Alexis Avramtchev Avramtchev 1
Professor Ryan Bailey
Early American History
12 February 2016
Causes that Led to the Declaration of Independence
On account of the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the thirteen American colonies cut off their political connections to Great Britain. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the end of the revolutionary war; it was only the beginning. After the signature of the Declaration, with France and Spain on their side, the colonies were involved in a long and bloody war which ended in 1783 as the Treaty of Paris recognized the sovereignty of the United States over the American territory. This famous revolution gave birth to the great and powerful nation that is known today as the United States of America, and gave voice to future American social and political movements. But why did the colonists decide to become independent instead of staying loyal to the King of England and becoming another Canada? England’s behavior towards its colony – a colony that was indeed influenced by the 18th century’s intellectual movements such as the Enlightenment – as seen through the numerous taxes, acts and laws as well as England’s inability to respond to the colonies’ requests, treating the American colonists as second class citizens, was the principal motive for the Revolution.
The 18th century was deeply marked by the Enlightenment, a revolution in human thought that stressed individual liberty and critical thinking which purpose was to reform society with ideas of liberty and equality. This intellectual movement was caused by the Thirty Years’ War that
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was fought in Central Europe from 1618 to 1648. Following the war, natural philosophers started to swim against the tide, putting the traditions into question and proposing better solutions. Their principal idea was that through rational thinking, people could reason and take decisions for themselves. "Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!" is the motto of the Enlightenment (Kant 1784). The American Enlightenment usually refers to the transformation of the British colonies into a democratic republic. The Patriots that revolted against British authority replaced the monarchy by republicanism, changing the future of their nation in a pro-equality way and marking the beginning of a new era for the Americans. May it be commonly regarded as an intellectual movement itself, the American Revolution was influenced by the modern ideas of Enlightenment’s political thinkers. In the Declaration of Independence, it was written: “We hold these Truths to be self evident that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson 1776), which proves that the contemporary philosophies influenced the decision of the thirteen colonies to separate from Britain. Over the years, the colonists had started to believe that people should be governed by reason, not by tradition. Inspired by some of the important American Enlightenment figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, they saw no rational reason why the colony should be administered by the King of England, which had no idea of the needs and wants of the colonists, rather than by a local government that would exist by the consent of people. In other words, the European philosophies of the 18th century made the colonists dream of a democratic system and some of them – the patriots – started to challenge the authority of King George III in search of freedom.
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From the second half of the 18th century to the beginning of the Revolution, England kept passing more and more acts, laws and taxes for the colony. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris marked the end of the French and Indian War and provided the British with vast territories, but with the land came problems of how to govern it. For many reasons, conflicts with Indians amongst others, the British wanted to control the expansion of its colony into the western territories. In 1763, King George III established the Royal Proclamation, prohibiting settlements beyond the Appalachian Mountains and forcing the colonists that were already on these lands to move east of the mountains. With thoughts of liberty in the settlers’ minds, it did not take more than that to fill the colony with anger and frustration. King George III and the British Parliament’s next move were the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act, which consisted of the instauration of taxes that the American citizens had to pay in order to finance the defense of the colony by the British troops, followed by the Quartering Act that said that the colonists had to find or pay for lodging for the British garrisons present in America. The colonists did not have any elective representative in the parliament, so they were not able to discuss their vote for the laws being made. Of course, they did not remain without acting. One of their most well-known reply was the creation of the Sons of Liberty, a secret organization that fought for the rights of the colonists. Undeniably mind-shaped by the Enlightenment, they were motivated by the famous motto “No taxation without representation” (Boundless Taxation). The tension in the thirteen colonies was dangerously increasing over time; the Boston Massacre is a good example. The Tea Act, passed by the British Parliament in 1773, was the final straw in the series of policies and taxes imposed by Britain on the American colonies (Boston Tea). Its purpose was to get the British East India Company out of