American Revolution.

During the 1700 and 1800, tension had been built between Great Britain
and the colonists. The colonists were considered citizens of Great Britain and
functioned under the British empire. The colonists were heavily tied to the British
crown when it came to trading and the way they were governed. Great Britain
imposed very harsh taxes and acts to the colonists without having a say to the
matter, or anyone to represent them. This angered the colonists, causing them
to revolt from England and form their own government. The Americans faced
many obstacles along the way before they were able to depart from England. A
series of events took place before the colonists reached their independence. The
salutary neglect, the enlightenment, the great awakening, and the colonial wars,
all play a major role to the American Revolution.
The salutary neglect was a British policy in the 17 th century, in regards to
the thirteen American colonies. The British were trying to ease some of the strict
laws that were strictly enforced to the American colonies, meaning that they will
not burden them as much and can govern themselves. Salutary neglect was
initiated by Great Britains first prime minister Robert Walpole. He believed that if
the colonists can conduct their own policies, that they do have the possibility to
flourish. However, there was never really a change in rules and the colonist still
felt as if they were being treated unfairly. They ended up getting stricter and
taking advantage of the American colonies, benefitting themselves more in the
end. Trade rules were heavily enforced within the colonies, as well as heavily
supervised. This was too make sure the colonies remained submissive to the
British government, and continue to economically benefit Britain. These
occurrences were done involuntarily without the colonist consent, pushing them
to go against the British. After the salutary neglect Edmund Burke tried his best
to reconcile the breaking between American Colonies and Britain.

The Enlightenment was a European movement of philosophical ideas

during the 17th and 18th century which eventually led to and help bring about
the independence in America. The Enlightenment, also known as the age of
reason included concepts of religion, social, political, science, and economic
issues. Philosophers, scientists, writers, like Francis Bacon, Descartes, John
Locke, Newton, played a huge part and stared questioning the sense that science
and logic gave people more knowledge and understanding, rather than just
tradition and religion. The people do not have to necessarily believe in
something simply because that is how they had always been. The enlightenment
encouraged the Americans to turn down the traditional ideas of the monarchy,
and create their own government. Also, If the people in America did not like how
the government was running, they had the right to overthrow them. Benjamin
Franklin influenced some of the formation of the new government of the United
States along with the declaration of independence and the U.S constitution.
Adam Smith played a part in the mercantile system. Mercantilism was an
economic theory and practice supporting governmental regulation for the
purposes of building a wealthy and powerful state. Adam Smith believed that by
restraining imports and encouraging exports, it would strongly fulfil this. The
ultimate goal was to accomplish a balance of trade by adding taxes and
restrictions, which would bring gold and silver into the country, and maintain
employment. Fiscal policies like the Sugar Act and the Navigation Acts were
meant to push the colonists away from foreign goods, forcing them to buy British
products instead. Smith argued that trade when it is freely initiated benefits both
parties. Second, he demonstrated that specialization in production allows for
economies of scale, which greatly improves efficiency and growth. The colonists
however, were heavily burdened, they did not think it was fair of the British to

transfer their financial burden to them without a say. The British had lost a great
deal of money from the French and Indian war. In 1773, the Boston Tea Party was
an act of rebellion when the colonists finally protested against the British and
their tax on tea. A group of colonists boarded three British ships and dumped
about 342 chests of tea into the harbour.
the Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that flew over the
American colonies in the 18th century. It resulted in doctrinal changes and
influenced social and political thought. It started in New England around 1734 by
the rousing preaching of Jonathan Edwards. The Great Awakening was an
evangelical and revitalization movement that flew protestant Europe, British
America, and the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, leaving a
permanent impact on American Protestantism. Edwards played a very critical
role in shaping the First Great Awakening, and oversaw some of the first fires of
revival in 17331735 at his church in Northampton, Massachusetts. Edwards
delivered the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God", a classic of early
American literature.
The first colonial war began in 1689, the colonies then frequently became
involved in a series of three major wars between Britain and France for control of
North America. One of the most important wars was the Queen Annes war. The
Queens Annes war gave thousands of military colonists a great amount of
experience, such as George Washington. They were able to use this experience
during the American Revolution. The war had an equally profound but very
different effect on the American colonists. First of all, the colonists had learned to
unite against a common enemy. Before the war, the thirteen colonies had found
almost no common ground and they coexisted in mutual distrust. But then they
saw that together they could be a power to be reckoned with. And the next
common enemy would be Britain.

On July 4th 1776, the Declaration of Independence was announced to the

world that the American colonists would separate themselves from Great Britain.
It was written by Thomas Jefferson, being one of the greatest achievements in
history that shaped America into the country that it is today. It was the
establishment of human rights and freedom of the people. John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson, submitted a
declaration to congress, expressing the minds of the American people. Thomas
Jefferson and many other writers wrote that the citizens have the right to form
their own government, if there is no one out there to protect their rights. The
Declaration of Independence represents that "all men are created equal." All
genders, children, race, and group are equal.
In conclusion, The American Revolution is universally recognized around
the world because it was one of the very first times in history that the people
stood up for what they believed in, and fought for their independence. The
British really tried to have economic control over the colonies, but the colonies
had a vision and a plan for a much greater country. Rather than trying to get
more autonomy from Great Britain, they foresaw that breaking from them would
be best. While many hardships, hostilities, and obstacles, were faced along the
way, the colonist gained victory and were free from the British rule in 1776 when
the deceleration of independence was adopted by congress, making America
what it is today. The land of the free, where people have the right to bear arms,
free to elect, freedom of speech, and freedom a religion. More free compared to
many other countries in the world.

Works sited.
http://historyisfun.org/pdf/tea
overboard/why_were_the_american_colonies_unhappy_with_the_british_governm
ent.pdf
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090920152629AAideJy
http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolution-history