Was it a Revolution?

Drew Flanagan 11/4/13 Humanities Unit 3 Essay Green Class

The Revolutionary War was not a revolution. A revolution is a radical and different change that takes place in a society. 1 This war was for the colonists to have rights that remained consistent with the rights of the British citizens. Others might argue that it was a revolution, but it did not fit the criteria of being radical and different. Maybe the idea of a government run by the people is revolutionary, but that was not why they went to war. 2 The colonists were fighting to keep political rights that they could not keep under British rule. The British Parliament had always been on the colonists side because they never taxed them and helped when needed. When Parliament taxed the colonists, the colonists decided it was not a fair tax because the people in England did not have to pay it. Additionally, English men had the right to vote on their own taxes in Parliament, said by Joy Hakim since no colonists could serve in Parliament, no colonists got to vote on taxes.3 This meant that since the colonists could not represent themselves in Parliament, like the people in England could, a government should not tax them where they have no say. Charles Pratt, a Member of Parliament said, My position is thisI repeat itI will maintain it to my last

1 "Revolution." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/revolution?s=t>.
2 Digital History. "Digital History." Digital History.

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3222 (accessed November 3, 2013).

3 Joy Hakim. "Independence." In Freedom A History of US. Culver City, California: Social Studies

School Service, 2013. 4.

hour, taxation and representation are inseparable.4 This quotation was later developed into a popular phrase no taxation without representation. The colonists were not fighting for revolutionary ideas, but their own rights to have no taxes like the citizens in England. This was not a revolutionary war because the ideas they were fighting for were not radical and different, but consistent rights. The colonists wanted consistent economic rights with the British citizens. According to Common Sense, a book that inspired the colonists to separate, Englands taxes and trade regulations were preventing the colonists from growing. 5 Due to the taxes by the British Parliament, many people did not want to buy tea from the colonies, but instead bought it from the East India Company, which was selling tea for less benefiting from lower taxes. A study done by Jeffery G. Williamson and Peter H. Lindert shows that the American real income per capita increased from $85.68 in 1774 to $109.89 in 1840. 6 This shows the negative economic impact of the British rule on the colonists. Colonists wanted consistent economic rights with the British citizens. Their ideas not revolutionary, but the same as the British. Others might argue that the American Revolution was a revolution. Gordon S. Wood, a modern day writer says in his book The Radicalism of the American

4 J. L. Bell No Taxation without Representation (Part 2)." Journal of the American Revolution RSS.

http://allthingsliberty.com/2013/05/no-taxation-without-representation-part-2/ (accessed November 3, 2013).

5 Thomas, Paine. Common Sense. 1776. Reprint. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia Library,

1993. Print.
6 Jeffrey G. Williamson, Peter H. Lindert.Graph of: Real income per capita 1774-1840. N.d. Vox,

Colonies. Vox. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

Revolution, a moral government that would eventually be felt around the globe. 7 Gordon S. Wood is saying that this new type of government responds to the wants and needs of its people rather than the interest of its King. Wood has to be disagreed with because a revolution is when new ideas immerge. Even though the United States government is moral, the Declaration of Independence gives most of the same rights to the colonists as the British government gives to its citizens. Only when something changes in a radical and different way, it is considered to be revolutionary. A real example of a revolution was the French Revolution. In the French Revolution, the idea of Feudalism was destroyed, granting rights to its citizens. In the American Revolution, many ideas were carried over from the British system. Since the ideas were carried over, it is not a revolution because the ideas were still in place.8 All in all, the Revolutionary War is not a revolution because it was a war to keep consistent political and economic rights similar to those under the British system. Politically, the colonists fought to have a voice and economically, they fought for no taxes to make their economy stronger. It was neither radical nor different, which would be required to make it a revolution.

This paper has been completed this assignment in accordance with the Newark Academy Honor Code:

7 Wood, Gordon S.. "Democracy." In The radicalism of the American Revolution. New York: A.A.

Knopf, 1992. 229.

8 Infoplease. "French Revolution."Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

<http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/history/french-revolution-effects-revolution.html>.