American Revolution Vs Colonial Goals Dbq

The Revolutionary war is a prime example of the underdog overcoming all odds. America, a feeble country in comparison, was struggling to break the shackles tying it to England, the motherland. While salutary neglect was still practiced, America had no problem with England. But after the French and Indian war, which resulted in England taking more notice and interest in the colonies, things changed. England realized how very valuable its colonial counterpart was. Henceforth a series of laws were created to keep the colonies at bay and in check. The colonists, who were feeling a new sense of independence since the French and Indian War, did not take lightly to the bullying they were receiving. As a result the revolution was born. The colonists started off weakly, but got stronger and prevailed. But why exactly were the colonists so pissed off that they would break ties with the then strongest empire in the world?

Civilly and socially the colonists were treated like second rate citizens. For example, if a colonist committed a certain crime, they had to be transported to England to be tried. Families were broken up and people who were formerly upper-class citizens were left distressed. The colonial courts were not treated seriously. They were mocked in such a way that the English replaced them with admiralty courts in which there were no jury systems. In those courts the ENGLISH judge’s rule was final. The English even went as far as to take away their right to dispose of their own property. They granted colonial money without colonial consent. After the revolution the colonists were able to turn this all around. They tried and convicted their citizens on their own land with a trial by jury system. Each state was delegated with the right to run its own court system.

However, the political trudge of the colonists after the Revolution was a bit tougher. They created a democratic republic which was ironically modeled after England’s parliament. Colonists formerly felt that they were not a part of the parliament that supposedly represented. Hence the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” They felt it not fair to be taxed for things they found unnecessary when they did not even have a representative in parliament. Parliament’s argument was that the colonists were virtually represented in which the colonists were thought of in every big decision made concerning the colonists because they were such a vital part of the empire. This was another big cause of the