The American War of Independence

Most of us today are fascinated by the United States of America and the American way of life. We look up to them as a superpower which has dominated the world order ever since we were born. 

Like many others it is difficult for me to imagine how this superpower was once the colony of the British. It's also worth wondering why the USA never really colonised other countries as all the other European powers were indulged in.

So today let's look at a brief history of the USA so that we don't look blank whenever we encounter a conversation regarding the same.

Questions addressed

1. Understanding how the great superpower that we know of today USA was once a colony of the British.

2. A brief timeline of the American revolution

3. How does it help us understand the American culture as we know today?

Analysis

To understand the revolution let us first consider the erstwhile circumstances -

Year 1650s

Economy

The European traders had started coming to North America to trade in plantation products. A triangular slave trade had developed -

The European colonial powers provided slaves to British American traders from Africa. These slaves worked in the cotton and sugar plantations owned by the traders.

And finally , the cotton and sugar was sent to Europe to fuel the industrial revolution's need for raw materials.

Polity

The Eastern coast of North America included 13 states which were the colonies of the British ( including present day New York , Boston , Washington etc ).

Just adjacent to the British were were the areas under the control of French.

System of Governance

The system of Governance was largely independent of any influence from the British colonial masters.

 The Americans -

1. Elected their own local governments.

2. Collected taxes from the residents.

3. Made their own budgets and followed independent policies.

The British were only the symbolic masters. The local American governments owed allegiance to the British Monarchy.

Thus the American colonies were largely independent to conduct their internal affairs.

But the question arises why did the British allow this?. Even India was a colony of the British , but we never got such autonomy.

The answer lies in the prevalent Anglo-French rivalry across America.

The British feared , if they impose taxes the American subjects may join hands with the French on the west coast and rebel against the British. Similarly even the French did not impose colonial restrictions on their subjects fearing the same.

This system was called ' statutory neglect '. Where both the colonial powers refrained from exploiting their subjects i.e they neglected their American colonies.

Then , how did the situation become so volatile that it led to the American revolution?

The answer lies in India!.

By 1740s , both British and French had competing claims on India. The French had colonies in Puducherry , and dominated south India , while the British dominated the Bengal region.

The British tried expanding towards south India and ultimately defeated French in wars lasting about 20 years ( 1740 - 1763 ).

This rivalry ended with the French defeat in the battle of Wandiwash ( near Vellore ) and the Treaty of Paris was signed. According to the Treaty, the French accepted their defeat and agreed not to interfere with British in India.

High on confidence with defeating French the British now wanted to compensate for the losses incurred on the 20 years war with the French. Thus they looked at America and started imposing taxes.

New changes introduced in America -

1. Navigation Laws.

According to them -

The American trade was restricted to UK i.e the cargo from America can only be sold to UK and no other European country and America can import products only from UK. Also tax had to be paid to the UK for all exports and imports

- the Americans were to compulsorily use only the British Shipping companies for trade and transport.

- trade in gold and silver was restricted and only barter trade via UK was permitted.

2. Tea Acts 1773

The British East India company was a dominant force in Britain at the time. It was facing competition in trading tea with America , as tea was illegally being imported via Netherlands.

Thus, it  persuaded the British Parliament to pass a law to give Monopoly to EIC to trade in in tea with America. 

i.e the Americans could now buy tea ( which was expensive ) only from the East India company. All other companies were banned from selling tea in America and trade via Netherlands was stopped using the British Navy.

3. Sugar tax , stamp tax, Townshend duties and many other taxes were introduced on the American subjects.

Now it wasn't that the Americans were against paying taxes. They already paid taxes to their local governments.

But they put up revolt with the slogan " NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION ". i.e they demanded representation in the British Parliament in return for taxes.

Boston Tea party

This event is said to have marked the beginning of the violent revolution.

 In opposition to the Tea Act , several American revolutionaries in Boston went to the port where the tea consignment of the British East India Company had arrived. They attacked and  threw 10,000 Pound worth of the EIC tea in the ocean as a symbol of revolt. This event was termed as the ' Boston Tea Party '.

Later the revolutionaries from 13 American colonies met in ' Philedalphia Congress ' on 4th July 1776 and declared independence from the British.

The Britain responded by sending 2 units of army to quell the revolt.

The revolutionaries received support from the French in the form of 50,000 soldiers and 2 million louvers ( erstwhile currency ).

Also the French navy blocked further transfer of British troops to America.

Finally , the American revolutionaries aided by the French were able to defeat the British in an armed struggle. All the erstwhile 13 colonies came together to form the United States of America. The rest joined later gradually.

As a gift to the Americans , the French built the statue of liberty dedicated to the American independence.

So how has this revolution shaped the American society?

1. Since the Americans won their freedom through an armed struggle they value owning firearms. That's the reason why guns are so easily available in USA , because it gives an assurance of security to all the residents that they have earned their freedom and they need to protect it.

2. The America is a land of immigrants including the British and French who came as traders , the blacks who mostly came through slave trade and the native tribes already living in America called ' Red Indians '. Hence it's ironic when Trump says that he will not allow immigrants to settle in America. ( A nation which is made up of immigrants ).

3. The revolutionaries  were mostly the erstwhile traders , hence the American constitution reflects the business mindedness. They have ' Right  to Property ' and capitalism is in their blood.

Hence this is the story of the first democracy in the world which came into existence even before the French revolution. However it must be noted that even though the Americans won independence , not all got the equal rights. The blacks were still slaves and enjoyed no rights 

( until the American civil war in 1860s ).

Tell me if you'd like a blog on that as well!!

This can be termed as the birth of democracy and capitalism as we know of today.

Hope you learnt something new!

Amit Chauhan!!

P.S most of it is based on what I was taught by my teacher , didn't have much time to fact check everything!..so ignore if there is a little deviance in facts!