Saturday, September 28, 2013
The Motivations of the American Revolution: Political or Economic
Do you think the American colonies' eventual revolution was rooted in a) primarily political motivations OR b) primarily economic motivations? Please offer a careful and thoughtful response that offers both factual evidence and a personal interpretive approach. The response should be at least 10 sentences of careful and thoughtful reflection.
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I think that although the revolution was caused by both political and economic motivations that it was mostly because of political reasons. One if the main things that caused a spark for the revolution was the phrase "no taxation without representation." This was a major term that led to revolts and the eventual revolution. The reason this was such a big thing was because the colonists thought that it was unfair for England to tax them if the colonists couldn't be represented in parliament. This was a huge political stand that was made by the colonists and it fueled the fire in the colonists.
ReplyDeleteI would argue that the revolution was rooted primarily in political motivations. I think that the economic ambitions came second to the overwhelming desire possessed by the colonists to be independent politically. It was the popularity of leading political figures such as Alexander Hamilton, James madison, and John Jay that led to colonists to unite; they found common political interest among themselves in order to fight a power that was much stronger economically. The feeling of nationalism was one of the main factors that led to the colonists winning the revolutionary war. Without their common political wishes, they may very well have been overpowered by the British. Economic motivation could not and did not spark the necessary zeal among the colonists to win the war. The Great Compromise is so named because it was the ultimate compromise that led to the political organization that the colonists, at that point Americans, had wanted and needed to organize all of their political aspirations. The economic benefits were just benefits to the true force driving the revolution. The colonies were much different from the mother country in their more democratic aspects. These democratic aspects reflect, perhaps more than anything else, the want for a political voice that the colonists had; the policies in place illustrate the motivations of the colonists, which were largely political.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely argue that the revolution was primarily rooted in political motivations. The colonists were doing fairly well economically - the British were pretty happy with them as well (think salutary neglect). A politically-rooted American identity began to emerge. With the French and Indian war came an increase in the unity of the colonies. A sense of unity continued in the face of increased British taxes through rebellions like Pontiac's Rebellion, the Paxton Boys, and the Regulator Movement. The British began to be frustrated by these rebellions and found it difficult to enforce the policies they had previously established; therefore, they began to enforce new policies and acts like the Molasses Act, Currency Act, Sugar Act, and Quartering Act. Although these acts had economic roots, the acts themselves were political documents. A feeling of nationalism emerged with the resistance to these acts, encouraged by strong political leaders. The feeling of "necessity" to get rid of the policies and acts that the British were continuing to pass and enforce came from a political motivation for less control, not any sort of economic frustration; after all, the colonies were still doing fairly well economically.
ReplyDeleteThe colonies’ revolution was rooted heavily in both political and economic motivations, however if forced to choose one I would choose economic as the strongest motivation. There are two instances during the 18th century that led me to formulate that opinion. First were the crippling taxes that Britain imposed upon the colonies. The Molasses, Stamp, Quartering, and Currency acts all angered the colonists and emptied their wallets. Eventually, these economic issues were a main contributor to the revolution. The other thing that influenced my opinion were the famous words by angry colonists that shaped the revolution; “no taxation without representation.” Colonists united over these bold words, and added fuel to the fire of revolutionary ideas. The economy almost always shapes the way that societies function, and in the case of the colonial revolution, this is certainly no exception.
ReplyDeleteThe American Revolution was caused by economics, but fueled by politics. Politics had the greatest effect on the revolution because they gave people a noble reason to fight. Fighting for money can only take one so far due to the materialistic idea of it, so politics gave people a reason to believe in the values that accompanied the war. Economics certainly played a big role because the war wouldn’t have started without the colonists’ anger about the acts of parliament. The political values that became important, such as direct representation and the right to govern themselves, gave the colonists something to care about and gave them the strength to continue when times were tough. One of the most important things the colonists had in the war was that they cared about what they were fighting for. A strong belief in what you’re fighting for can make all the difference in the amount of effort one puts into what they’re doing. The anger that followed the Boston Massacre also showed that the colonists were fighting for more than simply money. The Boston Massacre demonstrated the colonists beginning to come together around the common belief that British soldiers shouldn’t be telling them what to do. The Boston Massacre gave the colonists fuel to fight and a reason to fight for the political rights they believed they deserved. Ultimately, while economics did insight the war, the reason the colonists kept fighting was because of politics.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the American colonies eventual revolution was rooted in political motivations. Even though, at the time America wasn’t considered “America”, the fight for their independence soon becomes exposed when the Salutary Neglect approached and England encouraged the colonial policy in which the colonies were allowed to local-self govern. Of course, this wasn’t the first time we see the Colonies thriving to be independent but the Salutary Neglect did further advance into the Boston Massacre showing the tensions between the mother country and the America’s, and again followed by the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Something else that was very important to the leading up to the Revolutionary War was problems with taxation and how that became a huge influence on the colonists. The different act’s that British imposed taxes upon the colonists made them extremely angry and sent them very close to rebellion. I do think economics played a role in the American Colonies leading to the Revolution, but Political motivations were what really became the huge influence for it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the biggest factors that helped cause the American Revolution were related to politics. Although economics was an important part as well, the majority of important aspects of the revolution were political. The colonists had important political motives driving their fight, with examples of "no taxation without representation" and the right to self-govern. People would argue that the Quartering Act, Sugar Act and Molasses Act are classified as economic issues. They involve economics, however, the acts themselves affected economics and politics but came from politics. Another reason that economics wasn't a big part motivation for the war was because the American colonies were doing well economically, and so were the British so they left the American colonists alone. Their democratic views showed a need for a political voice. This also gave them more powerful reasons to fight because fighting for money was less significant than fighting for political rights.
ReplyDeleteI think that the American colonies’ revolution was driven politically. Although, I would say that to begin with, the colonist were first angered when they were asked to pay taxes. Great Britain felt it was fair to ask the colonies to pay taxes since the empire had just fought a war in order to protect the colonies. Great Britain, because of the war and the lack of taxes being paid by the colonies, had a debt. The colonies didn’t want to pay the taxes to the empire, and for this reason, the revolution started as an economic dispute. However, the colonists’ reasoning for not wanting to pay taxes was from a political stand point. The colonists felt they didn’t have representation in Britain’s Parliament and therefore should not be forced to be taxed by the empire. The colonies felt that their liberty, property and especially their political rights were being taken away. The colonies wanted to become more independent; having to abide by an empire in which they weren’t actively a part of made them feel like they were still being controlled and managed by the empire. Because of the colonies desire to think for themselves and make their own decisions (even though initially financial) their political freedom was the main pushing force of the American Revolution. After the Revolution, the colonies went on to create the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, proving that their pain goal was political independence.
ReplyDeleteI think the American colonies' eventual revolution was rooted in primarily economic motivations.Unlike socially and politically motivated revolutions , the American colonies did not feel the presence of their "oppressor" via military presence 24/7, hate crimes, nor hurtful epithets .In a rudimentary sense , the American colonies seem like a spoiled teenager. They start of "rebel" or "defy" their parent(country) when they do not get their way. If you look at the well-known forms of revolution - The Boston Tea Party , the boycotting of many British goods, the creation of " no taxation without representation, the attacking of tax collectors- they are all economically based. The causes of the revolution were economic: taxes.The revolution started in the North because they were mostly negatively impacted by the taxes not because they felt more strongly about pursuing social justice. If the revolution was about "freedom," why did that revolution only apply to rich white men who already controlled both the social , economic , and political climate of their respective colonies. The revolution was not the politically-driven war of evil vs good that Americans make it out to be. In essence , American colonies were infuriated that they had to reimburse the British for the French-Indian War and their revolution was the only way to get out of it
ReplyDelete*The post was deleted so I had to redo this.