with the exception of Georgia, drew up a document for the English king George III in which they protested against the imposed measures, but reaffirmed their loyalty to the king English. The metropolis' response was more repression, with the increase in the number of soldiers installed in the colony.
This resulted in the realization of the Second Continental Congress of Philadelphia in which the colonial elite met again and concluded that it was no longer possible to remain under English rule in view of the disrespect of the metropolis to colonial interests. Thus, the declaration of independence was drawn up, which was issued on July 4, 1776.
The independence process of the English colonies led to an armed conflict with England, which sought to ensure its control over the colony. The US War of Independence lasted until 1781, with a battle in the city of Yorktown.
With the end of the war, the British signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, in which they recognized the independence of their former colony. After independence, the Thirteen Colonies adopted a republican model and a federalist system that guaranteed the application of autonomy to the states. The name adopted for the new nation was USA.
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SILVA, Daniel Neves. "What was the American Revolution?"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/o-que-e/historia/o-que-foi-revolucao-americana.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
