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Why American Revolution was the Right Decision
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Why American Revolution was the Right Decision.
The victory of Great Britain in the French and Indian war, also known as the Great War for
the Empire (fought between the year 1754 and 1763) gave rise to political and intellectual turmoil
which then led to the emergence of the American Revolution, also known as the American
Revolutionary war. During the years leading to the American Revolutionary War, there existed so
much tension in the colonies. The tensions were between two groups, Loyalist (colonists who
sought to remain loyal to the British Crown during the American revolution) and Patriots (colonist
who rebelled against the control and oppression of the British monarch). Though the Loyalists may
not have agreed with the British Crown laws and policies, they believed that they had a duty to
uphold the law and to remain loyal to the monarch. On the other hand, the Patriots were growing
weary of British laws and policies (most of which they had no say on how they were created or
how they would be implemented). This paper discusses the reasons (with evidence) arguing that
revolting against Britain was the right choice for the colonists in America.
One of the major reasons that justifies the revolt against Great Britain was the issue of
taxation. England’s victory over France in the Great War for the empire had been attained at a very
huge cost. For instance, during the war, the British government expenditures rose from nearly 10.5
million dollars to 14.5 million dollars (Wallenfeldt, 2009). This resulted to one of the highest
taxation burden in the country’s history. Additionally, Wallenfeldt (2009) wrote, “Furthermore,
with the acquisition of the vast domain of Canada and the prospect of holding British territories
both against the various nations of Indian and against the Spaniards to the south and west, the costs
of colonial defense could be expected to continue indefinitely.” (p. 19). For these reasons, King
George III and the British parliament imposed heavy taxes on the colonist without their consent.
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As written in the Declaration of independence, “The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment
of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid
world…For imposing taxes on us without our consent;”(Jefferson, 1776). The range of taxes
imposed by the British Parliament on its American colonies included tax on raw sugar used in the
production of rum, tax on molasses, stamp tax on newspapers, legal documents, and pamphlet, tax
on imports, and a Quartering Act imposing the cost of Great Britain troops in America on the
colonies (Passant, 2017). These taxes were meant to pay for the French and Indian War (Seven
Year’s War), to reduce taxes the squires in England, to pay for colonization cost, and to control
trade for the good of British merchants. The taxes triggered widespread anger and rebellion among
the settlers. This anger was not only directed to the British but also to the rich populace in
American society.
Another reason justifying the revolt and encouraging people to revolt against Great Britain
was to gain independence, self-governance, and to detach America from the British monarch.
According to a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine,
There is something ridiculous in the composition of Monarchy; it first excludes a man from
the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is
required. The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of a king requires
him to know it thoroughly; wherefore the different parts, by unnaturally opposing and
destroying each other, prove the whole character to be absurd and useless. (Paine, 1776).
In another instance, Jefferson asserts,
That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to
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secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. (Jefferson,
1776)
Both Paine and Jefferson, in their writing shows that the British Monarchy really oppressed and
extorted the colonists.
The third reason motivating people to revolt against England is the issue of representation
in the British Parliament. American colonies were not represented in the British parliament and
hence their grievances were ignored. The Parliament was dominated by large landowners and the
common citizens were governed without their consent. The colonist thereby protested in America
and argued that no taxation was supposed to be imposed upon them without representation. On the
other hand, the British government insisted that the settlers enjoyed virtual representation. The
colonist however argued that they already had enough representation in their own colonial
assemblies. According to a book, No Taxation without Representation,
To Americans, the king was a distance figure, as were titled aristocrats. Those they met
were royal appointees who expected to return to England. The colonies had three classes:
wealthy gentry; the rest of the white population; and blacks (slaves and freemen), who were
denied most civil rights. Colonial assembly representatives were mostly from the gentry,
as merchants and farmers could ill afford to be away from home for legislative sessions.
Male property owners were generally enfranchised. (Gladney, 2014)
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The colonies were supposed to pay taxes to their own colonies and not to a very distant country
(thousands miles away) where they had no representation in Parliament. The land owners’ gentry
(the rich men in power) dreaded that the lower class colonists’ revolutionist would challenge their
rule.
Lastly, the issue of equality and the right of citizens to bring down an oppressing
government was another major reason why revolt against England was the best decision made by
the colonists. This is evident from the Declaration of Independence,
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for
light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations,
pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute
despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide
new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies;
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of
government. (Jefferson, 1776)
Briefly in conclusion, the seven-year-long war (The French Indian War) between Great
Britain and France created a debt which made the Parliament to impose different kind of taxes to
the colonists. The colonists were against these taxes because they were imposed to the without
their consent. They also argued that they did not have any representative in the parliament and
hence resisted to pay these taxes unless they were represented by their own men. This would later
lead to the rise of events such as the Boston tea party and the Boston massacre where crates of tea
from Boston was dumped in the Boston Harbor. Generally, the British government refusal to
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compromise with the colonist caused conflict and led to the creation of groups such as the
Daughters of Liberty and Sons of Liberty who went on to organize protests. The issue of taxation
was the major reason why revolting against Great Britain was the right decision.
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References
Gladney, H. M. (2014). No Taxation without Representation. Xlibris Corporation.
Jefferson, T. (1776). The declaration of independence.
Paine, T. (1776). Common Sense. Infomotions, Incorporated.
Passant, J. (2017). Taxation and the American revolution. Australasian Accounting, Business and
Finance Journal, 11(3), 20–29.
Wallenfeldt, J. (2009). The American Revolutionary War and The War of 1812: People, Politics,
and Power. Britannica Educational Publishing.