American Revolution
The American Revolution has been traditionally studied as a single, unified movement of colonial forces fighting against the imperial British. As well as this description makes for a nice grade school story, it is important to understand that in the course of several years that composed the latter half of the eighteenth century, America underwent two revolutions. These two revolutions were dramatically different, yet uniquley simmilar. The primary revolution, which I will refer to as the Imperial revolution, was simmilar to the old stories of poorly trained colonists facing the largest imperial army in the world, the British. This Imperial revolution was an intense battle that began in the ports of Boston and ended in the fields of Yorktown. While this military battle ensued, a greater cause championed the revolutionary leaders. Early forms of republicanism emerged in the early 18th century when after the collapse of Catholicism, English philosophers began to reflect upon the !first of the great republics in Rome and Greece. This evaluation of the history of these two empires created and propelled republicanism into a revolutionary context. For the first time in modern history, the ideas of the old republics were being studied,
In 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill served as an early indicator of what path the war would take. The militia was able to hold the British back twice, only to surrender the battle later on. Although this was a loss for the colonists, it proved one important fact; that the British were able to win, but it would cost them greatly. In 1776, General George Washington, whose command of the militia forces in 1775 allowed the armies to begin unification, petitioned the Continental Congress for an effective army. In addressing John Hancock, President of the Congress, General Washington states that, ³We are now as it were, upon the eve of another dissolution of our Army;...unless some speedy, and effectual measures are adopted by Congress, our cause will be lost...An Army formed of good Officers moves like Clock-Work; but there is no Situaiton upon Earth, less enviable...than that Personıs who is at the head of Troops...are unprovided with almost every necessary.²1 This realization of W! When George Washington took control of the Continental Army in 1775, he began to be looked at as the pure representation of republicansim. His simple beliefs of the merit system and the representation of the new common citizen were appealing to the colonists. The belief of a system of merit was revolutionary in itself, for the past centuries of aristrocracy negated any such system. By the time Thomas Paine published his pamphlet ³Common Sense² in 1776, colonists were already assuming the roles of patriots of republicanism. Pain had noticed an American, (or colonial), identity beign formed. His writings inspired the colonists to convert their society from an English dominated rusitc world to a new America, filled with leaders of republicanism and freedom. By July of 1776, almost every colonistsıs blood pumped full of red hot republicanism. he American revolution. The Imperial conflict that was composed up of the victories and losses, and the unifications and the dissenters was soon ended as American society began to adjust to life with out the British. The importance of timing into the universal military conflict would become highly important because as the Revolutionary war began to turn in the favor of the British, a new movement of unification would be necessary. This movement would come directly from the spread of virtue, liberty and freedom. The leaders of the revolution would no longer see the American republican cause as indigenous to Americans, but as a universal movement, led by Americans. On the nights before the first shots of Lexington and Concord were fired, England was regarded as the primary world superpower. Englandıs powerful Navy and large Army dwarfed the American compliment, and doom lurked everywhere. During the beginning of hostilities from 1775-1776, an American militia began to form in Boston. Colonists were anything but what we would call modern day soldiers. Many of them who were interested in fighting would arrive at the battlefields, fight for a couple of hours, and when the days was over, return home. The states lacked the power to raise an army and even still did not have the money to do so. The first true test of the American militias after Lexington and Concord would come in the summers months of 1775. In June, colonial militias composed up of many independent state militias, surrounded Boston in an attempt to prevent the British from attacking out. The men that composed these militias were poorly trained volunteers whose temper and lack o! No better a place than inthe Decleration of Independence can evidence of republicanism influence be seen. It is important to understand why republicanism was so important, especially how it related to the Decleration of Independence. The colonists had no legal justifications for declaring independence, other than propelling their interpretatons of republicanism the King. The opening paragraph of the Decleration of Independence states that, ³When, in the course of human events,
Some common words found in the essay are:
Imperial Revolution, Decleration Independence, American Revolution, Seven War, Lexington Concord, King Britain, Rome Greece, Roman Greek, Continental Army, British Imperial, imperial revolution, imperial conflict, american revolution, colonial society, decleration independence, 18th century, american society, revolution american, south carolina, ideological revolution, american revolution imperial, revolution imperial conflict,
Approximate Word count = 2754
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
