13 Colonies Away From Britain Analysis

Question: What factors pulled the colonies away from Britain?

The separation of the thirteen colonies from Mother England cannot be attributed to one single factor. Years of history were required before the revolution was to take place, and within these years several factors built upon one another. These few however, stick out more than others: distance, taxation, and progressive pamphlets. Distance played a crucial role in driving the colonists away from Mother England. To have a simple question answered the colonists would have to wait a minimum of three months, and to receive goods from England at least one month (Divine 128). This resulted in a complete lack of communication. "…Rumors sometimes passed for true accounts, and misunderstanding influenced the formulation of colonial policy" (Divine 128). Because of the great distance between England and America, "few Englishmen active in government had ever visited America", yet they were still permitted to create
"[He] pushed the colonists even closer to independence" by writing this "instant best-seller. In only three months, it sold more than 120,000 copies" (Divine 144). Paine had given words to the colonists inner most thoughts, had illuminated the prospects for something different. He "persuaded ordinary folk to sever their ties with Great Britain" by "systematically stripp[ing] kingship of historical and theological justification" (Divine 144). He also spoke powerfully on rescuing "man from tyranny and false systems of government", of enabling "him to be free" (Divine 144). Paine said elegantly what most colonists could not put into coherent from. "We have it in our power to begin the world over again" said Paine (Divine 144). Words of this magnitude, in conjunction with distance and parliamentary oppression, had the power to move people towards