American Revolution Dbq Essay

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Before I really knew anything about the American Revolution, I believed that there was only one overarching reason that sparked the American Revolution; colonists just decided one day to become independent. As I have learned more about the Revolution, I discovered I was completely wrong. There are, in fact, two main viewpoints that commenced the Revolution: British loyalists and conservatives against the radicals. The loyalist and more conservative side was supportive of any of the rules, laws, taxes, or anything of that sort that British Parliament or monarchy put in place. In contrast, the radical’s craved for independence from the British government since they deemed their laws as useless and confining. These two opposing viewpoints are the main cause of the American Revolution because of their different desires. Events within the time period between 1763 and 1775 illustrate this perfectly. The radical view was most commonly accepted by the colonist community and fueled to fight for independence from England as shown by their reactions to laws imposed on them as well as documents blatantly stating how they really felt. An example of radical retaliation would be how …show more content…

This was a more peaceful way of rebelling hence the name “Olive Branch Petition.” “An olive branch has stood for peace since ancient times” (Boehm, Hoone, McGowan, McKinney-Browning & Miramontes 231) and Dickenson kept peace as much as possible when presenting the idea to “repeal the Intolerable Acts… [b]ut…the King refused to repeal the laws” (ibid). In response to this, “the Second Continental Congress decided to form a colonial army” (ibid) in preparation to fight the British to earn freedom. Even though this was an attempt to make peace with England, it became another reason to fight for

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