American Revolution

The American Revolution was undoubtedly a significant event in American History. After approximately 150 years of limited control by Britain, no direct taxation and freedom to develop democratic institutions in the colonies the ties across the Atlantic were becoming strained. Britain, in order to pay off the 60 million pounds of debt that it incurred during the French and Indian War (also called the Seven Years War) began to demand tax dollars of the colonists. The British colonists in North America resisted these new laws, often violently.

Here are some informative websites on the Revolution:
PBS Liberty!
Library of Congress page on the American Revolution
Declaration of Independence at ushistory.org
Howard Zinn's view of the American Revolution

Here are some questions for you to consider as we cover the topic of the American Revolution.
Please post a response to one or more of these questions.

1) Was the American Revolution justified or not justified?
2) Was the American Revolution a radical revolution?
3) Were the violent actions (i.e. tarring and feathering) of patriots against other colonists who did not support the cause justified?
4) Was the American Revolution inevitable? (i.e. - Would the colonists, after about 150 years of some political freedom, demand independence even if Britain had not passed the taxes and other laws that it did?)
5) The Declaration of Independence lays out a long list of problems that they had with the King of England. Was King George the person responsible for all of the oppression of the colonies?
6) Did the colonists exhaust all measures of a peaceful resolution or were they too eager to separate from England?
7) Was the American Revolution fundamentally flawed since it did not enhance the rights of African-Americans and women?


Join or Die - This was a cartoon from Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Gazette 12 years before the Declaration of Independence (1754) in which the colonies are being urged to set up some type of centralized government to deal with the threat of Native Americans. It would later be used as a symbol for the American Revolution.






Gadsden flag - This symbol was used by the first Marines in the Revolutionary War. Notice there are 13 rattles at the tail.