The United States of America, being a free and developed country now, has come through a long path fighting for its sovereignty and freedom in the XVIII century. Back in the first half of the XVIII century, England was a world hegemon having leadership above a sustainable number of colonies, one of which was North America. The raising of common concerns about total control over the colonies by the British Empire was due to American slavery’s spread and economic and political restrictions implemented towards the population. However, people’s views were divided into oppositionists and supporters of England government. The more possible reasons for the supporters to step on the side of England were their age and traditional beliefs, their unsure feelings about cruelty and violence committed by revolutionists, and there are frightening for future chaotic changes. Opponents and patriots, in their turn, wanted to fight for the independence of their political, economic, and social rights, and whilst trying to stand for them, faced more restrictions back. The American Revolution occurred mostly due to England’s monopolization of its market and political restrictions narrowing the abilities of colonists.
Economic Issues
Limiting the trade with other countries, controlling the marine port of North America, restricting the land settlement in the east, and making the colonists pay for their expenses were the major economic reasons for deteriorating the relationship between the colonists and England. In William Bradford’s image, it is clearly shown the protest against the Stamp Act taken in 1765 and implemented a tax on all paper products in North America. The Act limited the freedom of the American press and caused a great number of rebellions. The image represents the death of press freedom and raises an issue of total control over the colonists as they could not participate in Parliament and influence the structure and the system of taxation.
England perceived North America as the source of income, aiming mostly to catch up with debt from the French and Indian war. Due to that, colonists also had to pay for their expenses themselves, and the general indignation from Americans can be explained by the will to be protected and safe paying the taxes and being under a strong Empire. The trade limits set by England restricted their routes and controlled American farmers’ trade with the merchants. Such activity led to trade disbalance and decreased industrial production, and, consequently, to lower income of the Empire.
The general attitude of the colonists towards England and its customs officers started worsening rapidly. The image by Philip Dawe emphasizes and unites the reaction of the people of North America to the monopolized system that had to exist. This broadside narrates the events that took place in January 1774 when a British customs officer, John Malcolm, was disputing with Bostonian citizen George Hewes about the inappropriate attitude to the boy in the street. Malcolm hit George, and rumors quickly spread all over the city. The crowd took Malcolm from his home and started making fun of him, hitting him whilst driving nearby the Liberty Tree threatening to hang Malcolm. In the image, Boston citizens are pictured with threatful faces pouring tea in Malcolm’s mouth with the Liberty Tree and hanging rope in the background. The picture unites all evens from the day, and the Boston Tea party happened only one month before the occasion, which also unclearly appears behind. Such pieces of art underlined the major themes Americans were fighting for and encouraged people to keep patriotism for further struggles.
Political Issues
Colonists were paying a substantial amount of taxes and expected the relevant attitude from the government and the possibility of participating in a law setting. In real life, citizens of North America faced an increasing number of restrictions, a ban on having their currency, and no rights in the Parliament. Moreover, the trade relations control became stricter over time, and superintendents from Britain witnessed every trade deal with Indians. England wanted total domination and limited all the possible ways for Americans to run away from tax payments.
Paul Revere’s image describes the events that happened in 1770 when the crowd of colonists gathered in front of the Custom House in Boston and started making fun of British soldiers (guards). The chain of events led to the shooting into the crowd ending with victims deadly injured and some people wounded. The story eventually became propaganda used against the British government, and several authors and painters, like Paul Revere, seemed to exaggerate the actual actions to warm up the crowd. Revere is also believed to copy the image from the other painter of the time, even though a variety of critics find major distinguishing features in both images. The picture became well-known and happened to be inflammatory, spreading the pulsebeat and partly propaganda.
During Revolution, some people followed the independence ideas, and some were more conservative and frightened of future changes. The trust in the great Empire could not correspond to the trust of rebellions and simple colonists having only courage, bravery, and patriotism in their pockets. Some of the loyalists had family connections with the British people, and the thought of losing their relatives was more fear-provoking than being under an endless number of taxes. The cruelty of patriots could also increase the distance between diverse groups in North America. During the Revolution, it is hard to predict the final of the play, and some loyalists chose the known restricted stability over the unknown promises of freedom. No matter what issues liberals had, each of them had a right to stay human and be under fear and uncertainty in tomorrow.
However, the colonists won the Revolution leaving the bright and painful events in the past. The United States of America is a free and decent country developing in terms of equality, liberty, and autonomy. The fight for the US’s sovereignty the ancestors led till the end is worth the level of life and the rights Americans have nowadays. The history of the United States has never been easy, but it brought Americans to the way they are and made them stronger. Discussing the initial motives each side had during the Revolution is hard as humans of various backgrounds had different goals and beliefs. Fighting the fears, trusting fate for better changes, and finding the bravery to stand for themselves helped patriots win the war. The restrictions The British Empire was putting on North America rapidly increased the general mood of mistrust of the government. The total control over the political and economic issues of the colonists is believed to be the major initiative factor encouraging people to fight for independence.
Works Cited
Brandford, William. This is the Place to Affix the Stamp. 1765. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Dawe, Philip. Bostonian’s Paying the Excise Man, or Tarring and Feathering. 1774. London: Printed for Robt. Sayer & J. Bennett, Map & Printseller. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Revere, Paul. The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th, 1770 by a Party of the 29th Regt. 1770. Bostin: Engravd’s Printed & Sold by Paul Rivere. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.