Lecture 5:
The Revolution
This lecture interprets the American Revolution as a
response of the Americans to what they saw as a ceiling on
opportunity—opportunity being their most cherished value. It reviews the events leading up to the
Revolution and explains how the underdog Americans managed to win independence
from the British Empire.
Outline of Lecture
|
|
Introduction
|
The English colonists had relative opportunity, the
protection of the British Empire, and the rights of English citizens. What got them so upset in the years
1763-1776? What moved them to
Revolution? The thesis of this
lecture is that the colonists revolted because they perceived limitations
of opportunity being placed on them by the British government.
|
|
The Colonial
Protest Movement
|
Colonial dependency, along with the circumstances
following the French and Indian War, led to a resistance mentality among
the colonists as they protested acts of the British government they
considered unfair. One thing led to
another—British action, colonial protest—and led eventually to the most
inflammatory incident of the series, the Boston Massacre.
|
|
Declaring
Independence
|
The Tea Act, and the resulting Boston Tea Party,
commenced a new round of acts and protests. Protest and petition gave way to violence at Lexington in
1775. While fighting escalated
around Boston, the Continental Congress, influenced by such thinkers as
Thomas Paine, eventually graduated from expressions of grievance to the
Declaration of Independence.
|
|
Winning
Independence
|
The colonial cause may have seemed unlikely, but in fact
there was colonial advantages (and British disadvantages) that made the war
for independence feasible.
Washington managed to hold his army together through numerous
defeats and finally emerge triumphant (with French help) at Yorktown. In the Treaty of Paris, 1783, American
commissioners secured liberal borders and a future of opportunity for their
country.
|
Assignments
|
Tocqueville
|
Chapter 48: “Why Great Revolutions Will Become More
Rare.” The American Revolution has
been the subject of interpretation that explores its class base—some
historians seeing it as a conservative revolution to protect property,
others viewing it as a radical revolution bent on leveling classes. Class lecture here offers an ambivalent
view. Tocqueville definitely sees a
class basis for the revolution, but has his own peculiar view as to what
will follow.
•
Answer the title question: Why will revolutions in democracies, such as the US, be rare?
•
Tocqueville assumes that middle-class values will dominate
American life. What are these
values? Are these our values?
•
How do these middle-class, post-revolutionary values
affect individual creativity and social progress?
•
Some Business major ought to comment on the passage p. 265
that begins, "I know of nothing more opposite to revolutionary manners
than commercial manners."
|
|
WWW
|
Happy 4th of July! Take a look at the original Declaration
of Independence courtesy of the National Archives.
|
HIST 103 Home Page
|