Causes and Significance of American War of Independence

Causes and Significance of American War of Independence 

American War of Independence 

The American War of Independence is also referred to as the American Revolution. The pace of colonization of North America accelerated in the 17th century, as a result of which the number of British colonies there was reduced to 13 in 1755. In these colonies, immigrants from countries like England, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Germany, France etc. were established, but the number of English people was very high. People of the black class were brought to Africa as slaves. Apart from these, there were also tribals here. Although there were many differences and disparities among these immigrants of different origins, but they had a geographical unity and that was resentment against the existing system in their native land. Therefore, it would not be unfair to say that the establishment of colonies started with discontent. Its expansion also took place due to dissatisfaction and in the end these colonies turned into a nation by waving the flag of dissatisfaction.

Causes of American War of Independence 

Influenced by the revolutionary changes that took place under the Parliament of England in the 17th and 18th centuries, these colonies also asked to reestablished self-government and absolute monarchy. Initially, the British rule did not interfere in the internal administration of these colonies. But in the latter half of the 17th century, when it started interfering more, it caused dissatisfaction among the people of America, which became an important reason for the War of Independence. The following were the main reasons for America’s freedom struggle.

 

1. Development of the spirit of freedom – 

The main reason for the American freedom struggle was the development of the spirit of freedom among the people there. A clear glimpse of this is obtained from Virginia’s first “Settlement Charter” (1618 AD) in which it was announced that “the settlers shall have all the liberties, suffrages and privileges as they would have if they had been born and lived in England.” There was a provision in the charters of many American colonies that the people there should make laws for themselves by electing legislative assemblies. Apart from this, the development of education and journalism in the American colonies also discouraged the spirit of independence among the people there. 

2. Control over industries and commerce 

England considered these American colonies as a means of its income and wanted to earn maximum profit from there. England used to get goods from these colonies and the goods manufactured by them in England were sold there at higher prices. These colonies were in a way a market for England. Not only this, England also imposed restrictions on the industry, trade and commerce of these colonies of America so that England’s industry and commerce could be benefited. These restrictions were of three types. For the first time shipping rules were implemented, according to which efforts were made to make British shipping progressive and profitable. By this rule, it was made necessary to carry goods between England and its colonies or between colonies and other European countries by English ships, whose operators would also be English. These were the second type of rules through which efforts were made to establish the supremacy and monopoly of the British traders in these colonies. For this purpose, many rules were passed in 1733 by which import and export from foreign countries were banned and its monopoly was given to English traders only. The third type was those rules by which the industries of the colonies were also banned, due to which the wool and iron industry suffered a lot.

3. Conquest of Canada by England

Conquest of Canada by England also developed the feeling of independence at a rapid pace in America Colony. After the Seven Years’ War, in 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed between England and France. According to this treaty, England became entitled to the entire Mississippi Valley and the French colonies of Canada. Due to this, the fear of French invasion in the north of America went away because till now these American colonies were in fear of French invasion. Therefore, these colonies were dependent on England for their security. But when Canada was occupied by England and the fear of French invasion ended, the feeling of independence became stronger among the people of American colony.

4. Creation of new taxes 

In 1764, the ‘Sugar Rule’ was passed by which a simple import tax was imposed on molasses and taxes were also imposed on wine, silk, coffee luxury items etc. Officials were ordered to strictly recover these due to which dissatisfaction arose among the immigrants. 1765 AD ‘Stamp Rule’ was passed. leases, mortgages, inventories, petitions, licenses to practice law and liquor sell ID, stamping of state tax on newspapers, almanacs, datesheets, four pages, advertisements etc. made mandatory. The people of the colonies made their own cloth and started boycotting the goods sold by duty, due to which England started losing business. In the factories of England, artisans started becoming useless and discontent started spreading there too.

5. Boston massacre –

There was a lot of opposition to the Townshend laws in the American colonies. From February 1768, Samuel Adams drew the attention of all the colonies to these rules through a letter. To protest against them, American businessmen stopped exports from England. Due to this fierce opposition, these rules were withdrawn by Lord North on 5 March 1770 AD. On the same day, there was a clash between the Bostonians and the British soldiers posted there in the city of America called Boston, in which three Bostonians were killed. The revolutionaries named it the Boston Massacre by making it a good medium of propaganda and started agitating the public.

6. Boston Tea Party- 

At the same time in May 1773 AD, the residents of America became even more upset due to an act done by the British Government. To compensate for the loss of ‘British East India Company’, the British government granted this company a monopoly to export and sell tea in America. This would have caused a lot of loss to American traders. So on December 17, 1773 AD, a crowd in Boston dressed as tribals boarded the ship and threw 342 boxes of tea into the sea. This event is called the ‘Tea Party of Boston’.

Importance of American War of Independence

American War of Independence has an important place in the history of the modern world. The importance of this war was from the following points of view-

1:-  A new nation was born by this and it proved that the demand for independence of a strong nation cannot be ignored for a long time, because the people of American colonies fought with King George III of England and finally got independence. Got it done 

2:-  This was a new experiment in ‘USA’ politics. On the foundation stone of national independence, a palace of the United Republic was built, which, unlike European countries, was established on the principles of equality and fraternity. This new experiment in politics was an encouragement and a challenge to the conservative nations of the world to improve their position and revolution. French thinkers were highly influenced by this and they got new inspiration for thinking. When the French soldiers who participated in this war returned home, they also brought with them the spirit of freedom and equality that they wanted to establish in their country. Among these, the name of Lafayette is particularly noteworthy, who took an active part in the revolution there as soon as he returned to France. 

3 :-  America’s strong freedom struggle failed King George III’s attempt to increase the royal power and made the British cabinet system powerful. In real sense, constitutional monarchy was established in England at this time. 

4 :-  In the midst of this revolution, the residents there came in contact with the people of Europe and they got knowledge of scientific agriculture, due to which they made a lot of progress in the field of agriculture. Latest machines, fertilizers, best seeds and new means of irrigation were used in the field of agriculture. As a result, agricultural production increased. 

5 :-  This revolution also had an important impact in the industrial sector. The industrial development of America could not take place during the British rule because the American industry was controlled by the British rule, and many restrictions were imposed on commerce. After the success of the American Revolution, these restrictions also came to an end and now the industrial development of America started at a rapid pace. 

6. :-   As a result, revolutionary changes took place in the British colonial policy. It was now known that the colonies inhabited by ‘whites’ could not be kept under subjugation for long. Therefore, the policy of providing self-government to these colonies was adopted. Losing the American colony, England now paid special attention to India. Now, along with the attainment of colonies, England also paid attention to making them progressive, as a result of which the work of development of colonies like Australia, South Africa etc started.

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