Historical Analysis Of The American Revolution

History 3740 Final Paper Spencer Mazzucchi Shumway

The American Revolution was a struggle that included different factions of people. All of these coteries had their own reasons for wanting to or not wanting to break away from Great Britain. These reasons and agendas ranged from economic and mercantile to patriotic and chauvinistic. Because of these factious reasons, historians have grouped these colonists together based on their perceptions during this revolutionary period. The principle groups during this historic time of revolutionary unrest were radicals seeking independence like John and Abigail Adams, moderates wanting reconciliation like John Dickinson, loyalists who wanted and invited British rule, and wealthy slave-owners who, ironically, wanted to prevent their own slaves from rebellion. During the Imperial Crisis, the colonists were incensed by all of the attempts the British government made to insert itself into the American economy. Bostonians came to a boiling point when the British closed the port and flooded their economy with cheap tea. Merchants like John Hancock could no longer import tea and similar beverages because there was simply no room in the market for his imports. Hancock, along with Samuel Adams and the rest of the sons of liberty, ensconced themselves against Britain. Once John Adams witnessed the aftermath of the battle of Lexington and Concord he too turned radical in his desire to break away from England. Some of these men radicalized purely for patriotic reasons, like Adams, and some of these men radicalized for economic reasons, like Hancock. But once radicalized, they inspired many men and women, some might say the beginning of a nation, to follow suit. Some of these men were so radical that, on the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, they would smash the

unilluminated windowpanes of nearby homes because putting candles on the windowsill was a sign of patriotic support. (Irvin, Clothed in Robes of Sovereignty) Women also proved influential amongst the colonial revolutionaries and annoying to the loyalists and British government. Mercy Otis Warren balanced the hat of motherhood with that of radical revolutionary. She was silently loud with her poetic writings that were published for all to see. Many people saw her poems and plays in print and were swayed to the patriot movement. Women also held the keys to the future. “As republican wives and mothers, women were granted the custodianship of the nation’s civic virtue.” (Lyon, sex among the rabble, pg. 290) Women raised their children to be patriotic and grow up to be productive citizens in the children’s native country, America. Abigail Adams, wife of radical John Adams, was often separated from her husband due to his political work. The self-educated Abigail oversaw the family’s household and largely raised their four children on her own, all while maintaining a lively lifelong correspondence with her husband on the political issues of the day. She was one of only two women in history to be both wife and mother to two U.S. presidents (the other being Barbara Bush). Her son John Quincy Adams grew up to be the sixth President of the United States of America. Woman contributed mightily to the radicalization movement by instilling selfgoverning values in the next generation. It soon became clear that not all who were in attendance at the first continental Congress were of a radical mindset. Joseph Galloway, John Dickinson and Edward Rutledge, to name a few, wanted to forge policies that would pressure and convince Parliament to rescind its “oppressive” acts. The Galloway plan was a proposed policy that conjecturally would have eased friction and welded the colonies again with Great Britain. Men like Patrick Henry, Roger Sherman and Samuel Adams wanted to develop a statement of rights shared amongst the colonial

inhabitants and make Parliament aware of these rights. They wanted to be treated with the same rights that English subjects in Britain had. In the end at the first congressional meeting, the moderate voices won in favor of compromise. For some at this early juncture in the Revolution, this was a war fought not to revolt, but to reconcile, and the radicals had to suppress their desires. Loyalist voices proved to be vexingly influential during this time. Benjamin Franklin’s son, William Franklin was the Royal Governor of New Jersey before the war. During the war colonial militiamen imprisoned him and in 1778 he was released in a prisoner exchange. He then moved to New York City, which was still under British control. He also organized loyalist military units to fight along side the British. After the war he was exiled to London, never to step foot in America again. Another Loyalist, Thomas Hutchinson has been referred to as “the most important figure on the loyalist side in pre-revolutionary Massachusetts.” He held several government positions including Royal Governor of Massachusetts and was a proponent of the much-hated British taxes. Loyalists in revolutionary America proved to be a big help to the British, just not big enough. During the constitutional convention slavery was a hot topic- so hot that it wasn’t directly addressed by words but rather by insinuations. “The framers’ constitution disapproved of slavery by implication but made it harder to do much about it nationally.” (Waldstreicher, Slavery’s Constitution, pg. 105) Because of the ambiguous tone the Constitution takes, slavery remained a steadfast institution well into the next century. The patricians in masse consciously knew that slavery was morally wrong, but no one knew how to end the practice without causing irreparable harm to their nation’s economy and offense to their southern neighbors who relied on the acquisition of slavery to keep their standard of living. “Morris and King had been among those who had voiced morally motivated antislavery sentiments before.” (Waldstreicher, Slavery’s

Constitution, pg. 92) Colonists would go as far as spinning their shortcomings to serve their own arguments. Patricians in the past had blamed Britain for starting the epidemic that was slavery, long before this convention actually took place. “The leading colonial agent in England, Benjamin Franklin, blamed slavery on the British and described British overtures to slaves as the final proof of their tyranny.” (Waldstreicher, Slavery’s Constitution, pg. 105) Some of the “citizens” were indeed fighting against British emancipation. Slavery also became a problem within the American colonies during the actual Revolutionary War. “Slavery might be wrong, but slaves themselves were something worse: an enemy within.” (Waldstreicher, Slavery’s Constitution, pg. 57) During the Revolutionary War a slave insurrection seemed to perpetually be on the horizon, once Lord Dunmore issued his proclamation inviting “Indentured servants, Negroes, or others free.” (Dunmore’s Proclamation, 1775) Colonists thought of their slaves, who “weren’t” people, as potential enemies and indeed had to chase runaway slaves and bring them back under oppression. One runaway slave who was never caught was named Harry Washington, who escaped while his owner was away commanding the Continental Army. The largest slave revolt in history happened during the revolution because the British promised any enslaved Negro emancipation if he or she defected to the British side. One of the revolutions within the American Revolution was slaves fighting for their own freedom. Radicals, Moderates, Loyalists and Slaveholders all played a part in the American Revolution. These factions were made up of people whose political opinions were molded by their social standings and also by their true feelings about the political policies of the day. Some of these branches of people fought for their own reasons. Within these branches there were

minority groups revolting against some British forged policies that were old enough that they simply were tradition.