Revolution: Political Changes After The American Revolution

A common misconception is that the American Revolution was a war fought to gain independence from the tyranny of King George. The American Revolution was no such thing, but it was a political movement that wanted change. The American Revolution included all things from the Boston tea party to the intolerable acts. These acts brought out a dramatic change in the colonies. The American Revolution brought about tremendous change by transforming the colonists who were no longer subject to the crown, into individuals of a republic which created new political significance to the meaning of the citizen. During the reign of King George a citizen of the colonies had very little say, but after the American Revolution the colonists had been given the chance for a larger say in the new government. Shays’ rebellion is an example of when the new political significance of the meaning of a citizen came about. During Shays’ rebellion, Daniel Shays led a group of farmers to rebel against the court of Massachusetts. For this George Washington had said, “The moment is, indeed, important! - If government shrinks, or is unable to enforce its laws; fresh maneuvers will be displayed by the insurgent - anarchy & confusion must prevail” (The Gilder Lehrman Institute). In this quote George Washington is saying that the government needs to learn from the citizens, which in this case would be the farmers. If the government does not learn and adapt to its needs and the needs of the citizens than anarchy will prevail. This is important to the political meaning of a citizen in the new nation because
Giving the citizen power power helped the nation evolve and get better. Without added power to the government the United States may have ended up becoming ruled by a tyrant. Giving the citizen more power led to events like Shay’s rebellion which may seem bad, but without events like these our government may have never became as strong as it