American Revolution: Origins and Causes

American Revolution Overview

• The American Revolution will be discussed without focusing on detailed timelines or biographies.
• The reasons why the American Revolution occurred and its true revolutionary extent are the main focus.
• The narrator aims to complete an entire episode without mispronouncing any words, unlike the next episode set in France.

Origins and Causes

• The American Revolution is traced back to the end of the Seven Years' War in 1763.
• The Seven Years' War was costly but resulted in a British victory, granting British American subjects more land and wealth.
• In 1765, Britain introduced the Stamp Act to tax the colonists to help pay for the newly acquired lands.
• Colonists opposed the Stamp Act due to taxation without representation in Parliament.
• Colonists felt that the British Crown retained too much power in the colonies after the Seven Years' War.
• The Stamp Act was eventually repealed by the British, inspiring commemorative tea sets.

Escalation of Tensions

• The British attempted to impose new taxes on the Americans through the Townshend Acts.
• Colonists responded with more protests, boycotts, and increased organization.
• The Boston Massacre in 1770, resulting in five deaths, entered the history books as the least bloody massacre.
• In 1773, colonists dumped tea worth $2 million into Boston Harbor to protest British policies, known as the Boston Tea Party.
• The Tea Party led to further British crackdowns and the mobilization of armed colonial forces.

Colonial Protests and Organization

• The British Crown heavily benefited from importing consumer goods into the American colonies.
• American colonists effectively boycotted British goods to protest taxation without representation.
• Committees of Correspondence were created to spread news of boycotts.
• These committees enforced participation in boycotts and established policies, acting as a form of government.
• The Maryland Committee of Correspondence helped establish the first Continental Congress to coordinate responses to conflicts in 1775.
• The Continental Congress wrote and approved the Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence

• The Declaration of Independence was heavily edited by the Senate, much to Jefferson's dismay.
• By the time the fighting began, most colonists were already self-governing.
• "Committees of Correspondence" operated as shadow governments, communicating with foreign governments and forming spy networks.
• These committees tarred and feathered loyalists, and even hired physicians to warn against drinking British tea.

Loyalists and Slaves

• Over 20% of colonists remained loyal to Great Britain during the war and were known as loyalists.
• Enslaved individuals also supported the British, especially after Britain promised freedom to any slave who fought for them.
• If Britain had won, enslaved people might have been freed earlier without a civil war in America.
• Though many Americans saw themselves as separate from Britain before 1776, the British continued fighting until 1781 or 1783, depending on the surrender date.

Revolutionary Aspects of the American Revolution

• The American Revolution replaced imperial monarchy with a non-monarchical government.
• The revolution drew inspiration from the Enlightenment, emphasizing freedom and individual rights.
• The American Revolution aimed to preserve property rights by limiting the government's taxing power.
• Wealthy white men who owned land before the revolution continued to control it after the revolution.

Equality and Slavery

• The Declaration of Independence stated that "all men are created equal" despite the existence of slavery, where over 30% of Americans were enslaved Africans.
• Thomas Jefferson, the author of these words, enslaved people and fought against a government that promised freedom to slaves who fought for it.
• Women could not vote, and only 10-15% of the population (white men with sufficient property) participated in the government.

Intellectual Revolution

• The American Revolution was an "intellectual revolution" that changed ideas about people and governance - according to historian Jonathan Israel.
• The Enlightenment celebrated human reason as a means to understand and improve the natural world.
• Radical Enlightenment thinkers argued that human reason made belief in God unnecessary.
• Moderate Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke supported political and social hierarchies.
• Locke advocated for the rights to life, liberty, and property which was more conventional.
• US founders were closer to British Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke and Adam Smith than to the more radical French thinkers.

Post-Revolution Changes

• American revolutionaries did not overturn privilege or dismantle the social order like the French Revolution.
• America established no formal nobility, recognized equal rights for daughters and widows in property inheritance, and allowed gentle-women to rebuild their reputations.
• Americans began to see themselves as equals, and common Americans believed that no one was better than anyone else.
• Ideas of liberty, equality, and representation continue to shape political discourse, especially in the United States.
• Both presidential candidates need to dress well and excel at bowling.
• Sticking to revolutionary ideas and values is difficult, and wealth and power challenge equality.
• Those in power may claim that some are "more equal than others."
• Building a society based on philosophy requires being as humane and inclusive as possible, because the individuals implementing these ideas will never be perfect.