American Revolution essays
How important were developments in political thought in bringing about the American Revolution?
The American Revolution was brought about by a series of British and American reactions to each other,
increasing in tension. Resistance to trade regulation such as the Stamp Tax Congress encouraged the
abandonment of salutary neglect via acts like the Townshend Duties and the Tea Act, which led to
colonial revolutionary action like the Boston Tea Party which insured there would be British military
involvement. However, none of this would’ve been enabled without the development of political
thought before and throughout the period of resistance. John Locke and John Dickinson were very
important in popularising the idea of ‘no taxation without representation’ that allowed the
inflammatory responses to British policy to occur and spread. The development of education allowed
political ideology to become widely spread and therefore political thought was the most important
factor.
John Locke, since the previous century before the revolution, spread the idea of a ‘social contract’ that
stated civilians only had to obey rule when the government kept their promise to act in their best
interest, and so the idea became popular that raising colonial taxes without Parliamentary
representation suppressed colonial liberty. The increase in printing presses, bookshops, and a literacy
rate in adult males 15% higher than in Britain by 1763 encouraged the growth of these ideas and so
when Britain started to enforce their policies more strictly, they were viewed as despotic and an attack
on liberty, which caused great tension. Similarly, John Dickinson’s 1768 ‘Letters of Pennsylvania Farmer’
increased the anti-British feeling by increasing the popularity of the idea that a standing army was
repressive and closing the New York Assembly till they complied was an attack on liberty. By 1776
Thomas Paine released the pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ attacking the British monarchy, which sold
100,000 copies, which highlights how influential these ideas became. The growing idea of ‘no taxation
without representation’ became so popular and widespread that by 1776 Paine could successfully
persuade many colonists to be willing to sever ties with Britain, which fundamentally shifted the colonial
opinion from opposing regulation to a desire for independence, bringing about the revolution. These key
political figures were therefore very important in spreading the ideology upon which revolutionary
action could be justified and built on, making developments in political thought the most fundamental
part of bringing the revolution.
This ideology led to American resistance. The opposition to the 1765 Stamp Act resulted in Patrick
Henry’s Virginia Resolves, which led to the Stamp Tax Congress October 1765. The subsequent repeal of
this act highlighted the practical power the colonists possessed as a unit to oppose British rule,
distancing the Anglo-American relationship. Similarly, ignoring the 1763 Proclamation Act so that by
1768 about 30,000 colonists had crossed the Appalachian boundary, worsened relations as Britain had
introduced the act as a result of paying for American defence in Pontiac’s Rebellion, and the defence bill
had risen to £350,000 in 1763 from £70,000 in 1748. This resistance, although it was not done with the
intention of causing revolution angered Britain, pulling them to have closer control of the colonies.
The subsequent abandonment of salutary neglect caused a very inflammatory response in the colonies
as resisting without consequence was no longer an option. The 1767 New York Restraining Act made it
clear Britain was entering a new era of stricter enforcement perceived as tyrannical and made the
colonists angrier at the attack on their liberty and so the colonists were pushed to react more strongly.
Without the abandonment of salutary neglect arguably the Revolution would not have occurred, and so
, it was very important in bringing about the Revolution. Another example is the 1773 Tea Act, which ran
many merchants out of business from tea no longer needing to be shipped from Britain and no
smuggling via the Dutch Caribbean, without which mob action would never have occurred encouraging
British force. However, abandonment of salutary neglect wouldn’t have been viewed as so despotic
without the developments in political thought that defined in the minds of the colonists already what
they thought they were entitled to.
Colonial action against British policy was the trigger to the start of the Revolution. Samuel Adams was a
leading member of the Sons of Liberty, responsible for uniting gangs in mob action to cause the
resignation of British officials such as Andrew Oliver in the Stamp Tax Crisis and organising powerful
boycotts against Britain during times like the Townshend Duties. By the end of 1769 every colony except
New Hampshire had joined, highlighting the effect of their action on the colonies and increasing Anglo-
American hostility. He established a committee of correspondence in Massachusetts in 1771 that
provided a focus for radical activity, and was likely involved in the Boston Tea Party in 1773. The loss of
£10,000 of tea was an act of revolutionary defiance so great it symbolised the end of peace between
Britain and America, and was an initiator of the American Revolution. Whilst this cannot be
underestimated, Adams was only able to have such a profound effect in pulling Britain into war because
America had been pushed away for so long by ideology. Adams was able to misrepresent British policy
to gain the popular support he needed because of the spread of American Whiggism and ideas of Locke
and Dickinson beforehand.
Therefore, developments in political thought were most important as they distorted the view of British
policy as tyrannical, allowing the manipulation by figures such as Adams. It enabled such an
inflammatory response to the abandonment of salutary neglect that Britain were forced to initiate
military action.
17/20
Feedback: Capped at 17/20 because of a short conclusion. Clear supporting evidence and good line of
argument
Assess the impact of the Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a defining moment of revolutionary hostility from which no peaceful
reconciliation could be achieved without physical action. Not only did it result in a stricter approach
from the British in an attempt to preserve the colonies as a part of its Empire but in doing so the
subsequent Coercive Acts served to push America even further away from a continuing relationship with
Britain, and so not only increased hostility but transferred American thought from revolutionary activity
to actual independence, signalling perhaps the start of the war. However, although the Boston Tea Party
was extremely significant it was not a stand alone event; its impact would not have been so wide if not
for the building of hostility prior, such as the Boston Massacre and Stamp Tax Congress, so its impact is
actually from a much greater movement in the wider context.
The immediate impact was the passing of the Coercive Acts in 1774-5, with the closing of the Boston
Port, replacing the Massachusetts governor with Gage, the commander of the British Army, and
enforcing a stricter Quartering Act allowing soldiers to be housed in private accommodation. This was
