Justification of the American Revolution

The justification of the American Revolution is often questioned years after its occurrence. Taxation without Representation became a great setback for the English parliament. The Intolerable acts weighed heavily on the American colonists who began to seek independence. The English did not identify with the colonists views, which ultimately led to British defeat. Primary sources validate the reasoning and rationality in support of both perspectives during the war.
The Intolerable Acts was the name given to all the raised taxes forced onto colonists during the 18th century. The colonists began to grow exceedingly cross towards the British. The Boston Tea Party transpired after the increased tax on tea in 1773. Colonists dressed up as Native Americans and dumped barrels of tea over the Boston Harbor. Believing the Native Americans had dumped the tea, the British were ready to end trade and fight with the natives. Loyalists informed the British of what the radical colonists had done and the Coercive and Quebec acts were imposed by the British as a consequence. US land was given to Canada and the Boston Harbor was closed, thus ending trade. The colonists were growing exceedingly tiresome of the British. In 1775, Thomas Gage was sent from England to America and assigned to govern Massachusetts. Radicals, John Hancock and Samuel Adams decided to govern Massachusetts themselves. Gage was enraged and sent soldiers to Lexington and Concord to authorize the arrest of Hancock and Adams. It was that first random bullet shot at Lexington that beyond doubt began the American Revolution. With the courageous leadership of George Washington and French Alliance the colonists were able to defeat the British during the Battle of Yorktown. In 1782, the Treaty of Paris thus recognized America as sovereign and independent.
The British felt that imposing heavier taxes on colonists was only fair after the colonists were given protection during the French and Indian War. Debt had accumulated and imposing taxes on the colonists help to pay the money back. Thomas Whately, an advisor to the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote a pamphlet which addressed why the colonists should pay higher taxes. “We are not yet recovered from a War undertaken solely for their [the Americans’] Protection . . . a War undertaken for their defense only . . . they should contribute to the Preservation of the Advantages they have received . . . . In this excerpt Whately explains that defense was given entirely in benefit of the colonists during the French and Indian and war. Whately believed that England should therefore be reimbursed for the money spent on the American colonists. The Red Coats also felt battered by the colonists. Paul Revere painted the scene of the Boston Massacre in his colonist perspective. It was the colonists who had antagonized the British when the “massacre” occurred. Paul Revere painted the scene of the Boston Massacre as if the colonists were being victimized by the Red Coats. Paul Revere sent his painting all through out the colonies to provoke negative attitudes toward the British. An Englishman who kept an account of his journeys in the American colonies named Cresswell blamed the colonists for arousing the Revolutionary war. In Cresswell’s journal he explains how the “…canting, whining, insinuating tricks have persuaded the colonies that the government is going to make absolute slaves of them” . Cresswell believed that radical colonists provoked negative attitudes toward the British for biased and fallacious reasons. The English saw the colonists as rebellious and were justified in their reasoning to be against the war.
The American colonists felt the English wanted them to definitively subservient to them. In an excerpt from the “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms,” released by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, Dickinson and Jefferson explain why the Revolution was not only necessary but justified. “ . . . We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated [British officials], or resistance by force. – The latter is our choice.” The document explains the little choices the colonists had. Either the Americans had to fall docile to the English or fight for the right to be independent and self sufficient. When it came to taxes the colonists were not despondent until the English began imposing taxes profoundly and without the consent of the colonists themselves. The English initially wanted to be reimbursed for the money spent on the protection of the colonists during the French and Indian War. After the Stamp Act was imposed, England began to produce revenue for imposing duties. In an excerpt from “Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania” by John Dickinson he explains the reasoning on the English. “ . . . Never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the Stamp Act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising revenue . . . [The Townshed Acts claim the authority] to impose duties on these colonies, not for the regulation of trade. . . but for the single purpose of levying money upon us”. This passage explains that before the Stamp Act the ole purpose of taxing the colonist was merely to raise money for the debt that accumulated during the war. After the Stamp and Townshed acts the British simply taxed the colonists to fund their luxurious lifestyle. Thomas Paine was an Englishman who traveled to the American colonies and informed the colonists that the English King was funding his lifestyle with their tax money. The colonists were enraged and believed the war was not only rational but necessary for the livelihood of the American colonists.
Despite the many sources the substantiation of the American Revolution will continue to be arguable amongst spectators. The British and American colonists both held strong stances in the war. Without the American Revolution the Articles of Confederation would have never occurred. The Articles of Confederations led to the Constitutional Convention which in turn created the Constitution and Bill of rights. Without the courageous actions of the colonists America would not be the America it is today. Despite modern Americas quandaries the efforts of early America defines America today.