American revolution 4
American revolution 4Throughout the history of human existence, revolutions have been as common as the changing of the seasons. Usually, revolutions come a bout from a radical sect of people would disagree with the status quo and rebel, sometimes very violently, against their government. The American Revolution stands apart from these because it was a conservative revolution, one that people rebel against their government for disrupting the status quo. The conservative nature of the American Revolution is evident when the areas of politics, social change, and economics are examined.
The colonists' response to British actions in the area of politics definitely illustrates the conservative attitude of the colonies towards most actions of the British government. The first example of Britain altering the status quo in the area of politics was the Proclamation of 1763. This piece of legislature was created in response to Pontiac's rebellion. The Proclamation drew an imaginary line on the Appalachian crest and stated that Indians must remain to the west of that line and the colonists to the east. This angered the colonists because it put their western claims under royal control and severely limiting their expansion. Another legislation that promoted the violation of the colonists' rights was the writ of assistance. A writ of assistance is a general search warrant permitting customs officers to search any ship or building where stolen goods where thought to be. The evil in this law lies in the fact that no evidence of probable cause is necessary to search. The writs cut down heavily on smuggling but at the price of the colonists' privacy. By far, the best examples of the Parliament altering the status quo to serve them better are the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Duties. These taxes put the burden on the colonies to pay for things like military expenses, the national debt, and the salaries of royal governors. These taxes were set at a very moderate rate but two aspects of these taxes upset the colonists. First of all, violators of the taxes were tried without juries. The second and probably the most significant reason for the American Revolution was that the colonies were being taxed without being represented in Parliament. The need for representation is not a radical idea at all; it is the basis of a republic. The colonists' demands were not preposterous; they just did not want to be contributing money to finance a government in which they do not participate. Many colonists and even some English people disagreed with the policy of British taxation. The British thought it made sense because they believed in virtual representation. Eventually, due to the high degree of colonial protest, parliament repealed the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and most of the Townshend Duties. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament attempts to legislate over the philosophical differences between England and the colonies by passing...
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