The revolutionary war is often seen as a deciding factor in the creation of our great nation. It is seen as the most necessary action the colonial Americans could have done was revolt against the British regime. Yet the revolutionary war when looked at more closely can be described as a miscalculation a mistake by the British. To truly understand why this revolution was avoidable it is important to first understand what the American revolution was, and why it happened. The American revolution was when thirteen of Brittan colonies decided to finally fight back against the iron whip rulers. The American revolution was the sixth most gruesome war America has ever fought, and the deadliest war ever fought on American soil. Thirteen of Brittan's 57 colonies decided to fight back against the worlds leading military. So the question remains, why would a small group of colonies risk everything to fight against their oppressor? The British chose to force the colonists to revolt but this could have been easily prevented. If the British would have allowed the colonists to vote, would not of raised the taxes on the colonists, and if the British would not have passed a series of anti-colonist laws, they could have easily prevented the American revolution and America might still be a British colony to this day.
Josiah Rose
History 150
28 September 2022
Could the American Revolution Been Avoided?
The revolutionary war is often seen as a deciding factor in the creation of our great nation. It is seen as the most necessary action the colonial Americans could have done was revolt against the British regime. Yet the revolutionary war when looked at more closely can be described as a miscalculation a mistake by the British. To truly understand why this revolution was avoidable it is important to first understand what the American revolution was, and why it happened. The American revolution was when thirteen of Brittan colonies decided to finally fight back against the iron whip rulers. The American revolution was the sixth most gruesome war America has ever fought, and the deadliest war ever fought on American soil. Thirteen of Brittan's 57 colonies decided to fight back against the worlds leading military. So the question remains, why would a small group of colonies risk everything to fight against their oppressor? The British chose to force the colonists to revolt but this could have been easily prevented. If the British would have allowed the colonists to vote, would not of raised the taxes on the colonists, and if the British would not have passed a series of anti-colonist laws, they could have easily prevented the American revolution and America might still be a British colony to this day.
The right to fair representation is often seen as the foundation of our country. This is because the colonial Americans were not represented in the British parliament. They paid all the same taxes and followed all the same rules, yet never got any of the representation in parliament. In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson writes, “He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.” (Jefferson.1776) This is just one of the twenty-seven grievances listed in the Deceleration and it is the most directly about fair representation. Of the twenty-seven grievances thirteen of them are about legislation. Almost half of the reasons the colonists revolted were directly because they did not feel represented in parliament. According to the textbook ‘Americas library’ almost two million people lived in the 13 American colonies, and of the two million people three fourths did not feel represented in the British government. If Brittan would of gave the American colonies even a tenth of a vote in parliament, statistically the American colonies would have had a much lower chance of revolting.
The American colonies were set up to funnel supplies and money to the British empire. The colonial Americans would pay taxes and give a percent of their raw materials to the British, and in return the British would protect the colonies. This was the standard agreement of colonial trade. This alone wouldn't have gotten the colonial Americans to risk it all in a revolution against the world's leading power. It was when the British continued to raise taxes on the American colonies and only the american colonies. The British raised taxes numerous times on the colonial Americans, but the final straw was the Stamp Act of 1765. History channel says this about why the stamp act was so controversial, “Though the Stamp Act employed a strategy that was a common fundraising vehicle in England, it stirred a storm of protest in the colonies. The colonists had recently been hit with two major taxes: the Sugar Act (1764), which levied new duties on imports of textiles, wines, coffee and sugar, and the Currency Act (1764), which caused a major decline in the value of the paper money used by colonists.” This shows that the Stamp Act alone would not have caused any commotion as it was common practice at the time, but when it was complied with two other major tax raises it infuriated the colonists. The colonists felt that they were being treated unfairly as British subjects. They felt that the king was against them and breaking the unspoken agreement of colonial trade. The Stamp Act aggravated the colonists so much they started attacking the British stamp distributors. Philip G. Davidson who was a reporter at the time of the American revolution wrote this, “On August 8, 1765, it was made known that Andrew Oliver had been appointed stamp distributor for Massachusetts. On August 14, a motley gathering so intimidated him that he resigned.” This is the some of the first signs of colonial aggression towards the British officials, but it certainly wasn’t the last. He goes on to write, “This step, the first and most important in the opposition to the Stamp Act, was the work of those to later style themselves The Sons of Lyberty.” (Davidson, 1768) This shows that the “motley crew” became the Sons of Lyberty, one of the leading activist groups during the revolution. Three major taxes got the colonies so enraged that they were willing to fight the largest military power on the planet. If the British would have passed less tax raises or if they would have raised the taxes for all their 57 colonies instead of just the Americas, the colonists may not have been as likely to revolt.
Tax raises were not the only laws specifically against the colonies. One of the most hated acts passes by the crown was the Quartering Act of 1765 it said, “Should there still be soldiers without accommodation after all such public houses were filled, the colonies are then required to take, hire and make fit for the reception of his Majesty’s forces, such and so many uninhabited houses, outhouses, barns, or other buildings as shall be necessary.” So, this act states that the American colonists would have to give up things such as; Food, Space, Water, medicine, Liquor, and much more to the royal army. So, the British were forcing colonists to let soldiers into their homes and keep them as their guests. According to History channel this act started to cause much uproar in the colonies that the colonists stopped complying with the law entirely and forced the royal soldiers back out into their normal barracks. (History.com) This was just the first of the five acts that would tip the colonies towards the revolution. The second act was called the Boston Port Bill, which closed all of Botsons imports and exports until the colonists paid back the money lost during the Boston Tea party, when the Sons of Lyberty poured massive amounts of tea into the Boston harbor. This enraged the colonists even more than the tax on tea. The second act was called the Massachusetts Government Act, this act replaced the local government with a government sanctioned by the British crown. So, the members of the new government were all British. This made the colonists furious because they had even more rights stripped away. The third act was called the Administration of Justice Act, this allowed for all British officials who committed a crime in the American Colonies to receive a trial in Brittan. So, they would not have to face a jury of American colonists. This upset the colonists because all the British officials got away with their crimes because a British jury would never find an officer guilty of a crime against a colonist. The fourth and final push for the American revolution was the New Quartering act passed on June 2, 1774. The encyclopedia of Britannica says this, “The New Quartering Act applied to all of British America and gave colonial governors the right to requisition unoccupied buildings to house British troops.” This is the same as the Quar tering Act of 1765, but the key difference is that the governor could say at any time where the soldiers would sleep and whose house they would barge in on. This was a lot more power in the hands of the royal government and a lot more anger instilled in the colonists. These five acts passed by the British crown are known as the Coercive acts but are more commonly known as the Intolerable acts. If the British would not of passed these acts the American colonists would have been much less angry with the British government and may not have seen a need for the revolution.
The American colonies had no other choice to revolt because of the many laws the British passed to make their lives harder. Although the American Revolution was needed for the Americans, from the British perspective it was completely avoidable. If the British would have allowed the colonists to vote, would not of raised the taxes on the colonists, and if the British would not have passed a series of anti-colonist laws, they could have easily prevented the American revolution. The British wasted their people's lives, recourses, money, and time just to gain more profit. If the British would not have gotten greedy the evidence points towards the fact that the American colonies would not have revolted. The British once had the largest military force on the planet and were considered an unstoppable empire, until the rag tag American colonies strung together an army and defeated their iron fist oppressors. This will forever be considered one of the best underdog stories, and the biggest strategical error of all time.
Works Cited
“Americas Story.” Colonial America (1492-1763), 2017, https://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb colonial subj.html.
Britannica , Encyclopedia. “Quartering Act.” Encyclopedias Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 22 Sept. 2022, https: //www. britannica. com/event/Quartering-Act.
Davidson, Philip G. “SONS OF LIBERTY AND STAMP MEN.” The North Carolina Historical Review, vol. 9, no. 1, 1932, pp. 38-56. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23514881. Accessed 30 Sep. 2022.
Editors, History.com. “Parliament Passes the Quartering Act.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Nov. 2009, https: // www.history.com/this-day-in-history/parliament-passes - the-quartering- act#:~:text=The%20Quartering%20Act%20of%201765,houses%20of%20sellers%20of%2 0wine.
Halloran, Richard, et al. “The Sad, Dark End of the British Empire.” POLITICO Magazine, 26 Aug. 2014, https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/08/the-sad-end-of-the-british- empire-110362/.
O'Neill, Aaron. “United States: War Fatalities1775-2022.” Statista, Statistica.com, 21 June 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1009819/total-us-military-fatalities-in-american-wars- 1775-present/.
Patterson, Edgar. “Every War Fought on American Soil - Storiesofusa.com.” Stories Of USA, 5 May 2021, https://storiesofusa.com/history/every-war-fought-on-american-soil/.
“Stamp Act Imposed on American Colonies.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/stamp-act-imposed-on-americancolonies.
Tikkanen, Ammy. “Intolerable Acts.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 23 June 2022, https ://www. britannica. com/event/Intolerabl e-Acts.
Frequently asked questions
What is the central argument of the essay "Could the American Revolution Been Avoided?"
The essay argues that the American Revolution was avoidable from the British perspective. It posits that if the British had allowed colonial representation, avoided excessive taxation specifically on the colonies, and refrained from implementing anti-colonist laws, the revolution might have been prevented, and America could have remained a British colony.
What were the main grievances of the American colonists leading up to the Revolution?
The main grievances included a lack of fair representation in the British Parliament, excessive taxation without representation (particularly the Stamp Act of 1765), and a series of laws viewed as oppressive, such as the Quartering Act and the Intolerable Acts.
How did the lack of representation in British Parliament contribute to the Revolution?
The colonists felt that they were being subjected to laws and taxes without having any voice in their governance. Thomas Jefferson highlighted this grievance in the Declaration of Independence, stating that the King refused to pass laws for the benefit of the people unless they relinquished their right to representation. The feeling of not being represented fueled resentment and contributed to the colonists' desire for independence.
What was the significance of the Stamp Act of 1765?
The Stamp Act was controversial because it, in conjunction with the Sugar Act and the Currency Act, imposed significant financial burdens specifically on the American colonists. While stamp acts were common in England, the colonists perceived it as unfair treatment and a violation of the unspoken agreement of colonial trade.
What were the "Intolerable Acts" (or Coercive Acts) and why were they significant?
The Intolerable Acts were a series of laws passed by the British Parliament in response to the Boston Tea Party. They included the Boston Port Bill (closing Boston harbor), the Massachusetts Government Act (replacing local government with British appointees), the Administration of Justice Act (allowing British officials accused of crimes in the colonies to be tried in Britain), and the New Quartering Act (allowing colonial governors to requisition unoccupied buildings for British troops). These acts were seen as a direct attack on colonial liberties and further fueled revolutionary sentiment.
What was the role of the Sons of Liberty in the events leading up to the Revolution?
The Sons of Liberty were a leading activist group during the revolution. They were formed in response to the Stamp Act and played a role in intimidating British officials, organizing protests, and generally resisting British rule. Philip G. Davidson's historical account suggests that they were instrumental in the early opposition to the Stamp Act.
What sources does the essay cite to support its arguments?
The essay cites sources such as: The Declaration of Independence, "Americas Story" from Americas Library, Encyclopedia Britannica entries on the Quartering Act and the Intolerable Acts, Philip G. Davidson's "SONS OF LIBERTY AND STAMP MEN", History.com articles on the Quartering Act and the Stamp Act, POLITICO Magazine's "The Sad, Dark End of the British Empire", Statista data on war fatalities, and Storiesofusa.com on wars fought on American soil.
- Quote paper
- Josiah Rose (Author), Could the American Revolution have been avoided?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1297289
