Essay: Separation of the British North American Colonies from England



Separation of the British North American Colonies from England

The oppression has already been the most predictable reason which encourages the rising of the rebellion against the oppressors as it has been seen throughout the history of human kind. This is no longer a strange phenomenon, but the hardship of the oppressed feel in need of freedom to pursue the happiness shall be granted to every human on earth. Similarly, United States of America is unlikely different from others when compared on the background information to found a more perfect union as an independent and sovereign state which shall be free from the colonization of the oppressor, the Great Britain. The modern definition of the sovereign state shall be based on the four categories: clear territory, permanent residents, hierarchy effective government, and ability to make a treaty. On the other one hand, the definition of the sovereign state during at period time is slightly different. The sovereign state might have been based on the hierarchy effective government to ensure the liberty and natural rights to vote and enjoy the happiness of free nation from the pressure and colonization from other states. By having understood the concept of sovereignty, our founding fathers of the United States believed the oppression of the Great Britain put on the thirteen colonies was such a cruel act which the people of the colonies could not bear to receive just because they lived under the colonization, but the same law passed by the British Parliament in England. The law in which the British Parliament imposed on the citizens of the colonies were viewed as an unreasonable act and also a threat to the core value of the citizens of the British North American Colonies. Furthermore, the oppression of the British armies enforced the law were clearly regarded as cruelty to which the citizens of the colonies feared they would face similar consequences as most of the Indian tribes had previously suffered during the first period of the British colonization on the North American Continent and also during the seven years’ war between the British armies and the allies of the DETAILS OF WAR Indian tribes and French soldiers to protect Canada from falling in hand of the British Empire. Many acts were unceasingly imposed on the citizens of the colonies until the delegates from each colony decided to gather to discuss and seek for solution before the anger of the citizens of the thirteen colonies was no longer kept. Several attempts to dissolve the conflicts between the British North American Colonies and British Empire had been made through diplomacy, but it failed when the British Parliament did not response to the demand proposed by the delegates from the thirteen colonies. Eventually, by taking into consideration of the server results from the major causes of the British Empire put on the thirteen colonies, the delegates reached to the point of not going back was to declare the independence to liberate themselves without the superiority of the British Empire.

The debt had been the most concerned issue to the British Empire because it was the leading factor that the British government decided to go around the world to colonize other foreign states to benefit themselves as well as to help develop its economy. Alan Taylor, Professor of University of Virginia, emphasizes that, “The imperial government needed more revenue to finance the national debt, which had soared from 73 million before the war to 137 after the war.” He wants to emphasize the urgency of the British government to seek more revenue to pay off the debt which mostly was spent on war between the British against the allies of French and Indian tribes. Before the war broke, the British government never paid a thorough attention to the colonies on how the colonies’ potential on the economic factor was because they had invested on the colonies most of the time and never expected to see the prosperity of the roots they planted. The attention of the British government did not give the colonies a good sign but a concern on how the British would alter their characteristic and treatment to the citizens of the British North American Colonies. Moreover, the relationship between the British Empire and the thirteen colonies began to strain after the great triumphant over the Seven Years’ War over French armies and Indian Tribes, especially when the British government accused the colonial merchants of involving in a smuggling trade to provide guns and ammunitions. With this accusation, the trust between the colonies and the colonists did not bring any good choice to the British Empire because the massive profit from the British North American Colonies was the solution to pay off the debt. Unexpectedly, the top legislative body of the British Empire passed the Stamp Act in 1765 which sparked the initial conflict to occur for the first time between the colonists and the colonies. According to Power Point Note of 1763 through Revolution lectured by Professor West, Stamp Act, “Documents and printed materials, including legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards must use special stamped paper.” Actually, the British government as well as the common people felt jealous of how the prosperous the citizens of the colonies compared to the colonists which was not somehow opposite to the nature of the colonization. Professor Alan further argues that, “Given the greater poverty in Britain and greater prosperity in the colonies, it did not seem fair to British leaders that the colonies paid virtually no taxes to the empire.” He also points the unbalance factor in contributing the tax to the empire was not equally shared which the British citizens had to pay 26 various kinds of tax when compared to the people of the colonies. Moreover, the British Empire was the one who fought to secure the harmless of the citizens of the colonies from the Indian tribes and French soldiers which eventually opened the trade route between the colonies and the Indian tribes on fur, wines and guns. Therefore, the people of the colonies benefited from the war fought by the British soldiers, and they were required to pay for the price they obtained through taxes. Charles Townshend once gave a speech in the British Parliament to support the Stamp Act that, “And now will these Americans, children planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence until they are grown to a degree of strength and opulence, and protected by our arms, will they grudge to contribute their mite to relieve is from the heavy weight of that burden which we lie under?” The speech he gave in 1765 in support of the Stamp Act was viewed a tool to urge to parliament to pass the Act to impose on the colonies whereas it was also regarded as the discrimination against the people of the colonies which British criticism toward the American civilians on the dependency to the British armies to protect the prosperity of themselves but did not will to contribute fairly to their protectors. Because of the regulations which colonies believed that these did not benefit them but to exploit, three kinds of resistance to the new taxes were formed by the political leaders of the colonies to stand up against the British Parliament. The legal and intellectual case was adopted on the British North American Colonies against the Stamp act was the beginning period to formally declare the unhappiness of the citizens of the colonies to the British Parliament. As it was known, the most powerful people on the colonies’ territories were political leaders, lawyers, and merchants; furthermore, in order to have an upper-hand against the British Parliament was to hurt the economic factor and imported British products which were supposed to be sold on the American Continent. The merchants of the colonies started to boycott British goods which was deemed a trade war as the British economy solely based on the profit gained to support the expansion of the British colonization as well as the strengthening of the British armies against the widespread of Spain and French on the North American Continent. The last mechanism of the strategies was to intimidate the physical violent against the supporters of the Stamp act. By having seen the large resistance of citizens of the British North American Colonies, the British Parliament took the economic factor into consideration because it hurt the British profit to pay off the massive debt the British Empire had. On the other one hand, the productivity of the British companies would be decreased which did not seem to be a good option to upset the colonies’ citizens because it outweighed the existing benefits that the British Empire gained from the colonies. Each step which the British Empire and Parliament walked was always the cause to distance the relationship between them and the colonies. Furthermore, these would be regarded as one of the main factors pushing the citizens of the colonies to think outside the box which had been holding them for a long period of time, and to free themselves from what they believed the British should not have done toward them. Hence, the initial conflict to pass the Stamp Act by the British Parliament brought the distance to the relationship between the British North American Colonies and the British Empire.

The British North American Colonies always raised up the unfairness of the British Parliament who passed the law solely and independently at England but tried to bring the effectiveness to bind the citizens of the colonies who did not have a voice to speak up against what they believed was unreasonable. The structure of the government was known clearly to the citizens of the thirteen colonies that the King or the Monarch was the highest who took control over the British Empire as a whole including the colonies. However, there were two kinds of power granted and appointed by the Monarch to virtually or directly pass the law which had an effective on their daily lives. These ideas brought the colonies’ citizens into despair when they did not have an absolute right over the territories they were living while those who never stood over the North American Continent virtually designed the law to levy the tax. The British Parliament was viewed as the virtual representation to the citizens of the thirteen colonies on the North American Continent because they did not have a right to vote for the representatives of the House of Common whose members shall be elected directly by casting a vote in the election to represent the common citizens while the House of Lords was regarded as the hierarchy of the first born son of the members to represent for the few. According to the Power Point Note of 1763 through Revolution lectured by Professor West, “Virtual representation – A theory of representation in which legislators do not serve their localities but rather the whole nation.” To the citizens of the thirteen colonies, they believed this virtual representation was not a proper way for us to follow such law passed at England. They would rather have the Colonial Assemblies to draft and pass the law because they were the people who were directly elected by the citizens of the British North American Colonies. The Colonial Assemblies and the Colonial governments of the thirteen colonies were put on trust by the people of the colonies to run the colonies. On the other one hand, the Monarch also appointed the royal governor to represent himself, the majesty, on the colonies’ territories already which was seen as a proper institution to preserve a balance. However, because all the policies and laws were supposed to be passed by the British Parliament which was considered as the virtual representation, the consequence of the laws and policies did not satisfy the citizens of the thirteen colonies but to upset them such as the Proclamation Act of 1763 and the Stamp Act of 1765. How did the colonies’ citizens react to these acts? According to the Power Point Note of 1763 through Revolution lectured by Professor West, it is said that, “Proclamation of 1763 prohibits colonists from moving westward.” The Proclamation Act was passed to avoid the conflict between the British Empire and the Indian Tribes who lived on the west of the thirteen colonies because any conflicts would not bring any good to the British, and French would not remain clam when defeated by the British armies and lost the Canada territory eventually. To ensure the proper relationship with the Indian Tribes, the British Parliament passed the Proclamation Act which caused the citizens of the thirteen colonies to feel betrayal because they required land for the industrial product planation such as cotton and rice. The consequence of the Proclamation Act gave an impression to the Colonial Assemblies a blow when they also sent the armies to assist the British armies in defeating the allies between French and the Indian Tribes. Furthermore, majority of the members of the councils were planters who owned slaves to harvest and do the planation on the vast field of land which caused them unable to expand their planation field and also a threat to them when the immigrations from European Continent was increasing from time to time. Moreover, the councils did not see eye to eye with the royal governor appointed by the British Monarch. Professor Alan points out that, “In political disputes, the councils usually sided with the assemblies against the royal governor.” With this piece of information, the institution established by the citizens of the British North American Colonies started to display the disapproval of the Monarchy which indicated the new system of the modern history to found a more perfect union of a republic. It was essential to notice the powerful and popular legislatives of the thirteen colonies on the North American Continent to stand up against the British Monarchy who did not give a proper right to determine the law to govern the land they were living directly but tried to influence the law passed by the virtual representation of the British Parliament on them. With the above concept, the citizens of the thirteen colonies wanted from the British Empire was to eliminate the virtual power or representation which they believed it was kind of unreasonable to have the British Parliament in England to oversee the business on the territory of the North American Continent though it was true at that period of time the British government and the Monarchy were the upper-power to colonize over the them. However, it was weird to have the British Parliament members who had never stood or landed on the North American to determine the complete and entire colonies’ tax without even taking consideration to think about the members of the Colonial Assemblies elected by the citizens of the North American Colonials. By having seen this circumstance and event which could not be ignored or abandoned to put into a real thoughtful decision about the future of the citizens of the North American Colonials, the delegates from each of the thirteen colonies were persuaded to regard this specific issue on the representation rights on the basic principle which result in contributing as one of the main reasons why the separation of the British North American Colonies from England might take place sooner or later which could not be avoidable though the hesitation occurred during the process of making a final decision.

The definition of the term “Liberty” has been growing deep down to the mindset of the citizens of the North Americans since the establishment of the more perfect Constitution which we currently have. Based on the Constitution of the United States, one of the basic principles is the Liberty which has been secured and guaranteed for all individuals living in the United States of America. Our founding fathers including Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adam, designed on the concepts they believed were best for all but not for one. On the other hand, according to Professor Alan, he endorses that, “The colonists regarded the new taxes as a threat to their liberty, which they tied to their property rights.” In making this statement, Professor Alan wants to highlight the relation between the right to vote and property to the law passed without their direct representation. The British Empire viewed property as the right to vote which guaranteed them to have a voice to determine the representatives elected to the British Parliament to serve and pass the law on their interest as a whole society. The different was no one or representative from the colonial territories stand up to speak his mind on behalf on the whole thirteen colonies which define the meaning of liberty to the colonial’s citizens. However, the British Parliament did not consider the same way to the citizens of the British North American Colonies when they passed the Stamp Act to greatly enforce until the anger of the citizens spread out which brought fear to the British Empire.  Professor Alan also raises up that, “The outraged colonists drew a grim picture of future taxes pilling up until the farmers and artisans would have to sell almost all of their property to pay them.” The attention on liberty which could be waxed out of the citizens of the thirteen colonies started to appear little by little when the news of new tax was passed by the British Parliament causing the alarm to all individuals because it affected the standard of living and was also the factor to make them lose their property, political right, and the hierarchy of the white people above the slaves during that period of time when slaves were supposed to be under the supervision of the merchants, farmers and slave sellers. According to the Association of the Sons of Liberty of New York, it states that, “Therefore, to prevent a calamity which, of all others, is the most to be dreaded-slavery and its terrible concomitants-we, the subscribers, being influenced from a regard to liberty … blessings of freedom which our ancestors have handed down to us; and to contribute to the support of the common liberties of America …” By having seen the incredible written and the true meaning of the Association of the Sons of Liberty in New York on December 15, 1773, it clearly shows that this written is to discredit the British Parliament on what they have done so far, including Proclamation Line and Stamp Act, to bring harm to the liberty of the citizens of the thirteen colonies which is directly the motive to cause the liberty to disappear on the colonial’s territory. As the citizens of the colonies did not show satisfaction toward to right to vote which was tied to amount of property itself without considering the normal fellow citizens to execute their political rights, the group of the delegates during the revolution as well as the believers of the liberty attached the natural rights to the liberty. Professor Christopher West confirms the “Natural Rights” is clearly linked to the American revolution against the British Empire to establish a new republic nation by the people and for the people who resided on the thirteen colonies. It indicates the strong ground to support the natural rights because it is unequally seen that the citizens of the British Empire such as Scotland, England, and Wales, had the more superiority over the natural rights of the citizens of the British North American Colonies when they were abided by the law of the same parliament, but the rights to vote to have a voice for themselves was not guaranteed to give them a proper political rights to pass or shift the tax burden off of their shoulders as did the citizens of the British Empire. When natural rights and liberty define the right to representation, it clearly excludes the property because it makes no sense to attachment between all of them. In addition, if the property occupation is attached to something to do with the natural rights, it contracts to the core principle of the true meaning of liberty to enjoy the happiness without discrimination against race, sex and property. Furthermore, the normal citizens would have been excluded without any complaint to voice their concern when everything was supposed to be passed as a law would affect them severally. According to the table provided by Professor Alan, only few people of the thirteen colonies would have voice in their political rights. The unfairness and injustice which the British Parliament had done toward the citizens of the thirteen colonies started to grow stronger and strong each day which gave them an imagination of the equal natural rights and liberty they received to take place if the new nation was to be founded for them to execute what they had believed to be the true meaning of life as the normal citizens under no colonization from the foreign country. Though most of them were not born on the North American Continent or came from other countries to resettle, they believed the thirteen was their home where their mind was already attached to for a long period of time. According to the Power Point Note of 1763 through Revolution by Professor Christopher West, nearly half of the thirteen colonies’ population was not English and Welsh, but a combination of Dutch, Scottish, Irish, German, Scots-Irish, African and other European countries. With this mixture of population residing on the North American Continent and the real mindset to the new founding nation for all of individuals to survive from the real pressure the British Parliament put on them by levying the unreasonable taxes, the revolution against the British Empire to achieve the real dream of the new North American nation set to establish shortly after the delegates from the thirteen colonies directly declared the independent from the British Empire. To sum up, the liberty and natural rights were pulled to contribute to the new idea on how the British Empire tried to exploit the citizens of the thirteen colonies through the rights to vote which was unreasonably attached to the property to tie the knot of the thirteen colonies not to run far away from the power of a mighty empire.