The statement that Mercantilism is at the root of the issues that led the British colonies in North America to seek their independence from Great Britain. is very true. Operating on this theory was the greatest undoing by the British and a clear source of exist from colonialism by the Americans. This is because developments in the implementation the policy in America, gave way to the deviation towards resistance which was culminated into a force in the American Revolutionary war. This was especially after the British overreached their influence in a way to make the colonies excessively uncomfortable thereby prompting a resistance.
The British was operating on a policy of more exports and less imports which is the basis of mercantilism. This is the major reason behind the acquisition of colonies by the British. Colonies assured them of a continuous and favoring export business. They would be easy markets as well as cheap sources of the raw materials. But the British were experiencing competition from other interested countries. To cut down this competition as well as establish great benefits from exploiting the colonies, they set up streamlines such as levies for the imports into the colonies. In conjunction to this, they had strategies to establish the autonomy of the merchant business as a sole endeavor of the Britons. This was the basis for the establishment of such limitation like the Navigation Acts which sought to make the British the sole beneficiaries in such industry. The method was to achieve this by making it really economically impossible for anyone importing to the colonies.
However the benefits from such arrangement were not enough for the British and their march towards eventual heights of exploitation continued. This led them to the establishment of acts in the American colonies with view to making people in the colonies pay more in terms of taxes. Such an example is the Sugar Act. This was another string to the already burdened populations in the North America. The people had been pushed to the wall and it seemed this was to continue. As a result people got too exhausted to the never ending twists to the exploitations. And hence, a strong force of discontentment and rejection was beginning to form.
The year1736 marked the height of the excesses in the exploitation of by the British of the North Americans and served as a launching pad for the resistance from the colonialism. The colonies became completely dissatisfied by the point that the British were unfairly establishing more and more taxes on them. As such an idea cropped into their minds. This was the idea of boycott as a way of communicating their general dissatisfaction with the excessive taxes paid by them. Using this boycotts the masses were slowly but surely coalescing their strength and strategy albeit without realizing it. This was the real beginning of the general outrage by the people through means of boycotts.
The successful boycott of the Stamp Act, which in turn led to its repeal, was the greatest eye-opener for the people. They for once realized that rebellion can really work to alienate oppression. They also realized the power in them coming together to defeat their common enemy who was the British.The currents that had now formed, of using force in stopping oppression, never stopped. They were the force that created the American Revolutionary war.
This events clearly point to the fact that mercantilism was at the root of the issues that led to the British colonies in North America to seek their independence from Great Britain. It points to the great role the concept played in making the people see the way out.
Question 2
The statement Over the course of about one hundred and seventy years, the British colonists in North America came to see themselves as American ratherthan British is very true. Meeting a culture that was predisposed to a different way of living and lifestyle, the Britons approached with the aspect of dominance and non-interaction. However in the course of interaction the attitude easily evaporated and the obsession to take on the American way of life cropped in. This is still the view today.
In America the Britons came upon life changing collections of folklore as well as real life experiences in the products of American values and principles which were appealing .They for example encountered rural people with a success in the ways of life on topics such as love, honesty, mercy, consideration in the treatment of the poor as well as justice to all. They met the hardworking farmers who challenged them on the virtue of hard work. They also met people in the colonial towns who taught them on free expression of facts and ideas as well as free association.
These are the things the Britons had come without. They came and saw a different way of life that was successful as well as appealing. They interacted and saw the general application of the values of the American people and how good they were. During the interaction process they discovered how cheap it was for them to acquire these values and become integrated and synonymous.
This prompted them into accepting and taking on the cultures, the values and the ways of life of the America. They hence took on some of the fundamental values of the America such justice for all. They even became considerate to the issues on the free expression of opinion and emotions. From the American people, they also learnt about free dialogue as a way of expression. This was common in most colonial towns in America since these towns had not embraced the idea of newspapers. The Britons hence participated in the free expression culture of the American. They embraced it, loved it and owned it. Their interests grew dim to the values and behavioral dimensions they came with such as a keen mind for self sufficiency as well as the independency of the mind. They were able to accept the idea of collective responsibility and communal living. This was a transformation of the people from the person-centered personalities to people-centered personalities. It is one integral concept that is still seen today among the British in people-centered activities such as football.
So much points to the British acquisition of American values and practices during the colonial period. Some of this has continued to date and are a proof to the ownership of such values and practices by the British. This change in personality made the Britons into changing their original behaviors. The idea of communal living observed in America, continued to have transformational effects to their personalities. The values of collective responsibly in a communal setting changed their original perception and behavior towards other people. They took on the values of collective living which culminated into humanitarian approaches and activities seen even today among them. The fact is the British at the time found living as a community more appealing. They adopted it hence becoming more American than they were Britons.
Individual lifestyle is another level on which the British took up the lifestyles of the American people as their own. The American people had perfected the art of using folklores as a guide to their daily lives. They had poems and proverbs which guided their interactions. This was taken up by the British and led them to aggressively engage in activities such as poetry and literature. This made them correctly fit into the societies and in the end they felt American than they were they were British.
Question 3
It has been said that, while the American Revolution was not particularly revolutionary, the social ramification of the Revolution are significant .This is a true statement. Evidence clearly points to the fact that so much happened on the social level of American society from the revolution .Curtis (589), highlights the areas that especially encountered a major structuring, reorganization as well as establishment during this period. Some of the highlights by Curtis (589) are the increase in need for and establishment of social structures, the development of the idea of Social Christianity, the growth of an aspect of humanitarianism, as wells the emergency of social structures.
The American society was seen as a diverse culture but with a unique common goal. The goal was to achieve good living and coexistence as well as support to the less privileged. This was supported by the view that together they could defeat enemies. Just as the political enemy had been defeated by the unifying nature of the people, there grew a need to use such a strategy to fight the social enemies. As such there came a need to have uniting fronts. This was the beginning of major changes towards the establishment of social structures. The beginning of social unions to unite people was born. These were to be mediums for the unification of the people to fight the ills in the society and defend the people against oppression.
With the need to have people defenders against the oppression seen in the revolution, there emerged a special class of people who could communicate the grievances of the masses. This was the rising point for the emergency of a special class of people in America such as Poets, Journalists, Novelists and Social Workers. Their mandate was to bring on fore the social ills and life experiences. This class especially gained ground because they reminiscence the ugly and harsh conditions from which the people had been through.
The inhumane treatments seen in the course of the revolutionary war made people disgusted by the lack of consideration for the value of life. The wasting of life through this led to the questioning on the ability of humans to protect life. As such question arose on the best way to protect life and have a peaceful coexistence. As such though not written down or communicated, Christianity slowly found its way at the core of the American society. The overriding concept of love encouraged in Christianity formed the basis of life and quickly fitted with the original view on life and the preservation of life Christianity formed the foundation of the American society from this point onward.
Humanitarianism is also a key social concept that is the product of the revolution. The devastations seen and the sheer loss of life led to questions relating to the champions of better life as well as the saving of life. This was the beginning of the establishment of humanitarianism which forms a core element in the social structures of the country. The society realized the urgent need to form structures to help those in time of crisis by the provision of urgent service.
The above social reorganizations and structuring, clearly points to the radical changes in the social level that occurred from the Revolution. They clearly confirm the fact that indeed there was a revolution on the social front.
Question 4
The statement In the period following the Declaration of Independence, the unity of the citizens of the new nation was never in doubt. is a valid statement. This coalescing unity was especially well portrayed in the establishment of the Working Constitution. The making of the working constitution was a test of the nation on various fronts on its unity. The success of the process was a clear indication to the strong existence of this unity. The making of the constitution tested the fundamental strength and readiness of the state and its diverse people to staying united. The new constitution making process however succeeded on all the fronts, pointing to the peoples readiness and the existence of unity.
The first testing point for the unity in this working constitution was on the accommodation of the varied lifestyles and different communal styles into one document to be agreed upon by all the communities as a guide to their life. People had been living independent lives as independent communities. But the constitution was to make the diverse communities into one fused community. Such a process required the acceptance of a shared destiny and a common and shared origin. In the face on this challenging test on the ability to forego some very important dimensions and take on some alien ones, the country succeeded. This clearly points to the existence of the will, and the imperativeness among the public, to be one.
Another testing point for the unity was on the language to be used. The varied communities had their own language communications independent and different from each other. Coming to an agreement on which language to officially communicate this document in would have presented a problem to any divided state. But the successful agreement on the medium to communicate clearly indicates that the communities had already individually resolved to see their unity to the end.
Another measure of unity which was rather continued in the working constitution was the acceptance of the collective responsibility in the making of the nation. The working constitution was a clear testing ground on the existence of a collective approach to issues. It sought the souls of the people on whether any of them sounded superior or as having solely made the nation. The authoring of the constitution fully brings this into direct focus. This is especially because the making of the constitution was a collection of exciting information on and about the diverse communities as well as collaboration. People could easily come up to credit themselves for the process and the contents. However this was not the case. It clearly points to the fact that fusion and hence unity had already been achieved and everybody appreciated each others contribution to the making of the nation whether direct or indirect as both equally important and relevant. This proves to an existence of unity.
The final test however was to come in the consent to the document by the people. In seeking their consent, the working constitution was calling on them to summaries their whole acceptance to be a unified state, guided and led by a common destiny and as equal members in the acquisition and sharing of resources. Because people agreed to it, it means they were ready for all of this. This points to how conclusive the people had been in their need to be united a united people.
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