Kimberly Almonte September 29, 2010

Period 8 Mr. Golemba

Revolutions are major changes in ideas that in turn affect a certain people, group or society.
They've taken place from as far as China to Haiti and from as early as the time of the cavemen to as
recent as modern day. One of the most important and well-known revolutions in history was the
American Revolution and involved the American colonists and the British, as well as other foreign
countries, being pitted against each other. This all-out war is considered a revolution because of all the
major changes it caused in America both politically as well as economically such as the abolishment of
slavery and servitude, the establishment of a free trade system, and the changes in the government.
After the American Revolution was won and the Declaration of Independence was written and
signed, servitude began to decline. It did not decline because it had begun to lose its popularity, but
rather because the act of servitude clearly violated the rights stated in the Declaration of Independence.
Servitude was therefore completely abolished by 1800. Not soon after slavery also became a large
dilemma. It did not take long before the Northern states in the American colonies had abolished slavery.
The complete abolishment of servitude and the partial abolishment of slavery was a major political
change because it redefined who was free and who was not in this new society. It also affected America
economically because, until this point, the Americans had mostly relied on indentured servants and
slaves alike to do the backbreaking labor for them which saved them tons of money. Thanks to the
servants and slaves, the Americans were able to produce their goods very cheaply and then sell them
for a much more expensive price—that was still cheaper than the prices on the same goods in other
countries. The Americans made a large profit through this method, but after the abolishment o f slavery
and servitude, the vast American wealth went down the drain and many people became in-debt or more
in-debt than they were beforehand.
Fortunately for the Americans, they no longer had to rely on their mother country for trade
seeing as they were no longer forced to be a mercantile society. So even with the debt-rate rising
because of the abolishment of slavery and servitude, the Americans were able to make that rate fall
again by establishing free trade. The British and British Indies ports were sealed off from the
Americans so they were unable to receive British goods, but the Americans were now able to trade with
important and trade-wealthy countries such as China. The free trade was able to help America's
economy rise back up after falling due to the abolishment of servitude and slavery. Without the free
trade that the Americans had established, the young country would have most-likely not survived on its
own and would not have become what it is today.
The change in government was one of the most important changes that the Americans made. As
they grew a deep loathing toward the British crown during the Revolutionary War, they also a grew an
equally deep-seeded hate toward monarchies in general. This caused the Americans to create the exact
opposite of a monarchy: a democratic republic. This meant that they would not have the corruption that
was present with the British kings (the judicial, legislative and executive branches were created exactly
for this purpose). The Americans also established a Bill of Rights which claimed all of the rights that
the people of America had. Furthermore, the Americans separated the state and church from each other
so that religion would not affect the efficiency of the government in the way that it had in Britain (the
protestant kings had gone as far as to persecute the Catholics). All of this not just changed the
government of the Colonies, but completely remade them from what they once were and this new
government would later become a model for many other countries.
Others may argue that this war was just the American War for Independence because it did not
really cause any revolutionary changes. They may argue that while slavery was abolished, it was only
abolished in the North and even then, the slaves still had no rights whatsoever. The only thing that
changed for them was their title which turned from “slave” to “freeman.” However, so much cannot be
expected so early in this young country's changes. This change of title, as some may say, in slaves was
the beginning of the fight for equality between blacks and whites and that fight for equality would not
have succeeded had it never begun somewhere.
In conclusion, America abolished both slavery in the North and servitude everywhere which
caused a major downward spiral in the American economy that was dependent on the indentured
servants and the black slaves. Thankfully, however, the free trade that was established by the
Americans was able to bring the Americans' economy back up. Additionally, the government of the
colonies' was completely reformed to create the American government. Therefore, the American War
for Independence was a Revolutionary war. It caused changes in America that have shaped the country
into what it is today.