Origin Causes American Revolution
Colonial America Embraced Freedom Long Before the Revolutionary War
Many argue about the causes of the American Revolution; and why not, religion and politics have generated some of the most entertaining arguments of all time. Most of the religious arguments stem from someone taking the view that America is a Christian country, the meaning of which usually determines the cause and the cure for the argument. Others argue it was a socially motivated event because the American people were tired of having to adhere to and pay for English intiiatives for which they had no say and that the principles of the enlightenmnet were the main cause. Many will argue vociferously that it was purely an economic necessity due to taxation without representation. They had no say in government. The truth is that all of these factors contributed the the demise of the English Empire in America.
Religious Causes
One of the most controversial causes of the American Revolution to talk about today is religion. We can endlessly debate a Christian foundation of America but there can be no doubt about the role that religion played. The majority of immigrants to New England, the Delaware River Valley, and Maryland were Pilgrims of Puritan, Baptist, Quaker, and Catholic dissension. The colonies in the south were primarily Anglican but took a dim view, on the whole, of the High Anglican form of worship. Finally, the Appalachian mountain region was a very common area to which many Scots-Irish Presbyterians migrated due to religious discrimination in Northern Ireland. These religious groups together with “The Great Awakening” in the mid-century had a definitive impact on the founding of the United States.
Social Causes
The social climate in America also had a great deal to do with the march to revolution. It was not a classical revolution that saw the lower classes triumph over their oppressors but it was definitely an unleashing of a hitherto restrained middling society. Even the terminology used, such as abject slavery, tyranny, and independence, painted a socially based portrait of the event. The very foundations of social order would take a huge hit in this conflict. The Aristocracy plummeted from being a term of respect to an epithet of derision. The equality of all men was a goal that had never before been given an adequate trial.
Political Causes
Political thought had been undergoing its most profound development in the history of the world in the 17th and 18th Century. Absolute rule was beginning to be seen as decadent. In American Colonial government at this time it was not uncommon for one man to hold several political offices at once. These offices were, for the most part, royal appointments, which in many cases actually carried more responsibility and power in their arena than the actual crown did in Britain. These mini-tyrants were in large part responsible for the colonial perception of the tyranny of the crown.
Economic Causes
Finally, economic development, which is probably the most familiar cause, has earned the right to be, what some consider, the key cause. Taxation to fund war debt was the first and largest issue that radicals could latch onto to engender popular support. The prevailing economic practice of Mercantilism meant that the first reason for colonial existence was to amass riches for the mother country. The Colonies had accomplished this very well for a long time. The very purpose for the war expense that Great Britain was trying to recoup with taxation was to preserve this valuable resource.
Sources:
The Creation of the American Republic 1776-1787 by Gordon S. Wood, 1998, UNC Press
A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic by John Ferling, 2003, Oxford University Press
A Religious History of the American People by Sydney E. Ahlstrom, 2004, Yale University Press
