American Patriots: Ethical Concerns and Civic Engagement

Introduction

Due to governing-related imperfections in the American colonies, the middle of the 18^th century was marked by devoted colonists’ concerns and a desire for respect. The Patriots’ history of advocating for change reveals various responses to financial exploitation. The Patriots were represented by colonial citizens critical of taxation strategies, resorted to diverse methods, ranging from enlightenment to group boycotting, and considered ethical factors, including unjust treatment and the nation’s future.

The Patriots

The Patriots were the colonists that actively participated in local inspection, were involved in trade, and criticized Britain’s attitudes toward taxpayers. As colonial society’s elite members, the Patriots took part in community policing efforts to identify those opposing the idea of liberty for the U.S., revealing their civil activity.¹ Boston’s agreements on non-importation became patriotic citizens’ methods to respond to injustices.² They were promoted by traders, making them some of the key representatives of the Patriots. Some members of the Whig party were skeptical of heavier taxation as a viable imperial development strategy and advocated for economic growth.³ Colonists supportive of the same ideas became the Patriots; their interest in rejecting unfair taxation policies was personal rather than tied to abstract ideologies.

Ethical Considerations

The Patriots’ ethics-related considerations incorporated holding the government accountable for unjust taxation practices, tyrannical leadership that threatened the colonies’ future, and insensitivity toward common ancestry. Based on the Walking Purchase of 1737, elite colonists’ interests revolved around economic stability and uninterrupted access to profit-producing lands.⁴ Such priorities’ incompatibility with Britain’s increasingly harsh taxation decisions, including the Stamp Act, made the Patriots emphasize injustice in allocating taxes as an ethical concern.⁵ Another consideration, the “abuse” and “despotism” that reduced the colonies’ security in the longer term, was later emphasized in the Declaration of Independence, revealing the Patriots’ great concern for future-orientedness in leading.⁶ Britain’s injustice towards colonial workers despite having “the ties of … common kindred” became another ethical factor taken into consideration in relief-seeking efforts.⁷ At the same time, the British army’s discipline and devotion to the English Crown remained explicit, implying a great difference in Britain’s treatment of colonies and its local forces.⁸ Thus, the Patriots’ struggle for governmental change was permeated by various principles.

Methods of Using Civic Engagement for Furthering Political Goals

The civic engagement methods utilized by the Patriots included boycotts, creating circumstances for economic pressure, and cultural movements. The non-importation agreement in Boston enabled dozens of traders to unite against Britain’s taxation innovations.⁹ Regarding historical geography, the selected location provided vast opportunities for blocking a large portion of imports due to access to Boston Harbor, a center of shipping. By signing the agreement, the Patriots resorted to the method of boycotting British law since the entire action incorporated traders’ collective refusal to continue operations in Boston. Concerning change over time, Boston later became the center of massive tax-related protests over incoherently heavy taxes on tea.¹⁰ Since continuous non-importation would mean losses for the British king, another goal-seeking method evident in the case refers to inspiring collective action to exert financial pressure on the oppressor. Another method the Patriots resorted to was eliciting protest moods and building patriotic unity through creating socio-cultural movements, such as the Great Awakening. The latter instrumentalized colonial citizens’ religious sentiments as a uniting factor and a catalyzer of common action.¹¹ Obviously, the methods varied in terms of their political statements’ degree of explicitness.

Conclusion

To sum up, the Patriots’ quest for a greater degree of economic independence incorporated civic engagement and acknowledging the oppressed group’s ethical concerns. The techniques for increasing support for the cause referred to both open concerted action to challenge the existing policy and enlightenment-based approaches. Aside from highlighting limited concern for traders’ work, requests for more freedom appealed to the moral underpinnings of exploiting one’s brother nation.

Bibliography

“British North America.” In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 54-80. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019.

“Colonial Society.” In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 81-108. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019.

Clough, Gibson. “Extracts from Gibson Clough’s War Journal, 1759.” In The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yawp.

“Declaration of Independence, 1776.” In The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yawp.

Edwards, Jonathan. “Jonathan Edwards Revives Enfield, Connecticut, 1741.” In The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yawp.

“The American Revolution.” In The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, edited by Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright, 109-143. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019.

Footnotes

1. “The American Revolution,” in The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, ed. Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019), 123.
2. “Colonial Society,” in The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, ed. Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019), 86.
3. “The American Revolution,” 110.
4. “British North America,” in The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open U.S. History Textbook, Vol. I: To 1877, ed. Joseph L. Locke and Ben Wright (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019), 76.
5. “The American Revolution,” 114.
6. “Declaration of Independence, 1776,” in The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yawp. Web.
7. “Declaration of Independence, 1776.”
8. Gibson Clough, “Extracts from Gibson Clough’s War Journal, 1759,” in The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yawp. Web.
9. “Colonial Society,” 86.
10. “The American Revolution,” 137.
11. Jonathan Edwards, “Jonathan Edwards Revives Enfield, Connecticut, 1741,” in The American Yawp Reader: A Documentary Companion to the American Yaw. Web.