1.3 - World History Notes 04

Elaborate Notes

The American Revolution: Causes and Conflicts

The American Revolution was a multifaceted event rooted in over a century of colonial development, economic grievances, and evolving political ideologies. While tensions had been simmering for decades, the period following the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763) marked a critical escalation.

• Economic Causation: The Pattern of Trade and Mercantilism

  • The British imperial economy was structured around the principles of Mercantilism, an economic theory dominant in Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. As articulated by theorists like Thomas Mun in his work England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade (1664), mercantilism held that a nation’s wealth was finite and measured in specie (gold and silver). Consequently, a nation must maintain a positive balance of trade, exporting more than it imports. Colonies were seen as essential to this system, existing solely for the economic benefit of the mother country. They were to provide raw materials, thereby reducing the mother country’s dependence on foreign powers, and serve as a captive market for its manufactured goods.
  • Navigation Acts: This was a series of laws passed from the mid-17th century onwards (e.g., Acts of 1651, 1660, 1663). They mandated that all colonial trade be conducted on English or colonial ships, with the crew being predominantly English. Certain “enumerated articles” like sugar, tobacco, cotton, and indigo could only be shipped to England, even if their ultimate destination was another European country. This routing through England added significant costs (tariffs, port duties) for colonial merchants, benefiting English middlemen at the expense of colonial producers.
  • Industrial and Commercial Restrictions: To prevent competition with British industries, several restrictive acts were passed.
    • The Iron Act of 1750 is a prime example. It encouraged the export of raw pig iron from the colonies to Britain (by removing duties) but strictly prohibited the construction of new iron finishing mills, forges, and steel furnaces in the colonies. This was designed to make America a source of raw materials while ensuring its dependency on British manufactured iron goods.
    • Similarly, the Wool Act (1699) and Hat Act (1732) restricted the colonial manufacture and export of these goods.
  • Molasses Act (1733) and Sugar Act (1764): The Molasses Act imposed a prohibitive tax of six pence per gallon on molasses imported from the French West Indies. New England’s thriving rum industry depended on this cheap French molasses. The Act was largely ignored through widespread smuggling. After the Seven Years’ War, British Prime Minister George Grenville sought to enforce and reform these laws to raise revenue. The Sugar Act of 1764 replaced the Molasses Act, lowering the tax to three pence per gallon but implementing stricter enforcement mechanisms. This move, intended to make legal importation more attractive than smuggling, was perceived by the colonists not as a trade regulation but as a direct tax for raising revenue, imposed without their consent.

• Ideological and Social Factors

  • Colonial Temperament: A significant portion of the American settlers, particularly in New England, were descendants of Protestant dissenters (Puritans, Quakers, etc.) who had fled religious and political persecution in Europe. This background fostered a strong tradition of self-governance, skepticism towards centralized, absolute authority, and a readiness to defend their liberties. Thinkers like John Locke, in his Two Treatises of Government (1689), profoundly influenced colonial leaders with ideas of natural rights (life, liberty, and property) and government by consent of the governed.
  • Salutary Neglect and Geographical Distance: The vast 4,000-mile distance of the Atlantic Ocean made direct and consistent rule from London difficult. For much of the 17th and early 18th centuries, Britain practiced a policy of “salutary neglect” (a term coined by parliamentarian Edmund Burke), allowing the colonies considerable autonomy in their internal affairs as long as they remained economically productive. This long period of self-rule nurtured distinct political and social institutions and a sense of American identity separate from Britain.
  • The Aftermath of the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763): This conflict, known as the French and Indian War in America, was a pivotal turning point.
    • Removal of the French Threat: With France’s defeat and the cession of its North American territories (Treaty of Paris, 1763), the colonists no longer depended on the British military for protection from a major European rival. This fostered a greater sense of security and confidence in their ability to stand against Britain.
    • Proclamation of 1763: To prevent conflict with Native American tribes and manage the newly acquired territories, the British Parliament prohibited colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. This angered colonists, land speculators (including figures like George Washington), and farmers who saw westward expansion as a birthright and an economic necessity.
    • War Debt and Taxation: The war had doubled Britain’s national debt. The British government, under King George III and Prime Minister Grenville, argued that since the war was fought partly to protect the colonies, the colonists should bear a portion of the cost of their own defense. This led to a series of direct taxes, breaking with the tradition of “salutary neglect.”

• Escalation Towards Revolution

  • The Stamp Act (1765): This was the first direct tax levied on the colonies. It required a tax stamp on all legal documents, newspapers, pamphlets, and even playing cards. The colonial reaction was immediate and unified. The Virginia House of Burgesses passed resolutions, drafted by Patrick Henry, denouncing the Act. Delegates from nine colonies met at the Stamp Act Congress in New York, asserting that only their own elected assemblies had the right to tax them. It was in this context that the slogan “No Taxation Without Representation” gained prominence, echoing a principle from England’s own Magna Carta (1215) and its subsequent constitutional struggles. The widespread boycotts of British goods, organized by groups like the Sons of Liberty, led to the Act’s repeal in 1766.
  • The Declaratory Act (1766): Simultaneously with the Stamp Act’s repeal, Parliament passed this act, which asserted its full authority to make laws binding on the American colonies “in all cases whatsoever.” This made it clear that the fundamental constitutional disagreement over sovereignty remained unresolved.
  • Townshend Acts (1767): Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend imposed new duties on imported goods like glass, lead, paper, and tea. The revenue was to be used to pay the salaries of colonial governors and judges, making them independent of the colonial assemblies. This was seen as a further assault on colonial self-governance.
  • The Boston Massacre (1770): Tensions in Boston, a hub of resistance, erupted when British soldiers fired on a heckling crowd, killing five colonists, including Crispus Attucks. Propagandists like Samuel Adams and Paul Revere (whose engraving of the event was widely circulated) skillfully framed it as a “massacre” to galvanize anti-British sentiment.
  • The Boston Tea Party (1773): In response to the Tea Act of 1773, which granted the financially troubled British East India Company a monopoly on the American tea trade, colonists disguised as Native Americans boarded ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the sea. This act of direct defiance led Britain to pass the Coercive Acts (1774), known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts, which closed the Port of Boston and severely curtailed self-government in Massachusetts.

• The War of Independence

  • First Continental Congress (1774): In response to the Intolerable Acts, delegates from twelve colonies met in Philadelphia. They issued a Declaration and Resolves (not the French “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”), which affirmed colonial rights and called for a boycott of British goods. They agreed to meet again if their grievances were not addressed.
  • Second Continental Congress (1775): After the first shots of the war were fired at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened. It established a Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander-in-chief.
  • Declaration of Independence (1776): Drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson, this document formally articulated the colonies’ separation from Britain. It drew heavily on Enlightenment philosophy, particularly Locke’s ideas, to declare that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.
  • Course of the War: The Continental Army, though initially poorly equipped, won a crucial victory at Saratoga (1777), which convinced France to formally enter the war as an American ally. Spain and the Netherlands later joined the war against Britain. The French naval support, commanded by figures like the Marquis de Lafayette, was instrumental. The decisive battle was the Battle of Yorktown (1781), where the combined American and French forces trapped the British army under Lord Cornwallis, forcing his surrender.
  • Treaty of Paris (1783): The war officially concluded with this treaty, in which Great Britain formally recognized the independence of the United States of America.

Effects of the American Revolution

The revolution’s impact transcended the North American continent, shaping political discourse and events globally.

• Formation of the United States: The most direct result was the creation of a new nation, the United States of America, founded on republican principles.

  • It was the first major successful colonial rebellion against a European empire.
  • The U.S. Constitution (1787) established the world’s first modern federal republic with a system of checks and balances. As the first codified national constitution, it became a seminal document in the history of constitutionalism.
  • The revolution demonstrated that diverse peoples, spread across thirteen disparate colonies with different economies and cultures, could unite for a common political cause.

• Impact on Great Britain:

  • The defeat led to the resignation of Prime Minister Lord North and discredited the policies of King George III, leading to a temporary reduction in monarchical influence over Parliament.
  • The revolution sharpened political divisions. Parliamentarians like Edmund Burke and William Pitt the Younger, who had been sympathetic to the colonial cause, represented a Whig faction that advocated for reform. Their arguments, contrasted with the Tory stance of Lord North, contributed to the long-term evolution of Britain’s two-party system.
  • Britain’s colonial policy shifted. It adopted a more liberal approach towards its remaining “white” colonies (e.g., the Canada Constitutional Act of 1791). Conversely, it tightened its grip on its other possessions to compensate for the loss of America. The loss of American markets and resources made India increasingly central to the British Empire. Lord Cornwallis, defeated at Yorktown, was sent to India as Governor-General to consolidate British rule and implement administrative reforms (e.g., the Permanent Settlement of 1793).

• Impact on France and Europe:

  • The American Revolution was a direct inspiration for the French Revolution of 1789. French soldiers, like the Marquis de Lafayette, returned home imbued with republican ideals of liberty and popular sovereignty. Lafayette himself played a key role in the early stages of the French Revolution, including the Tennis Court Oath.
  • The French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), drafted by Lafayette with advice from Thomas Jefferson, echoed the language and principles of the American Declaration of Independence.
  • France’s massive financial expenditure in supporting the American war effort pushed the French monarchy to the brink of bankruptcy. This fiscal crisis was the immediate trigger for the French Revolution, as King Louis XVI was forced to convene the Estates-General in 1789 to seek new taxes.

• Impact on Latin America:

  • The success of the American Revolution provided a powerful model for independence movements in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Latin America in the early 19th century.
  • Later, under the Monroe Doctrine (1823), the United States declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to further European colonization, asserting a “big brother” role and establishing a sphere of influence over Latin America.

The American Civil War (1861-1865): Prelude and Causes

The Civil War is often called the “central crisis” of American history, as it tested the very survival of the union forged by the revolution. The conflict arose from deep-seated and irreconcilable differences between the industrializing North and the agrarian, slave-holding South.

• Divergent Economic and Social Systems:

  • The North: Developed a dynamic capitalist economy based on manufacturing, commerce, and finance. Its cities grew rapidly, fueled by immigration. The federal government’s protectionist policies (high tariffs on imported goods) benefited Northern industries by shielding them from British competition. Federal investments in infrastructure like canals and railroads primarily linked the North and the developing West, further integrating their economies. The North was also a center of education and reform movements, with universities like Yale and Harvard fostering an intellectual climate critical of slavery.
  • The South: Remained overwhelmingly agricultural, with a feudal-like social structure dominated by a small planter aristocracy. Its economy was dependent on cash crops, primarily cotton (“King Cotton”) and tobacco, cultivated on large plantations. This system was reliant on two factors: slave labor and land expansion, as cotton cultivation rapidly exhausted the soil. Post-independence, Southern planters felt burdened by having to export their cotton through Northern ports, paying tariffs and freight charges that benefited the North.

• Slavery: The Central Issue:

  • While economic and cultural differences created friction, slavery was the issue around which all other conflicts revolved.
  • For the South, slavery was a “necessary evil” and later defended as a “positive good”—the cornerstone of its economy and social order.
  • For a growing number of Northerners, influenced by the Second Great Awakening and abolitionist movements, slavery was the “nation’s shame”—a moral sin that contradicted the nation’s founding principles of liberty and equality. Abolitionist societies circulated propaganda, and writers condemned the institution. Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” (1852) had an explosive impact, humanizing the plight of slaves and galvanizing Northern public opinion against the South.
  • The federal government banned the international slave trade in 1808, but the internal trade and the institution itself continued to grow.

• Political Crises and Westward Expansion:

  • The primary political battle was over the status of new territories being added to the U.S. through westward expansion. Each new state’s admission as either “free” or “slave” threatened to upset the delicate balance of power in the U.S. Senate.
  • A series of compromises attempted to manage the issue: the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850 (admitting California as free), etc.
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 shattered this fragile peace. It allowed settlers in these territories to decide the slavery issue by popular sovereignty, effectively repealing the Missouri Compromise line. This led to violent clashes in “Bleeding Kansas” between pro- and anti-slavery factions.
  • The Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court decision of 1857 further inflamed tensions. The Court ruled that African Americans were not citizens and had no rights, and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories, rendering previous compromises unconstitutional. This was a major victory for the South and an outrage to the North. The election of Abraham Lincoln, of the anti-slavery Republican Party, in 1860 was the final trigger for the secession of Southern states and the outbreak of war.

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Prelims Pointers

• Iron Act (1750): Prohibited the building of new iron finishing mills in American colonies.
• Seven Years’ War: Fought between 1756-1763; known as the French and Indian War in America.
• Treaty of Paris (1763): Ended the Seven Years’ War; France ceded its North American colonies to Britain.
• Molasses Act (1733): Taxed molasses from the French West Indies.
• Sugar Act (1764): Replaced the Molasses Act with stricter enforcement to raise revenue.
• George Grenville: British Prime Minister who implemented the Sugar Act and Stamp Act.
• Stamp Act (1765): First direct tax on the colonies, requiring stamps on legal documents and printed materials.
• Slogan “No Taxation Without Representation”: Core ideological demand of the colonists, inspired by the Magna Carta (1215).
• Declaratory Act (1766): Affirmed the British Parliament’s right to legislate for the colonies.
• Townshend Duties (1767): Taxes on imported goods like glass, lead, paper, and tea.
• Boston Massacre: March 5, 1770; British soldiers killed five colonists.
• Boston Tea Party: December 16, 1773; Colonists dumped British East India Company tea into Boston Harbor.
• First Continental Congress: Held in Philadelphia in 1774.
• Second Continental Congress: Convened in 1775; appointed George Washington commander of the Continental Army.
• Declaration of Independence: Adopted on July 4, 1776; primarily drafted by Thomas Jefferson.
• Key Battles: Lexington and Concord (1775, start of war), Saratoga (1777, turning point), Yorktown (1781, decisive victory).
• Key Figures: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Lord Cornwallis (British Commander), Marquis de Lafayette (French Commander).
• Treaty of Paris (1783): Officially ended the American War of Independence.
• Monroe Doctrine (1823): U.S. policy opposing European colonialism in the Americas.
• American Civil War: Fought from 1861 to 1865.
• “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”: Anti-slavery novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852.
• Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854): Allowed popular sovereignty to decide the slavery issue in new territories.
• Dred Scott Decision (1857): Supreme Court ruling that African Americans were not citizens and Congress could not ban slavery in territories.

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Mains Insights

Perspectives on the American Revolution

1. Nature of the Revolution: Conservative or Radical?

   • Conservative Viewpoint: Some historians, like Daniel J. Boorstin, argue that the American Revolution was not a true revolution in the sense of a radical social upheaval (like the French or Russian revolutions). Instead, it was a conservative movement aimed at preserving the colonists’ traditional rights as Englishmen, which they believed were being violated by the British Parliament after 1763. The goal was not to create a new society but to restore the old order of “salutary neglect” and self-governance.
   • Radical Viewpoint: Historians like Gordon S. Wood (The Radicalism of the American Revolution, 1991) argue that while it did not produce a reign of terror, the revolution was profoundly radical in its social and political consequences. It replaced monarchy with republicanism, hierarchy with a more egalitarian ethos, and dependence with individualism. It fundamentally transformed the relationship between rulers and the ruled, making popular sovereignty the basis of government.

2. Primary Cause: Economic Grievances vs. Ideological Principles?

   • Economic Interpretation: Historians like Charles A. Beard (An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States, 1913) emphasized economic motives. They argue that colonial merchants, planters, and land speculators were primarily motivated by a desire to escape the restrictive mercantilist system (Navigation Acts, Iron Act) and British control over western lands. The “no taxation without representation” slogan was a convenient ideological cover for these vested economic interests.
   • Ideological Interpretation: The “republican synthesis” school, led by historians like Bernard Bailyn (The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, 1967), contends that the colonists were genuinely motivated by a deep-seated fear of unchecked power and a commitment to republican ideals of liberty, virtue, and opposition to corruption, which they inherited from English radical Whig thought. The new taxes were seen as evidence of a conspiracy by a corrupt British ministry to enslave them, making resistance a moral imperative.

3. Global Impact and its Link to Colonialism:

   • A Double-Edged Sword: The American Revolution was the first successful anti-colonial war, inspiring subsequent movements worldwide, including in India. The language of liberty and self-determination resonated with future freedom fighters.
   • Shift in Imperial Focus: For the British Empire, the loss of America was a pivotal moment. It led to the “swing to the East,” where Britain intensified its imperial project in India to compensate for the economic and strategic loss of the American colonies. Lord Cornwallis’s transfer from America to India symbolizes this shift. British policies in India became more exploitative and interventionist to secure the resources and markets that America once provided.
   • A Model for France: The revolution’s impact on France was direct and catastrophic for the French monarchy. Financial bankruptcy from the war and the ideological contagion of liberty were the primary short-term causes of the French Revolution. This demonstrates the interconnectedness of global events in the late 18th century.

Perspectives on the American Civil War

1. Inevitability of Conflict: The “Irrepressible Conflict” thesis, championed by historians like James Ford Rhodes, argues that the Civil War was an unavoidable clash between two fundamentally incompatible societies: a modern, free-labor, industrial society in the North and a backward, slave-labor, agrarian society in the South. The moral, economic, and political divisions over slavery were so profound that no compromise could have permanently resolved them.

2. Slavery as the Core Cause: While economic factors (tariffs), political issues (states’ rights), and cultural differences existed, modern historiography overwhelmingly concludes that slavery was the central and principal cause of the war. All other issues were secondary and inextricably linked to the preservation or expansion of the “peculiar institution” of slavery. The sequence of events from the Kansas-Nebraska Act to the Dred Scott decision and Lincoln’s election shows how the conflict over slavery systematically dismantled all political compromises.

3. A “Second American Revolution”: The Civil War is often termed the “Second American Revolution.” While the first revolution established the nation’s political independence, the second redefined its core principles. It ended slavery (via the 13th Amendment) and affirmed the supremacy of the federal government over individual states, thereby resolving the fundamental question of sovereignty left ambiguous by the original Constitution. It represented a transition from a loose union of states (“the United States are…”) to a singular, consolidated nation (“the United States is…”).