The American Revolution Dbq
The American Revolution began directly following the French and Indian war. The Americans began to reject the British monarchy and aristocracy. in attempt to free themselves from British rule, The 13 colonies rebelled/ fought against the British and were victorious. In 1776, the Americans declared independence from Britain, created the Articles of Confederation (which turned out to be a complete failure) and created the constitution later on in 1787. The people of the United States of America began to re-think politics, their economy, and society. The Americans from the 13 colonies thought that the government that Britain ran was evil and corrupted; therefore, Americans wanted their government to be nothing like/of Britains. Women, slaves, and loyalists experience a drastic change in society as women were given more rights, some slaves were freed (until the emancipation proclamation in 1865), and the British left America and went back to Britain. Politically, new ideas about democracy and the rights of citizens were made, and tested as well. The American Revolution completely changed every aspect of society in the Americas.
Following their breakaway from Britain, America did not want to have any resemblance of Britain. They adopted the articles of confederation that was completely uneffective and gave an extremely weak central government; which, in 1787 resulted in the making of the constitution. The United States had no source of income, was plunging into debt due to war costs, and there was no executive branch to make laws for the 13 colonies.
Rights for men began to change when the declaration of independence was written. All men were given unalienable rights along with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (Doc 1). The Declaration of Independence ensured that all citizens of the United States received these rights without them being taken away in any scenario. This represents a change in the past society as some people had more rights than others (especially people with different social statuses), now (1770s), everybody had the same rights as well as the rights being equal.
The United States of America expanded their land during the American Revolution. The Northwest ordinance of 1787 stated that it was unjust to rip land out of the hands of the Indians when it was theirs in the first place. Its stated that land would only be taken from the Indians if they gave consent (Doc 2). The United States violated the Northwest Ordinance and wound up destroying Indian “nations”. The United States were called the town destroyers, as well as (basically) being called hypocrites for taking the land/ “Country” of the Indians when they made the agreement to not take their land without their prior knowledge of said action taking place (Doc 3).
Politics