AMERICAN REVOLUTION

WAR OF INDEPENDENCE

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 AMERICAN REVOLUTION

THE PRE-MATURE STAGE THE MATURE

STAGE

 Era of harsh laws – Mercantilism

 The era of battles/war of independence
 Era of Enlightenment
 Restive Era of boycott and protest by
colonist

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 CAUSES AMERICAN REVOLUTION

IT WAS THE RESULT OF MANY FACTORS BROUGHT TOGETHER:

 The Mercantilism
 The Enlightenment & Great awakening
 The attitude of the British
 The attitude of the American

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 LETS DISCUSS THEM ONE BY
ONE…

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MERCANTILISM

THE BRITISH MERCANTILISM PROVED TO BE A MATCHSTICK TO THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTIONARY TINDERBOX, ENGENDERING FLAMES THAT BURNED DOWN HALF THE
BRITISH EMPIRE STATIONED IN THE AMERICAN CONTINENT!

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Mercantilism is an economic theory and practice aimed at augmenting the mother state’s
power through economic policies and accumulating monetary reserves, usually at the cost of rival
nations or colonies subjugated. Some of the policies under mercantilism included:
 Forbidding colonies to trade with certain nations
 Banning the export of gold and silver for payments
 Subsidies on export ensuring that exports exceed import
 Forbidding trade to be carried out in foreign vessels and ships
 Maximizing the use of resources in colonies
 Taxation
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Mercantilist policies implemented by Britain in America were as follow;

 ENUMERATED COMMODITIES ACT 1660 – English should export certain commodities like cotton, sugar,
wheat tobacco etc only to England and English colonies.
 THE STAPLE ACT 1663 – Payment of duty to England for exporting or selling anything to America.
 THE DUTY ACT 1673 - Ensuring that all earlier enacted acts be enforced through custom collectors.
 THE ENFORCEMENT ACT 1696 – Stringent measures to ensure smuggling
 THE WOOLEN ACT1699
 THE HAT ACT 1732 – limiting the production and sale of American made hats.
 THE MOLASSES ACT 1733 – A high tax on cheap and Dutch molasses
 THE IRON ACT 1750 – To restrict the production of iron good in colonies

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GREENVILLE POLICIES: in the wake of French – Indian War The British government resumed
mercantilist policies to fill the empty government coffers and treasury:
1) The Crown’s Proclamation 1763 – To reconcile with the Indians, win them over and
discourage Pontanic wars and not to support any westward expansion by the colonists.
This infuriated the Americans who were the worst of Native Indians’ foes.
2) The Declaratory Act 1766 – British Crown and parliament will have powers to make laws for
American Colonies
3) The Quartering Act 1765 - In case of non-availability of barracks, American citizens will
provide shelter and ration to the British troops. Meant to shift burden from English to the
Americans.
4) Stamp Act 1765 – All paper imported for newspaper, pamphlets, diplomas, marriage
certificate and playing cards etc to be stamped and tax be paid.

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SETBACK FACED BY BRITAIN OVER GREENVILE POLICIES;
 Civilians, lawyers, students, business owners, ministers protested fiercely.
 Nine colonies sent delegates to New york and the congress passed Declaration of rights &
grievances.
 Sons of Liberty formed in New York.
 Forced civilians to stop stamp use, forced stamp masters to resign, and pulled down King’s
posters and images.
 The Government gave in and repealed the Act.
 But the new Government introduced new policies called the Townshend Act (1767 – 1768 )
new import duties were on paper, glass, tobacco, tea paint and indigo etc

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 Tea Act and Boston Tea Party 1773 – To prevent East India Company from going
bankrupt, Tea Act was passed. Monoply was given to the company. The company could
undersell tea, thus the traders were handicapped. Sons of liberty secretly boarded English
vessels docked at the Massachusetts throwing overboard tea valued at (find the value in
majumdar) dollars. This resulted in the Intolerable Act passed by the British Parliament.
 The Intolerable Act 1774 – The British Government retaliated with closure of Boston Port
and annulment of royal charter 1691of Massachusetts until 15,000 dollars were paid back.
George Washington called it “Murder Act” and Henry Lee called it a wicked system to
destroy the American liberty.

This soon led to worst repercussion for the crown…

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 The first Continental Congress 1774:

 All colonies united to supported Massachusetts
 Passed resolution demanding the people of Massachusetts form government, collect tax,
form militia and sanction be placed on Britain
 A band of militia broke in to Massachusetts’ port William & Mary
 The British Parliament declared Massachusetts rebellious

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SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS - 1775

 The second congressional assemblage declared Britain as an aggressor
 “…We have petitioned, remonstrated, supplicated, prostrated at the foot of the throne and
all in vain. We must fight…”
 The Declaration of Independence was approved on the fourth day of July, 1776!

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 For strengthening the institution of police in Pakistan, in addition to creating a state of the
art infrastructure, it is also imperative to preserve and consolidate the existing
infrastructure of the institution – just like it peers institutions, exempli gratia, the army !

 A police station or a police officer’s office for that matter, remains the first venue of contact
between a citizen and the state and it is here that the former looks up to the latter for
addressing the its grievances and obtaining satisfaction through a legal channel. The
“unpleasant facades and down-at-heels condition” of a police station becomes the first
reason among many others, discouraging any citizen from approaching the police. The
aesthetic aspects enter the broader picture when the focus is on the impressions and
illusions of the public and should therefore be paid greater attention.

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THE ENLIGHTENMENT & THE GREAT AWAKENING

Enlightenment inspired the American revolution and many of the core ideals of the
enlightenment were the basis of the monumental tracts such the American
Declaration of Independence, American constitution, the celebrated ideal of “Life,
Liberty & Property”, democracy, the pursuit of happiness and new ways of thinking about
government structure all came straight from The Great Enlightenment and forged the
foundation for modern America.

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PHASES OF ENLIGHTENMENT

1) THE SCIENTIFIC ENLIGHTENMENT

 First was the phase of scientific revolution beginning a century earlier and transformed the
way people looked at the problems in the realms of science and public affairs. These
scientists included Nicolaus Copernicus, Kelper, Issac Newton, Galileo etc.

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2) THE EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT:

Then came a number of enlightenments - The French, Scottish, English, German, and Swiss
Enlightenment. Knowledge and ideas flew from European coffee houses, newspapers, literary
Salon and went on inspire the Americans. Among the greatest and most celebrated European
thinkers were:
a) JHON LOCKE (English 1632 – 1704) Known as the father of liberalism, his most famous
work included “The Two Treatise Of Government”. He expressed his views against
monarchies and stated that a ruler derives his power and authority through the consent of
the government. The natural rights of a human included life, liberty and property. If a
government fails, the people have aright to overthrow it.
b) VOLTAIRE (FRENCH 1694 – 1778) Among many things that he advocated, he stressed the
most on freedom of religion, speech and civil liberties.
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c) ROSSEAU (FRENCH 1712 - 1778)

“ …Man is born free yet he is in chains every where. Those who think themselves the masters
of others, are in fact greater slaves than they…”
He was a great philosopher.
His notable work included “A Discourse On Inequality” and “ The Social Contract”.
He stated that the general will of the people as a whole guaranteed not being subjugated by
others.
He inspired The French Revolution to a certain extent.

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d) DAVID HUME (SCOTTISH 1711 – 1776):

He was a philosopher, an essayist and a historian.
He was critical of British policies towards America and advocated American independence.
He once wrote, “…Our union with the Americans… in the nature of things, cannot long
subsist…”

e) IMMANUEL KANT (GERMAN 1724 – 1804):

In his essay “what is enlightenment?”, Kant summed up the era’s motto in the following terms
“…Dare to know! Have the courage to use your own reason…”

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3) THE AMERICAN ENLIGHTENMENT INSPIRED BY THE EUROPEAN ENLIGHTENMENT!

The ideals engendered by the European Enlightenment, inspired the American Enlightenment.
The Americans took those European ideals and shaped them through American experience
generating a new kind of politics
a) In Religious Domain: To bring religious, spiritual and moral revival in the colonies, The
Wesley Brothers, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and Roger Williams came forward.
Roger Williams famously stated that the church and state should be separated from each
other.
b) In Social and Political Domain: Among the political leaders and social activists who
stood up for revolutionizing the American society and politics included: George
Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine etc.

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN:
 The most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type
of society that America is today
 He was a publisher, a writer, a statesman and a political firebrand
 As a scientist he made various inventions and instilled in the American society a great love
and interest for science and advancement
 He defended the American cause both through his speeches and writings

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 His most notable writings included pro American satirical essays “Rules by which Great
Empire may be reduced to a small one” and “An Edict by the king of Prussia”
 In 1754, he presented “Albany plan” proposing to unite 13 colonies for forming a congress.
Initially rejected, it later went on to form the basis for articles of confederation
 He also helped in writing the declaration of Independence

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THOMAS PAINE (1737 – 1809)

 He inspired millions with his writings
 Notably - The Common Sense, The American Crisis & The rights of man.
 John Adams said, “without the pen of the author of Common Sense, the sword of Washington would
have been lifted in vain.”
 According to Paine, while a king could be useful, there was no justification for hereditary monarchy.
And if a king fails to see the interest of his subjects, there was no need to have a king.
 And according to him, the British Crown had failed to fulfill his duty to the colonists.
 “… you will do me the justice to remember that I have always strenuously supported the right of
every man to his opinion however different that opinion be to mine… the most formidable weapon
against error of every kind is reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall!

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DENOUEMENT

The enlightenment provided the philosophical basis for American Revolution without
which one can only imagine how different the world would have been. It provided the blue
print for a society based on the ideals of freedom, democracy, pursuit of happiness,
life, liberty and property - all the vital aspects in America still.

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THANK YOU!

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