APUSH Chapter 7
Neoprogressives
- Neoprogressives do not reduce the issues into one area of economic self-interest, argue that the varying material circumstances of American participants led them to hold distinctive versions of republicanism, giving the Revolution a less unified and complex underpinning than idealistic historians previously suggested (part of view above somewhat)
Imperial Strength
- Americans took a risk rebelling against an empire, the population of Britain was over 3 times as large as the population of America. - Britain also had a much greater economic wealth and naval power. - Britain had a huge professional army compared to the colonists' militia and George III had the treasury to hire foreign soldiers (German Hessians). - The British also enrolled American loyalists and enlisted Indians (stretched along the frontier)
Thomas Hutchinson
- A British official refused to be cowed only in Boston, Massachusetts governor Thomas Hutchinson - Home destroyed by Stamp Act protestors, determined not to budge - Believed the tea tax was unjust but felt the colonists had no right to avoid the law, infuriated radicals when he ordered tea ships not to clear Boston harbors until they unloaded their cargo (forced the citizens to allow the ships to unload their tea) - Resentment for Hutchinson grew even further when a letter was published in which he stated that the abridgement of liberties was necessary for preserving law and order in the colonies (confirming radical conspiracy theories) - On December 16, 1773, a band of Bostonians, disguised as Indians, boarded the ships and dumped the tea into the sea. (Boston Tea Party)
Creations of the first Continental Congress
- After 7 weeks of deliberation, the 1st Continental Congress drew up several papers. The papers included a Declaration of Rights and solemn appeals to other British-American colonies, to the king, and to the British people. - The most significant creation of the Congress was The Association. It called for a complete boycott of British goods (unlike previous nonimportation agreements); nonimportation, nonexportation, and nonconsumption. - Delegates not yet calling for independence, sought to repeal the legislation and get rid of parliamentary taxation - If colonial grievances were not addressed, the Congress would meet again in 1775 - Resistance had not ripened into rebellion yet - The fatal drift toward war continued, the Parliament rejected the Congress's petitions and violators of The Association were punished by Americans
The Deep Roots of Revolution
- America was a revolutionary force from the day it was discovered by Europeans, New World created new ideas about society, citizen, and government - In Europe, few people questioned their social status because they were born into it, however Europeans in the New World were not as easily subdued and encountered a new world that was theirs to make
American Minuses
- American rebels poorly organized for war, lacked unity, uncoordinated - The Continental Congress that directed the conflict was hardly more than a debating society and grew feebler as the struggle went on - Colonists fought almost an entire war before adopting a written constitution (Articles of Confederation) - The Articles of Confederation was adopted in 1781. It was the first written constitution adopted by colonists. - Jealousy also created problems, individual states viewed themselves as soveriegn and resented the attempts of Congress to exercise its flimsy power - Sectional jealousy emerged over the appointment of military leaders and some New Englanders almost preferred British officers to Americans from other sections - Economic difficulties were impossible to overcome - Metallic money heavily drained away - Due to the lack of metallic money in America, Continental Congress was forced to print "Continental" paper money. Within a short time, this money depreciated significantly and individual states were forced to print their own paper money. - Inflation of currency increased prices - Families of soldiers at the fighting front were hard hit while debtors easily acquired handfuls of worthless money and payed their debt easily - Amount of basic military supplies in the colonies was scarce, colonial Americans were not well-armed - Not a single gun factory in the colonies and importing guns was expensive - Benjamin Franklin seriously proposed arming the American troops with bows and arrows - Part of the reason for the eventual reliance on France came from the need for a reliable source of firearms
The first Colonial Congress
- Americans felt bad for Massachusetts, MA was wrong in destruction, while Britain was wrong with too harsh of a punishment - Flags at half-mast in the colonies the day the Boston Port Act went into effect and sister colonies rallied to send food to Boston - In 1774, the 1st Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in order to redress colonial grievances over the Intolerable Acts. - The 13 colonies, excluding Georgia, sent 55 men to the convention (including Samuel Adams, John Adams, George Washington, and Patrick Henry). - The 1st Continental Congress was not a legislative body, rather a consultative body, and convention rather than a congress.) - Helped melt intercolonial friction - John Adams played a very important role, swayed his colleagues to a revolutionary course and helped defeat a proposal by the moderates for American home rule under British direction
Valley Forge
- At Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, American men went without food for 3 days in the winter of 1777-1778. - Manufactured goods were generally in short supply in agricultural America, clothing and shoes were scarce - Patriot fighting was not all glorious, 28 people barefooted at Valley Forge, woolens desperately needed in the winter time, no real uniform for the colonial army - American militiamen were numerous but were highly unreliable - American men received limited training and many of these recruits served for short terms in the rebel armies, but they could not stand up against professional British troops with bayonets
The Boston Massacre
- British officials, faced with a breakdown of law and order, landed 2 regiments of troops in the colonies in 1768 and were taunted by the colonists. - On March 5, 1770, a crowd of 60 townspeople attacked 10 redcoats and the redcoats opened fired on the civilians (under extreme provocation and without instruction), killing/wounding 11 of them ("innocent"). The massacre was known as the Boston Massacre. - Crispus Attucks was one of the first to die - Both sides to blame and in the trial only 2 of the redcoats were found guilty and the rest were released
Effects of mercantilism and the Navigation Laws
- British policy created a currency shortage in the colonies - Because the colonists bought more from Britain than they sold there, the difference had to be made up in hard cash - Gold and silver coins (mostly earned through trade with the Spanish and French West Indies) drained out of the colonies and created an acute money shortage The colonists resorted to butter, nails, pitch, and feathers for purposes of exchange - Currency issues peaked when colonists had to switch to paper money which decreased in value - Parliament prohibited the colonial legislatures from printing paper currency and from passing indulgent bankruptcy laws (could harm the British merchants), Americans were sacrificed for British commercial interests - The British crown reserved the right to nullify any legislation passed by colonial assemblies if they created problems with the mercantilist system, however the royal veto was used sparingly - Resented by the colonists, showed that principal could weigh more heavily than practice
Disorganization in England
- By 1770, King George III was trying to assert the power of the British monarchy, good morals, but bad ruler, surrounded himself with "yes men" like his Prime Minister Lord North - Townshend Acts did not provide enough revenue for the British and nonimportation agreements (feebly enforced) pinched British manufacturers o Lord North was forced to persuade Parliament to repeal the Townshend revenue duties, but the toll on tea (which colonists hated most) was kept to keep the principle of Parliamentary taxation alive - Discontent in America grew as British officials tried to enforce the Navigation Laws, resistance kindled by Samuel Adams of Boston
British East India Company monpoly
- By 1773, nothing had happened to make rebellion inevitable - Nonimportation weakening and increasing numbers of colonies were reluctantly paying the tea tax (legal tea cheaper than smuggled and English tea) - In 1773, the British East India Company was overstocked with 17 million pounds of unsold tea and was facing bankruptcy. If the company collapsed, the London government would lose much money. Therefore, the London government helped the company with a full monopoly of the tea sell in America. - This corporation could now sell leaves for cheaper than ever, but American tea drinkers did not rejoice - Americans thought this was done by the British to trick them into detested tax - Fearing that it was trick to pay more taxes on tea, the Americans rejected the tea. - The British decided to enforce the law, however the colonists rose up to defy it, not a single chest of tea chipped by the East India Company reached the consignees - Mass demonstrations in Philadelphia and NY forced tea ships to return to England with full cargo In Annapolis, MD, colonists burned both cargo and vessel In Charleston, SC, officials seized the tea for nonpayment of duties after intimidated merchants refused to accept delivery (later auctioned to raise money for the Revolutionary army)
Lord Dunmore
- Lord Dunmore- royal (British) governor of Virginia. In 1775, he issued a proclamation promising freedom for any enslaved black in Virginia who joined the British army. "Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment" - News traveled quickly and Virginia and Maryland tightened slave patrols (did not stop slaves from joining) - During this time, thousands of blacks fled plantations for British promises of emancipation - James Madison refused to punish a slave caught escaping to the British lines - At the end of the war the British kept their word (to some degree) and evacuated as many as 14,000 "Black Loyalists" to Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and England
American vs. Grenville's views
- Colonists made a distinction between "legislation" and "taxation" - Admitted the right of the Parliament to legislate about matters that affected the entire empire (including regulation of trade), but denied the right of the Parliament (had no American members) to impose taxes on America and only their own elected colonial legislatures could legally tax them - Grenville thought the American protests were absurd, said the power of the Parliament was supreme and Americans were represented in it, had theory of "visual representation" in which every member of the Parliament represented all British subjects (including Americans that never voted for the members of the Parliament) - Americans disagreed with this view and did not want representation in the Parliament (would not be enough numbers if the House of Commons proposed an oppressive tax bill on the colonies) - Principal of no taxation without representation was very important and when the British said the power of the government could not be divided into "legislation" and "tax", they only forced Americans to deny the authority of the Parliament altogether
The Townshend Acts
- Control of the British ministry was now under - "Champagne Charly" Townshend, who persuaded the Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts - In 1767, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts. They put a light import tax on glass, white lead, paper, paint, and tea. Unlike the Stamp Act, this tax was an indirect customs duty payable at American ports, however the colonists did not care about this. - The colonists were in a rebellious mood because of the Stamp Act, impost on tea was especially a burden - New Townshend revenues were to be used to pay the salaries of the royal governors and judges in America - This as efficient in London's point of view, but the colonists saw this as another attempt to restrict them - Americans also scared when the London Government suspended the legislature of New York in 1767 for failure to comply with the Quartering Act - Nonimportation agreements quickly revived against the Townshend Acts but were less effective than when they were used against the Stamp Act - Colonists took the new tax less seriously than expected because it was light and indirect and found that they could smuggle tea at a cheap price (smugglers increased their activity especially in Massachusetts)
Mercantilism
- Georgia was the only colony to be formed by Britain, all of the others founded by either trading companies, religious groups, or land speculators - The British used the theory of mercantilism to justify their control over the colonies, mercantilists believed wealth was power and a country's economic wealth could be measured by the amount of silver or gold in its treasuring (to amass gold or silver, a country needed to export more than it imported) - This meant having colonies had advantages since they could supply raw materials to the mother country (reducing the need for foreign imports) and provide a guaranteed market for exports - The London government looked on the American colonists as tenants, expected to furnish products needed in the mother country (tobacco, sugar, and ships' masts), refrain from exporting certain products (woolen cloth or beaver hats), to only buy imported manufactured goods from Britain, and to not indulge in dreams of self-sufficiency or self-government
Different views of the new taxes
- Grenville viewed these measures as reasonable and just, simply asking Americans to pay a fair share of the costs for their own defense through taxes already familiar in Britain - The Americans viewed Grenville's measures as aggressive, costed them money and went against their liberties, some assemblies refused to comply with the Quartering Act or voted only a fraction of the supplies that it called for - Grenville's legislation seemed to jeopardize the basic rights of the colonists as Englishmen - The Sugar Act and the Stamp Act provided for trying offenders in the hated admiralty courts (where there were no juries, defenders assumed guilty unless they proved themselves innocent) - Felt there was no more need for a British army in the colonies after the French were expelled and Pontiac's Rebellion was crushed - Scared it was really there to force colonists in line, many thought it was a conspiracy that would strip them of their liberties - The colonists lashed back violently and the Stamp Act became their target - "No taxation without representation" ironic because the seaports and tidewater towns that were most wrathful against the Stamp Act had long denied full representation to their own backcountry pioneers
Preface
- Historians once assumed that the Revolution was just another chapter in unfolding human liberty, important step in the pathway toward moral perfection and human affairs - A group of historians known as the "imperial school" challenged this idea and said the Revolution was not a fulfillment of national destiny, but was a constitutional conflict within the British empire. Revolution was the product of collision between two different views of empire: Americans moving toward self-government while Britain tightened its grip
Imperial Weakness
- However, Britain was weaker than it seemed at first glance o Unfortunately for the British, though, there was rebellion brewing in Ireland (required troops), and France, bitter from its recent defeat, was waiting for an opportunity to attack Britain. Britain was therefore forced to divert much of its military power and concentration away from the Americas. o There was no William Pitt ("Organizer of the Victory"), only George III and his prime minister (Lord North) - Britain's army in America had to operate under numerous difficulties; provisions were short and soldiers were treated brutally. - Recoats had to conquer the Americans but restoring the pre-1763 status would be a victory for the colonists - Britain had to operate far from its home, caused delays, military orders issued in London could not fit the situation in America by the time they arrived - America stretched over many miles, united colonies had no urban center like France's Paris so British armies took any city of any size and ended up having little impact on America as a whole - Americans wisely traded space for time, Benjamin Franklin calculated while the redcoats captured bunker hill and killed 150 patriots, about 60,000 American babies were born
George Greenville and his laws
- In 1763, Prime Minister George Grenville ordered the British navy to begin strictly enforcing the Navigation Laws. He also secured from Parliament the Sugar Act of 1764, the first law ever passed by Parliament to raise tax revenue in the colonies for England. - The Sugar Act increased the duty on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. The duties were lowered substantially after protests from the colonies
Lexington and Concord
- In April 1775, the British commander in Boston sent a detachment of troops to Lexington and Concord. - They were to seize provisions of colonial gunpowder and to capture the "rebel" ringleaders, Samuel Adams and John Hancock. - At Lexington, 8 Americans were shot and killed after the colonial "Minute Men" refused to disperse rapidly enough. This incident was labeled as the "Lexington Massacre." - When the British went on to Concord, they were met with American resistance and there and were forced to retreat. - The British finally regained the sanctuary of Boston, suffered 300 casualties and 70 deaths Because of this, the British had a war, rather than a rebellion on their hands.
Two views merge
- In the 1950s, two broad interpretations contended with each other, controversy over whether political ideas or economic and social realities were most responsible for the Revolution - The first emphasized ideological and physiological factors, focused on the power of ideas to start the revolution, argued colonists' reading of the 17th century and English political theorists informed them and grew extraordinarily suspicious of any attempts of more control on the colonies. Hypersensitive colonists labeled much as "conspiracies" or corrupt" and wanted to defend their liberty - Second school of historians in the 1960s and 1970s were inspired by the social movements of that turbulent era and revived the progressive interpretation. Increasing social and economic divisions in the colonies in urban seaports and the isolated countryside in the years leading up to the Revolution Attacks by laborers on political elites and resentment towards wealth created revolutionary change from within . - Dialogues between proponents of "ideas" and "interests" gradually led to more of a meeting of the two views
Whigs and minority voice in Britain
- Many British had no desire to kill Americans, English Whig factions (opposed to Lord North's Tory wing) openly cheered American victories from the outset - Many Whigs believed the battle for British freedom was being was being fought in America because if George III triumphed, his rule at home might become tyrannical - This minority voice in Britain encouraged Americans, hoped Whigs might come into power if they continued their resistance for long enough
Conesus
- Political climate then became more conservative due to the emergence of communism. Because of this, the consensus view emerged Played the role of class conflict in the Revolution, but emphasized that colonists of all ranks shared a commitment to certain fundamental political principals of self-government Unifying power of ideas returned
Self interests in profits
- Positive feeling of Revolutionary army was undermined by American profiteers - Sold to the British because the invader could pay in gold, put profits before patriotism - Speculators forced prices high, Bostonians increased prices of on army garb and made large profits while the American army was freezing at Valley Forge - Washington had never had this many troops in one place at one time (despite land bounties), however if rebels were less selfish this number could have been increased greatly - Only a minority of American colonists attached themselves to the cause of independence with selfless devotion and these people bored the battle and the risks of defeat, freedom-loving Patriots that deserved gratitude
Reaction to the Boston Tea Party
- Reaction to the Boston Tea party varied - Praised by the radicals, conservatives complained that destruction of private property violated normal civil society, and Hutchinson went to Britain - British authorities saw little alternative to whipping the colonists into shape - Granting of some self-rule might have prevented rebellion, but few British thought like this (however Edmund Burke did)
Regulars whipped into shape
- Regulars were finally whipped into shape by stern drillmasters o Baron von Steuben- German who helped to whip the America fighters into shape for fighting the British. § Spoke no English when he reached America, but gave soldiers of the Continental line great experience - Blacks also fought and died for America, many states initially barred them from militia service, but by the end of the war more than 5,000 blacks enlisted in the American armed forces (most of them came from northern states with the larger number of free blacks) - Blacks fought at Trenton, Brandywine, Saratoga, and other important battles - Some (like Prince Whipple) were well-known and displayed in Emanuel Leutze's famous painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" and became military heroes Others served as guides, spies, drivers, and roadbuilders
American Pluses
- Revolutionists blessed with outstanding leadership, had George Washington and Benjamin Franklin - Open foreign aid eventually came from France, many unemployed and impoverished European officers volunteered their swords for pay - Marquis de Lafayette- French who was made a major general in the colonial army at the age of 19; the "French Gamecock"; his commission reflected family influence and political connection, however his services were invaluable in securing further aid from France. - Other conditions helped the Americans, they fought with the odds favoring the defender - Colonies mainly self-sustaining in agriculture - Americans had the moral advantage that came from belief in a just cause, historical odds not impossible (other people in the past triumphed against greater odds)
Samuel Adams
- Samuel Adams- master propagandist and engineer of rebellion, felt strongly about colonial rights, had a deep faith in the common people (his "trained mob"); formed the first local committee of correspondence in Massachusetts in 1772 (Sons of Liberty), 80 towns set up similar organizations after - Their main purpose was to spread the spirit of resistance and keep opposition to British policy alive and maintain communication with one another. They were organized in the decade before the Revolution when communication between the colonies became essential
The Quartering Act
- The Quartering Act of 1765 required certain colonies to provide food and quarters for British troops. - In 1765, George Grenville imposed a stamp tax on the colonies to raise revenues to support the new military force. This stamp tax, known as the Stamp Act, mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps, certifying payment of tax. - Stamps were required on bills of sale for many trade items and on certain types of commercial and legal documents.
Effects of the 7 years war/introduction
- The Seven Years War left Britain as the major power in North America, however it was costly (needed to pay for many troops along the American frontier) - The London government struggled after 1763 to compel colonists to help with British costs, change in Britain's colonial policy reinforced a growing sense of American political identity and helped lead to the American Revolution - This conflict could have been avoided, tightening commercial, military, and cultural bonds between the colonies since the first settlements made it surprising the Revolution happened at all, Americans were reluctant to revolt - Only wanted the "rights of the Englishmen" until later on - A small fight over economic policies uncovered the differences between America and Britain, giving birth to a new nation
The Stamp Act Congress and nonimportation agreements
- The Stamp Act Congress of 1765 brought together in New York City 27 distinguished delegates from 9 colonies. The members drew up a statement of their rights and grievances and requested the king and Parliament to repeal the hated legislation. - It was mostly ignored in England and didn't do much, but it began to erode sectional suspicions (suspicions between the colonies), for it had brought together around the same table leaders from the different and rival colonies. It was one step towards intercolonial unity. - Nonimportation agreements (agreements made to not import British goods) were a stride toward unionism, more effective than the congress. - Homespun wool clothing became popular and eating lamb chops was discouraged so wool could be used for clothes United the American people for the first time in common action - Nonimportation gave new opportunity for Americans to participate in protests, many people that previously didn't participate signed petitions for boycotting - Groups of women assembled in public to hold spinning bees and make homespun cloth to replace British textiles - Public defiance helped to spread revolutionary fervor throughout American colonial society - Violence sometimes accompanied colonial protests o The Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty took the law into their own hands by enforcing the nonimportation agreements against violators. o Patriotic mobs ransacked houses of popular officials, confiscated their money, and hanged statues of stamp agents on liberty poles
The Intolerable Acts
- The angered Parliament responded to the Boston Tea Party in ways that brewed revolution - In 1774, Parliament punished the people of Massachusetts for their actions in the Boston Tea Party. - Known as "the massacre of American liberty". Parliament passed laws, known as the Intolerable Acts, which restricted colonists' rights. - The laws made restrictions on town meetings, and stated that enforcing officials who killed colonists in the line of duty would be sent to Britain for trial (where it was assumed they would be acquitted of their charges). - One such law was the Boston Port Act. It closed the Boston harbor until damages were paid and order could be ensured. Many of the rights of colonial Massachusetts were taken away - The Quebec Act was also passed in 1774, but was not apart of the Intolerable Acts (seen by English-speaking America as part of British reaction to what happened in Boston). - A good law in a bad company, British government debated for many years how to administer the conquered French subjects in Canada - It gave Catholic French Canadians religious freedom, permitted them to retain old customs and institutions (many did not include a representative assembly or trial by jury) and restored the French form of civil law; this law nullified many of the Western claims of the coast colonies by extending the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River on the south and to the Mississippi River on the west. - Disliked by French-Canadians, Britain might not have lost its English-speaking colonies if it showed as much interest in them - Also disliked by American colonists, "Intolerable Acts" directed towards Massachusetts, but this was a wider range - Seemed to set a precedent in America against jury trials and popular assemblies, land speculators alarmed to see trans-Allegheny area taken from them Anti-Catholics angered by extension of Roman Catholic jurisdiction southward where it was once mainly Protestant
The Stamp Act is repealed
- The machinery for tax collection broke down after being shaken by colonial commotion - When the new act was supposed to go into effect in 1765, stamp agents were forced to resign and there was no one to sell the stamps, the law was defied or nullified - Britain was hit hard, America bought about ¼ of all British exports and ½ of British shipping was devoted to American trade - Many merchants, manufacturers, and shippers were thrown out of jobs due to colonial nonimportation - Commands in the Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act, however many members did not understand why the British had to pay heavy taxes to protect the colonies while colonists refused to pay for 1/3 of their own defense - The Stamp Act was repealed by Parliament in 1766, grateful NY residents erected a stature to King George III, but rejoicing was premature o Parliament passed the Declaratory Act, reaffirming its right to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever, British government drew its line and defined the constitutional principle it would not yield (absolute and unqualified sovereignty over the North American colonies) o The colonists made it clear that they wanted a measure of sovereignty and would undertake drastic action to secure it o Set the stage for a continuing confrontation
The merits and menace of mercantilism
- The mercantile system seemed selfish and deliberately oppressive, however the Navigation Laws did not impose intolerable burden until 1763 because they were loosely enforced - Enterprising colonial merchants learned early to ignore troublesome restrictions (some of the first American fortunes, like John Hancock's, were created by wholesale smuggling) - Americans also benefitted from the mercantile system, if colonies existed for the benefit of the mother country then Britain existed for the benefit of the colonies - London paid liberal bounties to help colonial producers of ship parts (over the protests of British competitors) - Virginia tobacco planters had a monopoly in the British market and colonists were protected by the world's mightiest navy and a strong army of redcoats without cost - The mercantile system still burdened the colonies with liabilities - Stifled economic initiative and imposed a dependency on British agents and creditors, Americans felt used and never allowed to come of age - Theodore Roosevelt said Revolution broke out because Britain failed to recognize an emerging nation when it saw one
House of Burgesses
- The next step was intercolonial committees of correspondence, Virginia led the way in 1773. In March of 1773, the Virginia House of Burgesses, the lower house of the Colony of Virginia, proposed that each colonial legislature appoint a standing committee for intercolonial correspondence. - Within just a year, nearly all of the colonies had joined. - In a short amount of time, nearly every colony established a central committee through which it could exchange information and ideas with other colonies, intercolonial groups significant in stimulating sentiment in favor of united action and evolved directly into the first American congresses
The Navigation Law of 1650
- The parliament passed laws to regulate the mercantilist system. The Navigation Law of 1650 stated that all goods flowing to and from the colonies could only be transported in British (including colonial) vessels. It was aimed to hurt rival Dutch shippers trying to make their way into the American carrying trade. - Subsequent laws required European goods going to America to be landed in Britain where tariff duties would be collected and British middlemen would take part of the profit - Other laws made it so Americans could only send certain "enumerated" products (like tobacco) only to Britain, even if prices were better in other places
Republicanism and Radical Whigs
1. Republicanism- a just society in which all citizens willingly subordinated their private, selfish interests to the common good. Both the stability of society and the authority of government thus depended on the virtue of the citizenry-its capacity for selflessness, self-sufficiency, courage, and civic involvement. o Taken from models of ancient Greeks and Romans o Opposed to hierarchal and authoritarian institutions like aristocracy and monarchy 2. "Radical Whigs", a group of British political commentators that were widely read by the colonists, made attacks on the use of patronage and bribes by the king's ministers and called them corruptions(feared the threat of the power of the monarch and his ministers relative to elected representatives in Parliament). They warned citizens to be on guard for possible corruption and to be cautious of things that could take away their hard-earned liberties. - Both of these factors taught colonists to be alert to anything that harms their liberties - The circumstances of colonial life increased these attitudes, colonies had no dukes, princes, barons, or bishops - Widespread property ownership and political participation, Americans accustomed to running their own affairs that were rarely interfered with by London - - Distance weakens authority, so it was especially shocking when Britain after 1763 tried to enclose its grip on the American colonies harder
Progressivs
These viewpoints were then challenged by the progressive historians, who argued the Revolution was due to neither divine destiny nor a constitutional conflict. Instead, it came from deep-seated class tensions within American society that produced a transformed social order once they were released by revolt Not just about "home rule" in Britain, also about who should rule in America (upper or lower class) Revolution also inspired ordinary Americans to seek greater economic and political power which democratized society