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UNIT 3 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Structure 3.0 Objectives 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Peculiarity of Being a New Society 3.3 Towards the Revolution 3 3.1 Econom~c Problems: Depression 3.3.2 Ideology and Class 3.3.3 Revolut~on and its Effects 3.4 Making of the Constitution 3.5 Democracy Based on Slavery 3.6 Development of Mass Politics and Jacksonian Democracy 3.7 Let Us Sum Up 3.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises I 3.0 OBJECTIVES i t The American Revolutiun freed the American colonies from the British imperial control. This I had not only economic but also important socio-political significance in the future development of America. After reading this Unit you should be able to: understand the pre-revolutionary American society, explain the circumstances leading to the American Revolution, analyse the main thrust of the American Constitution, and lean about the institution of slavery and the development of democratic politics in America. 3.1 INTRODUCTION The American Revolution of the late 18th century has been regarded as a war of Independence which lacked the social radicalism of the great revolutions like the French Revolution of 1789. However, by destroying monarchy and creating a republic the Americans changed not only their government but also their society. The American Revolution played an important role in the social transformation of America into a democratic and capitalist society; though 'democratic revolutions' were bringing about social change in westem Europe too about this time - i2l.e 18th to early 19th century - the American Revolution helped to democratize American politics and society more substantially than in Europe. In the subsequent sections we will first introduce you to the characteristics of pre-revolutionary America and how did the revolution come. Framing of the new constitution and slavery as an institution central to American democracy have been explained. Finally, you will lean about the development of mass politics and Jacksonian democracy. 3.2 PECULIARITY OF BEING A NEW SOCIETY The decline of feudalism in Europe during the sixteenth century had far reaching consequences in the economic, political and cultural fabric of European society. The Renaissance and Reformation movements of this period contributed to the growth of a spirit of individual independence and made people more adventurous. Both political and economic developments of this period stimulated people at Europe to explore and conquer new countries. The American settlements on the eastern sea board of the United States were part of the New World as well as the Westen U'orld. As part of the New World these American colonies had experienced a population explosion since the colonists were in a position to expand all over the land abundant in North American continent. The population of America grew from one million to two million between 1750 to 1770 rising to four million by 1790. Immigrants from Britain, France, Germans, Scotland and Ireland also swelled the population of these colonies. This demographic growth coupled with the opportunities for ~veshvard expansion created the American 'frontier' and the more democratic spirit of the people who
The Origins of Modern Politics-l QUEBEC ATLANTIC SHAWNEE SETTLEMENT IN NORTH AMERICA Sl AUGUSTINE GULF OF MAXICO
The American Revolution inhabited this frontier. This frontier moved continually westwards over the 19th century creating a society which was more democratic and American than it had been during British colonial rule, as the historian Turner observed in the late 19th century. A commercial revolution which began in the 1740s led to a considerable expansion in American imports and exports. The value of imports from Britain rose from less than a million pounds in 1747 to nearly 4.5 million pounds by 1772. The process of commercial change which was mainly because of expansion in internal trade and use of paper money enabled people of "middling rank" to break away from traditional patron-client relationships. The religious revival known as the Great Awakening also weakened traditional authority and the position of the gentry and the established Anglican clergy. The growth of republican ideas in America in the mid 18th century has been linked to the existence of a strong democratic tradition based on the absence of feudalism and rigid class boundaries within American society. There were aristocratic families and merchant princes in the 18th century America but with the exception of Virginia and New Hampshire they were not dominant in state politics. The upper echelons of society in colonial America wielded much less economic and political power than in Britain. On the other hand the majority of American farmers owned their own land unlike in Britain which had a majority of marginal tenants and landless agricultural workers. Two-thirds of the white colonial population owned land in America while only one-fifth of the population owned land in Britain. The relative weakness of the aristocracy, the existence of a large body of land owning farmers, the absence of a large indigenous population and the possibility of acquiring land by westward movement I imparted a strong republican flavour to the politics of the 18th century America. Although American society was more egalitarian than that of other western countries it did have an aristocracy, a monarchical tradition and ties between elite and commoners based on patriarchal dependence. Americans were aware of various forms of legal dependency or unfreedom. At one point of time according to experts as much as one-half of colonial society was legally unfree. Apart from a half million Afro-Americans who were hereditary slaves there were thousands of white immigrants who came as indentured servants or apprentice with written contracts binding on them for several years and sometimes decades. One half to two- thirds of all immigrants to the colonies are estimated to have come as indentured servants being bound to their masters for periods varying between seven to fourteeii years. Labour was "aluable in America and since it was expensive to import indentured servants their movements were restricted and controlled to prevent flight. The colonial bonded servants were in fact closer in status to black slaves in America than they were to English servants, who had considerable freedom and signed only one year contracts. The widespread use of indentured servants not only made American colonists aware of the rigours imposed by legal dependence but also probably of the value of freedom. The eighteenth century Enlightenment produced ideas which undermined traditional beliefs and social relationships in a variety of ways. By adopting enlightenment ideas the ruling elites and those in authority undermined their own authority whether as rulers magistrates, masters and fathers. A revolution against patriarchy took place simultaneously with a general growth of republican ideas. With the growth of commercialization in the 18th century contracts which had been based on patriarchal relationships between husbands and wives or masters and apprentices in an earlier period were replaced by contracts which were positive bargains between two equal parties representing specific transactions rather .than social relationships. This contractual perception of all superior-subordinate relationships effected'tlie American perception of the relationship between the crown and the colonies. In fact, the parent-child image to describe the imperial relationship effected both the Whig and Tory writings prior to r, the American revolution. The widespread adoption of the language of modem legal contractualism made it easier for the American colonists to break with the mother couritry and the patriarchal authority of the British king. It was precisely because the level of equality and prosperity which the American colonies enjoyed was unusual in the western world at the time that the Americans were so concerned to defend their rights and privileges. The threats to their liberty and prosperity were consequently exaggerated by the Americans. Furthermore economic and social changes added to the anxieties of people in a period of commercialization, decline of patriarchal relationships and growth of popular politics. The very rapidity of the rise of several members of the elite created anxieties about the decline in their fortunes with a change in British imperial policy. The hardening of British policy after the Seven Years War, 1757-1763, leading to the imposition of the Stamp Act in 1765 created considerable anxiety about the threat to the prosperity and
freedom of the Americans. The colonial assemblies which had become fairly vocal by the mid 18th century according to Jack Greene now became institutions around which to rally in a fight against royal authority and imperial policy. In the growing popular resistance to British imperial assertiveness the fight against Despotism and Corruption snowballed into a struggle for independence. Check Your Progress 1 1) What do you think differentiates the American Society from others? Answer in 100 words. 2) Explain in five sentences the reasons for the growth of democratic spirit in America. 1 3.3 TOWARDS THE REVOLUTION The British government believed that colonies should serve the interest of the mother country. Britain adopted mercantilist policies in colonial America which were designed to promote British economic interests mainly in the form of a favourable balance of trade. Various Navigation Acts of 165 1, 1660 and 1663 ensured that trade was carried only in British or colonial ships; that most European goods had to pass through Britain before entering the American colonies; that certain goods like tobacco and rice declared enumerated goods could be shipped only in Britain; that bounties would be paid for the production of certain enumerated goods to promote British economic self-sufficiency. Moreover colonies were not allowed to export manufactured goods under various Acts effecting wool and woolen textiles in 1699, the hat industry in 1732 and iron products in 1750. The mercantilist policies of Britain were exploitative but the overall burden in per capita terms was not very significant. Britain paid the colonists less than the world market prices for goods on the enumerated list particularly in the case of tobacco which Britain re-exported to Europe. Imports from Europe through Britain raised the price of imports or forced the colonists to buy relatively more expensive products from Britain. However, the restrictions on American manufacturing did not have a serious negative effect because America was primarily an agricultural country during the 18th century. After the Seven Years War the British tried to pass on the burden of defence of America to the colonists as the burden of taxes in Britain was considered fairly high. The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 were the initial measures of thz British Prime Minister Grenville backed by the King George 111, to raise resources for colonial defence. Although the Sugar Act cut in half the duties of the Molasses Act of 1733 the British government indicated its resolve to actually enforce the law. The Stamp Act was a tax on contracts, wills,