American Economic Expansion, Freedom, American History (Essay Sample)

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American Economic Expansion
Freedom is a theme often encountered in the American history especially because the United States as a country was founded on this theme. However, freedom has historically meant different things for different people, and American did not share the same vision of freedom since the colonies. This essay agrees with the assessment that American has long thought themselves as descendants of patriots who fought for freedom. Undoubtedly, they fought together with the British and even considered themselves British. However, this perception changed gradually, the American gradually began to resent British way of life including their religion and government systems and regulation, but some still remained loyal to the King and the British government. Men who led American Revolution believed that the revolution was not only a colonial rebellion for freedom from the British system of governance, but it was also a way of freeing the whole world. America was the only place where freedom existed, in particular, it was the only place that free popular press existed and the only place the representative could be elected to represent their own needs. Revolution was therefore not entirely about the freedom of Americans but for the whole world. However, the American revolution was also a war between two groups, Patriots and the loyalist, who remained loyal to the British. To the loyalists, war was being fought to make British citizens of the Colonies "Free."
Since 1713, America had fought various wars with British brethren against the Europeans. The most prominent was the war of Jenkin’s ear (1739-42) where the cause of the way was trading right in the Caribbean and Central America (Bailyn 136). The war spread over a wide area and in the effort to win the war, more than 3,500 American men were recruited under the British commander. However, including American did not bear any fruit; instead more American lost their lives in war. Even after subsequence wars, American considered Britain victory as their own (Bailyn 138). Nonetheless, Americans considered having a unique identity of their origin. For instance, in early 1754, Benjamin Franklin proposed a political and military union of all the colonies, but the delegates could not convince a single colony to have a plan for a general government of all colonies (Bailyn 140). In essence, this implies that the colonists were satisfied with their identity as a British; they loved being British, but inherently, a majority of them considered themselves to have a national identity of their own.
The war that ended in 1763 propelled the new perception of the American about their identity and tax issues played a significant role in this change of attitude. Precisely, the British government started to enforce the long-standing colonial policies on regulations. The American begun to contend the imperial regulations; the Privy Council ordered governors to implement these regulations strictly while at the same time eliminates the trade with the enemies. The problem that arose was that the American population created an expanding market that could not be matched with the British goods. The consumption of Americans rose beyond the colonist capacity, and by the end of the 1760s, the colonists were running on trade deficits with Britain (Bailyn 143). Trading with the French was the only way of bridging the gap in payment and therefore keeping the commercial colonies solvent. The American realized that foreign trade was more profitable, as such, the customs officers began to ignore the strict letter of law devised by the British government and allowed American to trade through corruption means.
A similar alienation developed from the Anglo-American relation. Precisely, the mercantile system that was initially established was based on the idea that some people were producers of certain goods while others were only consumers. Thus, England statutes prohibited export or import of certain goods. For instance, the Woolen act of 1699 prohibited American wool product export from one colony to another. Other subsequent law had similar prohibitions, yet, the American economy was developing significantly, and it seemed plausible to American to move out of border to expand the trade. Similar alienation was also observed in currency, something that became a major issue for the entire eighteenth century (Bailyn 145). Due to these alienations and conflicts of interest between the British and the colonies and uneasy collaboration in wartime was created; as a result, American began to resent British for their arbitrary and hostile legislation. There seemed to a more profound and less managed distance between Britain and the American even in areas of cultural perception. Gradually, Americans began to acquire a sense of themselves as an entirely different people not necessarily in law, politics or constitution, but regarding culture and character (Bailyn 147).
By 1750s, the immediate origin of what is now known as American revolution was more visible to Britain. Due to the prohibition set years prior, their export, imports, and industrial production were significantly rising (Bailyn 165). The American by them were involved in this economic expansion, but the 1960s, the Americans were feeling the economic effect in other areas. In North American Mainland, 25 percent of the England exports were being absorbed, as such from 1747 to 1765, the value of colonial export was growing remarkably faster (Bailyn 166). Britain could be able to meet the rising population, but the growth means soaring prices for the growing American population. Seeing the demand and rising costs, farmers began to produce more food for distance market, which further means enhancing standards of the Americans. As a result, this changed the perception of the American about themselves. However, they were still tied to Britain, and most of them preferred Britain goods. Since the year 1760’s, American imported good worth $500,000 than what they were exporting to the mother country and for this reason were in great trade deficits (Bailyn 167).
The demographic and economic factors changed the traditional structure of the colonial society. The tie of Kinship that held Britain together and that was strong for American was weakened and American. For instance, in Virginia, which was British stable colony, the plantation owners were cut loose from the economic relations. In the middle decades that followed, people in Virginia discontinued their membership in the church of England. Instead, they began to form their evangelical religious communities that rejected the idealism of the Anglican gentry. With the few years that followed, other religious affiliations were formed, and between 1769 until the start of the American Revolution, numerous religious affiliation associated with the American cultures had been opened (Bailyn 167) The American wanted to be a culture of their own not affiliated with Britain.
Following the new perception and the strict trade regulations, American began to ignore these regulation and Britain way of life. The British could not convince the contending interest parties that the proclamation of 1763 was beneficial to all. The colonial trade policies especially the sugar and Stamp act was the primary cause of resentment of the British in the eyes of the American. The series of regulation that the stamp act aimed to establish was particularly designed to tighten the navigation system and curb the colonist’s ignorance of the trade policies. The American shippers were required to post bond and possess a certificate of clearance and under other bureaucratic regulations. These tax reforms significantly contributed to the Americans resentment for British despite wanting to be Britain themselves. The tax reform threatened to upset the delicate balance of trade that had been built by previous American generations. Following the tax reform, the American goods were left unsold. The fear that emerged later on about the ability of the American to trade, the Britain debt from war, together with the hostility of the new trade regulation stirred up oppositions, thereby provoking American resistance. The crisis that emerged from the Stamp act diminished American respect for the British and unified them politically. The crisis "stimulated political and constitutional writing throughout the colonies, deepened the colonist's political consciousness and participation and produced a new form of organized popular resistance" (Bailyn 174).
By 1774, American celebrated George III coronation was in rebellion against Great Britain. The American had long endured the British tyranny and had a particular perception about them. Nevertheless, some colonist did not agree with the parliament policies in the 1770s; still, some member of the American society was still loyal to the king and Britain, and some believed that Britain law must be upheld ( Jasanoff, 10). These were termed as loyalists who were part of the American society. They came from all part of the American society; most of them were government officials, prominent merchants, as well as landowners. Many countrymen remained loyal because they regarded the King as their protectors against the merchants who controlled the local government. These members of the American society saw that war as a means to make British citizens of the Colonies "Free."
The loyalists were only a small part of the American society, a majority of America were patriots mainly, the artisans, merchants, lawyers, farmers and urban workers. They were firmly located in New England and Virginia. Throughout the crisis, the American patriots insisted that they were rebelling against the Britain system of government particularly the principles of its constitution. Most of them even left England for America to move away from...