Introduction
The history abounds with the examples of people’s striving for independence and liberation. Desire to be free and independent is in American people’s blood and a number of rebellions and liberation movements testify to this. The fight for independence has always been of great interest to historians and those who study the history of the United States as a lot of people keep wondering what made the colonists demand independence so ardently. Some of the events taking place in Americas at the end of the eighteenth century caused the colonists’ resentment and made them claim independence.
History
What should be mentioned above all is that certain economical problems in the North-American colonies badly influenced the lives of people. The colonists resented the fact that British policy contradicted the objective course of the colonies’ development and formation of the new nation. The development of trade and industry in the colonies was restricted by the British government which used them as a market of manufactured goods. Economical problems resulted in the increase of taxation which only made the situation more complicated and led to aggravation of political situation. This was the beginning of the fight for independence.
Secondly, a number of acts which were of no benefit to the population caused rebellions among the citizens and contributed into their struggle for independence. The Stamp Act issued by George III in 1765 made the taxes unbearable and resulted in the colonists’ protest against the act and government itself which later developed into a liberation movement. The Revenue Act of 1767 was also aimed at getting more money from the citizens. According to this act board commissioners imposed indirect taxes on trade which could not but caused resentment of the both sides of the Atlantic. At this period of time a set of reforms in the Latin America was introduced. They obtained the name of Bourbon reforms and were also aimed at the increase of taxation in the Latin America which caused a series of rebellions such as Tupac Amaru Rebellion which took place in 1780s.
And the final cause was the colonists’ dissatisfaction with the present government. The colonists claimed that that King George repeatedly violated their rights refusing to adopt the laws “necessary for the public good” as well as he “has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only” (Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, p. 620).The colonists considered George III a tyrant and expressed their desire to get rid of him and his laws which served as the main reason of North-American colonies’ striving for independence and separation. What people demanded was a change of the government as they considered that certain conditions under which they could demand this change were provided by the British Crown and they, the colonists, wanted to use their right to rebel against the government and claim independence and separation.
Conclusion
All in all, the colonists’ urgent claim for independence seems to be quite reasonable. Economical and political instability, high taxes which made people’s lives intolerable and strong desire to change the government contributed greatly into the colonies’ striving for separation and independence and developed into the struggle of these people for their liberation, the struggle which ended up successfully.
Works Cited
Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison. The Federalist Papers. Cosimo, Inc., 2006.