The founding of America is not only complex but also very interesting. What justifications did the Founders have to call for a revolution against the British and what did that revolution lead to in the end? Key events in history led to a tipping point where American colonists had to decide whether to stay under the British rule or to secede and declare independence. What were the events and ideas prior to the revolution that made this era so different from other times in world history and what inevitably emerged from the success of it?
One key document that was produced at the founding of America was the Declaration of Independence and another was the American Constitution. The Constitution is a document that many still uphold today as legitimate and valuable for the nation’s law, but what of the Declaration of Independence? When asked why we should care what the Declaration of Independence says when it’s not in the Constitution, Randy E Barnett responded, “The Declaration of Independence was the legal document that separated America from the polity that America was once a member of, which was Great Britain, what the founders believed was that in order to justify their actions as non-traitors, they needed to offer a political and legal justification for their acts and the declaration took on that responsibility, The Declaration of Independence identifies the political theory on which the country was founded.” So what led to the separation of America from Great Britain? What were some of the causes of the revolution and what were the events that led up to the founding of the United States of America. The influences of the revolution were the philosophies of Liberalism and Republicanism, ideas of property rights, ideas of equality and liberty, the belief in “no taxation without representation” and various inequitable acts and laws.
The philosophies of Liberalism and Republicanism were two main philosophies that influenced the revolution. Liberalism came first and Republicanism had a secondary role. About a century before the revolution, John Locke’s “Two Treatises of Government,” published in 1689, introduces ideas such as “equality by creation,” “rights by creation,” “consent of the governed,” the “social contract,” and “natural rights.” Thomas Jefferson in particular was influenced by Locke’s writings. These ideas of a Republican government were based on sovereignty in the people as opposed to a monarchy or aristocracy. The Founding Fathers believed strongly that a Republic based on the principles of Liberalism was the best-known form of government. Alexander Hamilton said, “If it be asked, What is the most sacred duty and the greatest source of our security in a Republic? The answer would be, An inviolable respect for the Constitution and Laws—the first growing out of the last.... A sacred respect for the constitutional law is the vital principle, the sustaining energy of a free government.” The Constitution was full of John Locke's Liberal ideas. “Equality by creation” asserts that a divine being created each person and that this being would not create certain humans unequal to any other human, a generally different idea than what people believed before, which was that the monarch or the Pope were above other humans. The “social contract” also introduced a revolutionary change: The Law of Nature in relation to humans is that people should not harm each other or their possessions, and that the government would be needed to defend against people seeking to violate these laws. In other words, according to Locke, a government's basic duties were to protect individuals lives, liberty, and property. He also concluded that these natural rights were absolute;thus, the rule of God supplanted government authority. In contrast to “the divine right of kings,” which monarchs used to justify their rule, the “consent of the governed” also influenced the revolutionaries minds: a government’s right to use state power is only justified when consented to by the people or society over which that power is exercised. Locke’s exact term is found in the 2nd paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, indicating his influence the founders. Overall Liberalism and Republicanism go hand in hand when it comes to reasons behind the revolution and the founding of the United States of America.
The belief in private property was prevalent among colonists. Many American Colonists claimed and owned property in the New World which sometimes led to legal disputes with the British: who really owned the land? Britain generally prohibited individuals from making their own bargains with the natives while some had already made deals prior to the laws that were enacted. In the book ”Our Enemy, The State,” libertarian writer Albert Jay Nock wrote that “land-speculation may be put down as the first major industry established in colonial America.” If land speculation was so important in America, then individuals would have a vested interest in making sure their land was not interfered with or taxed by the British government, to ensure the highest gain from their investment. Land speculation is significant because it shows that people had to make wise decisions about what kind of property they bought or claimed. If they had the British interfering with their property rights they could potentially lose money and reputation within their society. The right to own property whether through settlement on a plot of land or making a legal contract with the natives is a basic fundamental right according to many people involved in the revolution, as many of the founders owned big acres of land and real estate. Founding Father James Madison said “As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights.” The fundamental belief in property rights was being violated when the British government was taxing the individuals, the American colonists did not have representation in the state. There were disputes about who owned various land between the British, Americans colonists and Natives. The idea of property rights and private property was prevalent among the founders and they wanted to live in a country where they would get fair representation and the rule of law was being respected regarding land disputes.
Underlying American beliefs regarding equality between people and liberty of the individual prevailed among the Founders which led to the formation of a country based on these principles. The kind of equality and liberty that someone like Thomas Jefferson spoke of originated from the Founders’ biggest influence, John Locke. Locke, and later Jefferson, believed in the kind of equality called “equality by creation,” which states that each man is born according to the rights and privileges of the law of nature--equally with any other man or number of men in the world.” We call this Natural Law, a Law that is endowed by a creator such as God or a transcendent source. Many of the Founding Fathers were Deists and some were even Christians. Some basic principles of Natural Law are the right to life, liberty and property, phrases used later in the American declaration of independence. These ideas were relatively new in thought springing up after the Enlightenment. This is not to say that the American mindset was influenced directly by the Enlightenment because Enlightenment thinkers stressed reason over natural law, but rather to say that there was a myriad of ideas from secular and religious thinkers that made the European colonists open to new ideas. Perhaps another contributing factor to the ideas of equality and liberty was the Protestant Reformation. It is noted that a notable amount of European colonists were Protestants; freedom was one of the fundamental ideas to the reformers. “Freedom of religion” was also one of the principles within the American Constitution. Along with the ideas of natural law, this brought about the principles of equality and liberty among the American Founders’ mindset which led to the country changing the existing social aspects of the society to establish a new one: the Republic.
The main economic cause of the American revolution was the enforcement of “taxation without representation.” This means that they believed that the British should not be able to tax them if the colonists did not have representative members in the governing body. On February 1768, on page 89 of the London magazine headline the phrase “No taxation without representation” first appeared in the context of British American Colonial taxation. The British wanted to tax the Americans even though it was only British officials in the parliament. The Americans wanted at least some representation which led to escalations and tensions between the British rulers and American colonists. This greatly affected the economy of the New World because the British could simply raise taxes on the Americans to pay for British government services and debts. They could tax Americans for things that were not directly related to America, for example, paying back their war debts and governmental services that Great Britain had been accumulating. This issue of taxation was brought up by James Otis Jr. and he is quoted as saying “Taxation without representation is tyranny”. James Otis Jr. also wrote in 1764, from the book “Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved” that “the very act of taxing, exercised over those who are not represented, appears to me to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights, as freemen; and if continued, seems to be in effect an entire disfranchisement of every civil right.” Many other sources suggest that this was one of the top reasons for the revolution. Taxation and representation thereof was a main cause of the revolution because it affects individuals and the state on a economic level to such a degree that equality and fairness were not being respected.
Another economic cause of the revolution was various British imposed Acts and Laws like the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Currency Act, Townshend Acts, and the Tea Act. The Stamp Act imposed a direct tax on America, and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, These included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. The Stamp Act tax had to be paid in British currency and not colonial money, and this was unpopular as many colonists did not want or even have a say in the decision of this tax. In addition, the Sugar Act which listed more foreign goods to be taxed, including sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric, and printed calico, and also regulated the export of lumber and iron. This act also enforced stricter regulations on shipmasters if they failed to pay certain duties. The Currency Act was put in place to protect British merchants from being paid in devalued colonial currency; the British did not allow new currency in the form of colonial Bills of Credit to be used for private debts. The British did not favour the American system, where some bills of credit paid interest and others did not, some could be used for purchases rather than debt repayments, some could be used for public payments, and some for only private transaction. The British concluded the North American system was confusing and unsound, so they banned colonial paper money as legal tender in private transactions, although still permitted its use for public debt payments such as taxes. The Townshend Act was also a major cause of the revolution as the British added even more taxes on imported goods such as glass, paint, tea, and paper. The British sent more troops to enforce these laws because the Americans had already protested earlier acts such as the Stamp Act and this act took it one step further. This had a great impact on the city of Boston and the British by the year 1769 had over 2000 troops in Boston to put a stop to the unrest. One year later, on March 5th, British soldiers shot into a crowd of people killing five American colonists, surprisingly on that same day across the North Atlantic Ocean the Prime Minister of Great Britain had asked Parliament to repeal the Townshend Acts. All of these acts and laws culminated in the the people who became known as the Americans disdain for the British rule.
So when looking at the events prior to the Revolution we can identify not just one influence but a culmination of influences that led to the founding of America and rebellion from England. What came out of the Revolution and the founding of America was a country based on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as articulated in the Declaration of Independence. Revolution may be a taboo word for most in society today but in early America it was vital to changing the established rule of the British. With it comes responsibility, hardship, and even war<=. John Adam's famously said, “You will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it.” Overall, the causes of the American Revolution were new and revolutionary political ideologies, prominent support for the “consent of the governed,” freedom from tyranny, and strong support in sound government economic policy. So what has come of the American Republic since its establishment, about a century after the establishment of America? Abraham Lincoln said, “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” A government by the people and a government that serves the people with respect to life, liberty, and property is what America was intended to be, ought to be and meant to be according to the men and women who shaped the country long ago. Benjamin Franklin once said “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Only the future will tell where America’s current path leads, but we can learn from the past that it only takes a few great ideas to change the course of the history of the world.
Written by James Trudel
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