TheAmer icanRevoluti

onort heU. S.warofI ndependencewasani deological

and
poli
tical revol
uti
on thatoccurredin Brit
ishAmer ica bet
ween1765and1791.TheAmer icansi
n
the 
Thi rteenColonies for
medi ndependentst at
est hatdefeat
edtheBr i
ti
shi nthe 
American
Revol ut
ionar yWar 
(1775–1783) ,gai ni
ngi ndependencef r
om the 
Brit
ishCr own andest
abli
shi
ng
the 
Uni tedSt at
esofAmer ica 
asthef i
rstnati
on-statefoundedonenlightenmentpr i
nci
ples
of l
i
ber al democracy .

Formorethanadecadebeforetheoutbr
eakofAmer icanRevol
uti
on,tensi
onhadbeenbuil
ding
bet
weencoloni
stsandt
heBr i
ti
shauthori
tiesduetovariousr
easons.Themostprominent
amongthem wasthebr
it
ishpoli
cyofmer canti
li
sm.

The Mercantil
eSy stem  repr
esent
sawor l
dofr i
val
rieswhenpowerandweal t
hwenthandand
hand.Foracount ryt obeweal thy
,itbeli
eveditneededlargeamount sofgoldandsilv
er.Butat
theti
me, Europe’sgr eatestcount
ri
es( Engl
and,France,andSpain,especi
all
y)bel
ievedthatt
here
wasal i
mi t
edamountofgol dandsi l
verintheworld.Togetort okeepgoldandsilv
er,the
countr
yhadt ol i
mi tforeignimport
sandpr eserveaf av
orablebalanceoft
rade.

Mercantil
ism asaneconomi cpolicythr
ivedinGreatBrit
ainbet weenthe16t
hand18t hcentur
ies.
Thecount ryenjoyedt hegreat
estbenefit
sof  
mercanti
l
ism  between1640and1660whent he
prev
ail
ingeconomi cwi sdom suggestedthattheempire'
scol oniescoul
dsuppl
y r
aw
materi
als andr esourcestothemot hercountryandsubsequent lybeusedasexportmarketsf
or
thefi
nishedpr oducts.

Theresul
ti
ngfav
orabl
ebalanceoftradewast houghtt
oincreasenati
onal
weal
th.Becauseof
thi
sheavyrel
i
anceonit
scolonies,
Gr eatBr
it
ainimposedrestri
cti
onsonhowit
scoloniescoul
d
spendthei
rmoneyordist
ri
buteassets.

Mer cantil
ism ledtotheadopt ionofenor moust raderest
ri
ctions,
whi chstuntedthegrowthand
fr
eedom ofcol onialbusinessBr i
ti
shl eadersf
elttheneedt oti
ghtencontroloverthei
rempire.To
besur e,lawsr egulat
ingi mperi
al t
radeandnav igati
onhadbeenont hebooksf orgenerat
ions,
butAmer icancolonistswer enotoriousforevadingtheseregulat
ions.Theywer eevenknownt o
havet radedwi ththeFr enchdur i
ngt herecent
lyendedwar .From theBri
tishpointofvi
ew,itwas
onlyrightt hatAmer i
cancol onist
sshoul dpaytheirfai
rshareofthecost sforthei
rowndef ense.
Thust heBr i
ti
shbegant hei
rattempt storefor
mt heimperialsyst
em.

Inthe1660s, EnglandpassedtheActsofTradeandNav i
gati
on.Alsoknownast heNavigati
on
Acts,theywer easer i
esoflawsdesi
gnedtomakeAmer i
cancoloniesmor edependenton
manuf acturedpr oductsfr
om GreatBr
it
ain.I
nthi
svein,Bri
ti
shauthorit
iesfur
therenumer at
eda
setofpr otectedgoodst hatcoul
donlybesoldtoBri
ti
shmer chants,i
ncludi
ngsugar,tobacco,
cotton,i
ndi go,furs,andi
ron.

Sl
av er
ywasacommonpr act
icet
hroughoutt
hehist
oryofhumancivi
l
izat
ion.Whenlocal
I
ndigenouspopul
ati
onsstart
edtodecli
ne,Bl
acksweretr
ansport
edfr
om partsofEuropeand
Afr
icatotheWestIndi
esandSouthAmer i
catoworkasslaves.
TheBri
ti
shalsousedslaver
yto
boostt
hei
rposi
ti
onandadv
ancet
hei
rowni
nter
est
s

Tradebecamet ri
angul ateddur ingthemi d-1600sbetweent heBrit
ishEmpi r
e,i
tscolonies,and
forei
gnmar kets.Thecol oniespr ovidedrum, cott
on,andot herproductst hatwereheav i
ly
demandedbyi mper ial
istsinAf rica.Intur
n, sl
aveswerer eturnedtoAmer icaortheWestI ndies
andt radedforsugarandmol asses. By1698, tr
adingslav
eswasar ightgiventoev er
y
Engli
shman.Tocount ert hecorr upti
onBr i
ti
shNav ytookt oar r
estsmuggl erswhi chi
nfuriat
ed
thecol onist
s.Event uallyAmer i
canshi ppersbecamemor eandmor erebelli
ousagainsttrade
restr
ictionswithot hercount r
ies

Fol
lowi ngthepol iciesofmer cantil
i
sm,TheBriti
shgov ernmentdemandedthetradeofgol dand
si
lver bul
li
on  andwasal waysseekingaposi t
ivebalanceoftrade.
Assuch,thecol
oniesof t
en
hadi nsuf
ficientbullionleftovertocir
cul
ateintheirownmar ketssot
heytookt oissuingpaper
currencyinst ead.Themi smanagementofpr i
ntedcur r
encyresult
edi
nperiodsof i
nflati
on.I
tis
wellestablishedf actthatBr i
tai
nusedmer canti
li
sm toboosti t
sownint
erestsduringthemi d-
1600s.Apar tfrom this

Amer icanconol i
nstswereal sosubj ectedtobeingtaxedbyt he 
Parli
amentofGr eatBrit
ain,a
bodyi nwhi chtheyhad nodi rectrepresentat
ion.Beforethe1760s,Britain'
sAmer i
cancol oni
es
hadenj oyedahi ghlevelofaut onomyi nt hei
rint
ernalaff
airs,
whichwer elocal
l
ygov ernedby
coloniall
egi sl
atur
es.Duringt he1760s, howev er
,theBrit
ishParl
iamentpassedanumberofact s
thatwer eintendedtobringt heAmer i
cancol oni
esundermor edirectrulef r
om the
Brit
ish metropole 
andincr easingl
yintertwinetheeconomi esofthecoloni eswit
ht hoseofBritai
n.

Secondl yitwasal mostal way satwarwi thitsrivalstokeepi t

st radeandcol onial i
nterest sin
place.Thisr equiredar egul arst r
eam ofr evenue.Especi ally,AftertheendofSev enYear sWari n
1763( Bri
ti
shandAl l
iesv sFr enchandAl l
ies),Bri
tainfacedsev ereeconomi ccr isis.Theyar gued
thattheyhadpr otect edt hecol onist
sf r
om Fr enchandI ndiant hreats.I
nt hissi tuation, 
Briti
sh
Parli
amentwasent itl
edt oi mposeser i
esoft axesonamer icancol onists.In1733, t
heBr iti
sh
enactedmol assesactwhi chi mposedat axonf oreignmol assesi mpor t
sf ollowedbyi ncreasing
therevenuebyenact i
ngt heSugarActof1764. thenI n1765t heyenact edst ampactwhi ch
requir
edal lAmer icancol oni ststopayadi recttaxt oEngl andt hatwoul dhel ppayf orBr i
tish
troopsinAmer ica.Theactal sor equir
edcol oniststousest ampedpaperpr oducedi nEngl and
foranypr i
ntedmat erial
.ther ewer eseri
esofTownshendAct sof1767l ev iedcust om dut yonf iv
e
goodswhi chwer ei mpor tedbyAmer icafrom Engl andandi tincludedt ea.Br iti
shpar l
iament
passedt heset axeswi t
houtcol onialrepresentationnorconsent .Col onistsf eltthatt hiswas
clearviol
ationoft heser ight sasEngl i
shmen.Ther eforeThecol onistsref usedt opayandt here
wasf ir
ingonmob; theinci dentf amousl yknownasBost onMassacr e.

Underpressur
e,aft
erBostonMassacr
e,t
hedutyonallbutretai
nedthetaxont
eainordert
o
symbol
icall
yasser
tParli
ament'
sri
ghtt
otaxthecoloni
es.Inresponset
owhichSamuelAdams
al
ongwithhissupport
ersthr
ewawaytheteacontai
nersint
oAt l
anti
cOceanwhichwasBoston
TeaParty
.
TheBr it
ishrespondedbyclosing 
Bost onHarbor andenact i
nga seri
esofpuni t
ivelaws which
eff
ectivelyresci
nded MassachusettsBayCol ony'spriv
il
egesofself-government.Theother
coloniesr al
l
iedbehi
ndMassachuset t
s,andtwelv eofthethir
teencol oni
essentdelegatesinlat
e
1774t of orm a 
Conti
nentalCongress 
forthecoor dinati
onoftheirr
esi st
ancetoBritai
n.
Opponent sofBri
tai
nwereknownas  "
Patri
ots" 
or" Whigs",
whilecolonistswhoretainedtheir
al
legiancet otheCrownwer eknownas  "Loyali
sts" 
or"Tori
es."

Openwarfar
eerupt
edwhen Br
it
ishregul
ars 
sentt
ocaptur
eacacheofmi
l
itar
ysuppl
i
eswer
e
conf
ront
edbylocal
 Pat
ri
otmil
i
tia 
at 
Lexi
ngtonandConcor
d i
n1775.

Patri
otmil
i
tia,
joinedbythenewlyf
or med 
Conti
nent
alArmy ,thenputBr
iti
shfor cesi
nBoston
undersi
egebyl andandtheywit
hdrewbysea.Eachcolonyfor meda Pr
ovinci
al Congr
ess,which
assumedpowerf rom t
heformercoloni
algover
nments,suppressedLoyal
ism, andcontr
ibut
ed
totheConti
nentalArmyledby 
Commanderi nChief
 General
 GeorgeWashington.

TheCont i
nentalCongr essdeclaredBr it
ish Ki
ngGeor geIII
 atyrantwhot rampledthe
colonists'
 r
ightsasEngl ishmen,andt hey  
pronouncedt hecolonies freeandi ndependent
states onJuly4, 1776.ThePat ri
otleader shipprofessedthepol i
ti
cal phil
osophies
of l
iberali
sm and republi
canism torejectr ul
eby  
monar chy 
and aristocracy.TheDeclarati
onof
Independencepr ocl ai
medt hat
 allmenar ecreatedequal,thoughitwasnotunt i
llat
ercentur
ies
thatconst i
tuti
onal amendment sandf ederallawswoul dincrement all
ygr antequalri
ghtsto
Afri
canAmer icans, Nati
veAmer i
cans, poorwhi temen, andwomen.

Amongt hesigni
ficantresult
softherevol
uti
onwer e 
Amer icanindependence  andt heendof
Brit
ish 
mer canti
l
ism  i
nAmer ica,
openingupworldwidetradef ortheUnitedSt ates—including
resumpt i
onwi t
hBr it
ain.ThusAmer i
cabecamewor l
d'
sf i
rstfederaldemocr aticrepubli
cf ounded
ont he 
consentoft hegov er
ned.Shortl
yaft
era 
BillofRi
ght s wasr at
if
iedast hef i
rst
ten amendment s,guaranteeinganumberoffundament alrightsusedasj usti
ficati
onf orthe
revolut
ion.

Therefor
ei nanutshel
litcanbesaidthatbri
ti
shmercant
alistpol
i
ciesi.
emonopol
izi
ngthesl
ave
tr
ade,putt
ingtar
if
fsoni mportsoffor
eigngoodsandrestr
icti
ngshippi
ngthr
oughEngl
ish
channelscausedar i
ftbetweenthecoloni
stsandt
heBr i
ti
sh.

Highinf
lati
onandheavytaxati
ontooexacerbatedthesi
tuat
ionevenmor
east hecolonist
swere
enragedthatt
heywereforcedtopaytaxeswithouthavi
ngav oi
ceint
heBri
ti
shgov ernment.
All
thi
sdiscordfi
nal
l
yledtotheAmer icanRevol
ution.