While the American Revolution does not have the notoriety of being as bloody or chaotic as the French, Russian, or Chinese Revolutions, it did have tremendously radical social affects. In The Radicalism of the American Revolution, Gordon Woods analyzes just how crucial social change was during the Revolution, and how it helped develop American society, politics, and economics. The most drastic social change that came out of the revolution was the creation of an independent, republican society. As the people began to change, social constructs began to break down—which opened up new avenues for American development. At the same time, the revolution altered the relationships between people, unifying the nation, which changed how people viewed …show more content…
Because the ideals of the revolution—equality, liberty, freedom—many people began to question the social hierarchy and the role it played in society. This idea became more powerful than intended, by presenting Americans with modern, liberal ideas that helped prompt the development of the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements (21). Although the conflict with Great Britain did divide the colonists into two sides—patriots and loyalists—social change weakened the influence of the ancien régime and unified the patriots significantly more (25). Additionally, the barrier around politics began to crumble as the European hierarchy that viewed wealth so specially fell. Instead of wealth granting someone authority and power, more and more people began to value and participate in politics. In fact, many Americans believed that they were “capable of ordering their own reality” in this new country (22). Earlier, during the 1760s, “kin and patronage” were the predominant ways someone gained any political power. But according to a British official, these elites had “been long in a gradual decay” by 1776, and the rise of political factionalism led to more political participation (22). Thus, by bringing down the social constructs of pre-1776, the colonists became more unified and politically …show more content…
According to Wood, the revolution was a “full-scale assault on dependency” (26). While independence might seem to undermine unity, in America it allowed for the mass majority of the nation to become independent from the limitations of the ancien régime (27). It also made the idea of slavery—where a person was fully dependent on another—significant and more disdained. In fact, John Adams reported that “there are but two sorts of men in the world, freemen and slaves” (27). Moreover, instead of kin and patronage forcing dependency between people, republicanism was unifying them. These republican ideas, which focused on equality and liberty, led to changes in the power of family and hereditary privilege (29). Women and children, and especially servants, gained some respect in society, and soon the patriarchy was in “disarray.” The relationships between workers and masters, and between businesses and clients, became looser and friendlier, and workers became more mobile (31). Because of these societal changes, the government sought to use its power in new ways—especially in public works and services (32). Thus, as the relationships between people changed, society, politics, and economics became more linked as the nation became more
After reading Chapter 5 in “The American Yawp”, it is clear that there were many social, economic, and political consequences of the American Revolution. This is evident because of the changes in societal beliefs, the end of mercantilism, and the increased participation in politics and governance. To begin with, the American Revolution changed the people’s societal beliefs. Prior to the Revolution, society was deferential and aristocratic.
The American Revolution changed America politically. What changed politically after the revolution was we created a democratic form of government, as oppose to a central government run by a monarchy in which the Americans had no
To what extent did the American Revolution fundamentally change American society? In your answer, be sure to address the political, social, and economic effects of the Revolution in the period from 1775 to 1800? From the first shots at the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775 to the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the American Revolution fundamentally changed American society. Through economic, social, and political changes, the American society was altered drastically. Even before the Treaty of Paris, American politicians and lawyers adopted the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, with a unanimous ratification on March 1, 1781.
The American Revolution is arguably the turning point of American history as it resulted in somewhat of a significant, positive change in politics, economics, and society as a whole. However, from 1775 to 1800, the effects of the revolution on the American society were subtle as most principles glorified by revolutionists contradicted the examples set forth by colonial reality. Perhaps most alike to revolutionary beliefs was the American economy and how it participated in free trade or encouraged the independence of hard labor. Politically, the states did apply Enlightenment and republican ideas as promised, but more often than not, the benefits of such ideas were limited to rich, land-owning, protestant, white men. This glorification of
The chapters of our textbook, America: A Narrative History, written by George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi, takes us on a historical yet comparative journey of the road to war and what caused the American Revolution, an insight into the war itself, and a perception to what life was like in America after the war was over. The essays of the book, America Compared: American History in International Perspective, collected by Carl J. Guarneri gives us a global context and a comparison between the North and South Americas in the dividing issues of labor, slavery, taxes, politics, economy, liberty, and equality. Part One These chapters in our textbook Tindall describes; the road to the American Revolution, the road to the surrendering of the British, and the road to the American colonists receiving their independence and developing the government which the people of the United States will be governed by. The road to the American Revolution consisted of several events, which escalated to the war that began April 19, 1775, as the tensions between the American colonies and the British Government advanced towards breaking point.
The conflict of 1790 encouraged a new development in the politics in America. Most Americans still believed that there could only be one position to take on political responsibility. The spread of opinion became even more prominent because of the rise of newspapers. With
Was the American Revolution revolutionary? Most would say yes, but there are some who question how truly revolutionary it was. In A Young People’s History of the United States in chapter 5 Howard Zinn states, “Much of the property taken from loyalists went to enrich the Revolutionary leaders and friends.” In other words, during the war much of the poor working men and women’s land was taken and given to the wealthy to make them even more powerful.
It’s been over 200 years since the original thirteen colonies of America fought their revolutionary war against Great Britain, in hopes of achieving their independence. We shall be going through a few areas of the Revolution, such as the military, social hierarchy, the role of men and women during the war, the colonists’ values of equality and their social contract response to the British government’s abuses, and we’ll compare these areas to the present day. The American Revolution started around April of 1775, when British redcoats and American militiamen exchanged gunshots in Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. However, that was only the beginning of the fighting; the reasons for the war date from years prior, when resistance from the
How did the American Revolution change the world? American Revolution is also known as the U.S. War of Independence. The conflict caused by growing tension between residents of Great Britain’s 13 North American colonies and the colonial government. In 1775, The conflict between British troops and colonial militiamen promote armed conflict and by following summer, colonies were waging a full-scale war for their independence. In 1776, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence.
A new political world and government was able to be built due to the Revolution. First of all, the representatives in America were more portraying of the average person. Representatives shifted from a majority of upper class people to more middle-class and upper middle-class people (Document 4).
The term “Revolutionary” is an instantaneous change or shift that promotes equal rights, liberty, and freedom. So, while some may argue that the revolution was a turning point for America, The American revolution in this case is not revolutionary since slavery was still present, minority groups did not gain rights, and British ideals and tactics were still being used in the new government. One of the crucial pieces of evidence that this “revolution” could not be considered revolutionary is because of the slavery still taking place even after the war ended. Throughout the revolt against British rule in the 16th century, the American people fought under the banner of truth, justice, and liberty for all people, However, the only people that indeed
How revolutionary was the revolution? Based on the information in the 10 documents I believe that the revolution was not very revolutionary. The word revolutionary means involving or causing a dramatic change. I strongly believe that the revolution was not very revolutionary because the changes it made were not very dramatic or strong and a lot of the things from that time stayed the same after the war ended.
During the 1700s America and it’s 13 colonies made a bold decision to revolt from Great Britain and become their own independent nation. This started a revolution that would forever change the way Americans would live. The War of Independence or better known as the American Revolution, consisted of the 13 colonies of America trying to gain independence from Great Britain and on July 4th 1776, America finally decided to declare their independence. Many say the revolution paved the way for many other great changes to take place, while others believed not a lot was impacted due to the revolution. This raises the question, “How Revolutionary was the American Revolution?”
American Revolution DBQ The American Revolution changed American society politically, socially, and economically, as the American colonists overcame their differences and broke away from British rule. During the American revolution, Americans began to develop different political views than that of their European counterparts. Following the Revolution, the Americans created a new type of national government, a republic.
The American Revolution affected the entire world in a very fundamental way not just in its own time but continues to affect the present time as well. Some of the major fundamental values that have emerged in the modern times as a consequence of the American Revolution were the rule of law and liberty. Apart from these two philosophical ideas, another major idea that emerged was that even colonialism by Britain, the most powerful nation at the time, could be defeated as longs the oppressed people stand together for their rights and resist