The Revolutionary War changed the political situation in the United States; it occurred between 1775 and 1783. It is otherwise referred to as the American Revolution and was a reaction to the oppressive governance of the British crown in the United States. The American Revolution was inevitable as it followed a series of conflicts and tensions between the American colonies and the 13 North American colonies that represented the dominance of the British crown. The first incident that led to the need for the American Revolution was the French and Indian war between 1756 and 1783 (Harris p.27). This particular war is also referred to as the Seven Years’ War.
The Seven Years’ War prompted the British government to increase its revenue at the expense of the US colonists. The British crown implemented new taxes, which were extremely unpopular among colonists in the United States. In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, and it marked the first form of taxation that was levied on American colonists by the British government. The taxes levied on American colonists were meant to compensate for the financial incurrences caused by the Seven Years War. The new tax impositions were not received warmly by the American colonists, and so they expressed their frustration by holding several events of mob violence with efforts to intimidate the stamp collectors (Halper p.93). Unfortunately, the British government reacted by passing the Stamp Act in 1765. The Stamp Act imposed taxes on every piece of paper that American colonists used. The passing of this act meant that the taxes imposed on American colonists were legal. Moreover, the British government later passed a Declaratory Act that gave the British government the legal capacity to pass colonial legislation that they found most appropriate.
The taxation of American colonists continued to be an issue of concern until it led to the American Revolution. The subsequent event that led to the American Revolution was the Townshend Act. The Townshend Act was issued in 1767 to impose taxes on all the imported goods into American colonies (Harris p.129). This act followed the Stamp Act that had been implemented two years earlier. The passing of the Townshend Act meant that American colonists would also suffer higher prices on their imported products and the high prices imposed on paper in the country. The British government argued that American colonists were supposed to contribute some money because it lost a large amount of money to protect Americans from the French government.
However, American colonists were infuriated because they felt that all forms of taxation were a complete abuse of power. The British government used its troops to ensure that US colonists paid their dues to make matters worse. Several years later, in 1773, the government passed the Tea Act, a tax duty imposed on tea. American colonists who were not pleased by this act took the initiative to masquerade as British folks and infiltrate the ship of the East India Company. These American colonists dumped the tea that was carried in the ships overboard (Halper p.119). As a result, the British parliament used its legal power to create stringent rules and regulations that complicated the ability of American Colonists to revolt.
“No Taxation without Representation”
The sentence, “No taxation without representation,” was a slogan that became popular among American colonists. It represented the grievances of the American colonists who felt that the British government’s channels were an abuse of power. The British constitution’s Bill of Rights of 1689 states that it is illegal to tax people under the English jurisdiction without permission from parliament. American colonists did not have people who represented them in parliament. It meant that the British government either had to halt the tax impositions or allow American colonists to be represented in the parliament (Crowder p.89). The parliament ignored these claims and stated that American colonists had virtual representation, a façade to avoid granting American colonists what they legally deserved.
The Bill of Rights refers to several privileges or powers that people possess because of the constitution, judicial precedents, or any form of law. In the American context, the Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments made to the constitution. The Bill of Rights became part of the constitution of the United States in 1791 (Halper p.147). It involves the privileges that American citizens are granted by law concerning the national government. It protects citizens from being mistreated by fellow citizens or the national government. The bills of rights seek to ensure that people live conducive lives and allow the same for others.
The Antifederalists thought that the Bill of Rights was immensely important because it would address the social issues present in the United States. It was necessary to add the Bill of Rights to the constitution because it addressed the weaknesses in the Articles of Federation. A significant section of the population in the United States was afraid that the central national government in the country was on the verge of accumulating too much power, and it would lead to extreme social disparity within the country. There was the unequal distribution of resources in the United States, where some states were bound to perform better than others on numerous fronts. Moreover, the model of governance that was present in the United States would solely favor the wealthy and powerful members of society (Halper p.158). Therefore, the Bill of Rights ratified the most vulnerable US nationals from being mistreated by either the government or fellow citizens (Crowder p.83). The Bill of Rights is imperative because it moderates the practice of power by providing US citizens with equal opportunities and guaranteed protection from federal authorities prone to abusing their power.
An excellent example that shows the importance of the Bill of Rights in the United States is African-Americans’ acts of discrimination from the federal police. Unfortunately, some people are treated with absolute contempt while in their own country. The racial discrimination by police officers in the United States demonstrates how crucial the Bill of Rights was to the society of the United States. I feel that despite the presence of rights that are supposed to protect people from police brutality, such cases are reported in all media outlets at an extremely high rate. Certainly, this phenomenon shows that things would have been worse if the initiative to add the Bill of Rights to the constitution had failed. The eighth amendment states that even people found guilty of crimes should be protected against the use of excessive force or punishment (Crowder p.43). However, the situation on the ground is awfully unfortunate as many African-Americans have suffered at the hands of police officers in the US.
Works Cited
Crowder, Jack Darrell. African Americans and American Indians in the Revolutionary War. McFarland, 2018.
Halper, Thomas. “Henry Friendly and the Incorporation of the Bill of Rights”. British Journal of American Legal Studies, vol 8, no. 2, 2019.
Harris, Christopher. Public Lives, Private Virtues: Images of American Revolutionary War Heroes, 1782–1832. Routledge, 2018.