The Revolutionary Era

The Revolutionary Era

     War of Independence was political and social changes on United States accompanied with American Revolution. It all started on April 19, 1775 when 10 men stood on the center of Lexington, called minutemen. They organized as a defensive force. Before the war of Independence a war took placed called French and Indian war. That war affected United States in many ways.

     This affected a lot of people including the colonial leader George Washington. So they decided to be independent, the main causes were: The end to salutary neglect, the Stamp Act Crisis (merchants and artisans joined together in a boycott), they started to resist to slavery. By 1770, growing numbers of Americans were convinced that British politicians were engaged in nothing less that robs their own independence. Protest groups start complaining because British were taxing to take them away their properties and make them into what amounted to slaves.

    In the late 1760s British troops occupied Boston. Tensions between soldiers and townspeople exploded in the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770. With all this problems with the British troop the Parliament passed the Coercive Act in 1774 to punish the colony of Massachusetts. Among other people this act was called Intolerable Acts that virtually shut down individual town governments and the colonial legislature.

   The Revolution itself began long before the war and continues long after the war ended. It announced the creation of new society committed to such powerful ideas as equality and democracy. Two documents spread democratic ideas, the first one was written by Thomas Paine. His book was called Common Sense and it was published in 1776.  The second one was Thomas Jefferson he wrote the Declaration of Independence. When the declaration of Independence was approved many African Americans and white women began to apply the idea of equality to them. One of the women who did so was Abigail Adams.

         After scattering the rebels or Patriot, as the Americans preferred to call themselves from Lexington Green. Furthermore, a great many colonists, called Loyalists or Tories. John Adams estimated that one third of Americans were rebels, one third Tories, and one third neither. The French officer the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside the Americans, later, persuaded the French to assist with an army of 6,000 men. Another European was also vital to the American cause: the Prussians officer Baron von Steuben.

     Faced with rising opposition at home, a new British government began negotiations that result in the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Even when goods were available, it was not always possible to purchase them, due to inflation, or a steady increase in prices over a period of time that reduces people’s ability to buy goods.

     A confederation is an alliance of states formed to coordinate their defense and their relations with foreign governments. To govern the United States, the Continental Congress created a set of laws called the Article of Confederation. This Continental Congress passed laws and tried to make sure they were enforced. Thus it combined the functions of a legislative branch, executive branch and judicial branch. Legislative is the part makes, executive is the part that executes or puts into actions the laws passed by a legislature and judicial is the part of government that judges whether laws have been broken.

     One example was the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776. At first the representatives served in a unicameral legislature that is only one house and furthermore became a bicameral legislature that was two houses. The Nationalists were a group of men working to make the national government stronger. The nationalists were former military officers, members of Congress, merchants, planters, and lawyers.  The Shays’s Rebellion was struggle over debts and taxes.  So they started to tax the people and the Americans got on rebellion.

    There were many changes for Americans to get the independence. They worked together to make different acts and constitutions to agreed on and make their country independent. When the constitution was approved the voices of the people were heard and the power was well organized on legislative, executive and judicial branch and they divided the congress in unicameral and bicameral.

                                                      John Adams and Thomas Jefferson