Essay About Revolutionary War And Ancestors Of The American Revolutionaries

American Republican Ideology
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The republican ideology is a facet of the social fabric of the
colonial citizens of America that may, arguably, have had the greatest
affect on the struggle for independence and the formation of a
constitutional form of government in the United States. The birth of
the republican ideology, while impossible to place an exact date on,
or even month, can be traced back more than a decade before the
Revolutionary War. It can also be argued that this social machine
began to function as a result of circumstances which led many colonist
to choose to come to America. The uniformity of this ideology,
however, would change and modify itself as circumstances warranted in
the period between 1760 and 1800.
It is first necessary to understand the exact reasons why the
ancestors of the American revolutionaries chose to live in America, as
opposed to staying in England, where a healthy and prosperous life was
a much greater possibility. America was, in the eyes of its first
English settlers, an open book with no writing on the pages. It was
the foundation of a building that had not yet been built. Many felt
that it was up to them to shape the way this new land would function,
as opposed to the way Parliament or the King felt it should. The
memories of these early pioneering settlers were a common theme for
American revolutionaries before the Revolutionary War. These early
settlers were the creators of the foundation to the building the
revolutionaries would finish.
Another common theme which drove the revolutionary ideology
was the knowledge not only of the monumental significance of the job
to be undertaken, but also the impact a free democracy on a scale as
large as America would have on future generations of Americans who,
certainly, would not take their freedom for granted. The ideology held
by most American revolutionaries was one in which they knew their
sacrifices would be acknowledged and appreciated by future generations
of Americans. There was also the knowledge that America would serve as
an example to God and the rest of the world of what the advantages of
a free society could be.
Religion also played an important role in the establishment of
this ideology. God, in the eyes of the earliest revolutionaries, was
on the side of liberty. There was religious justification for actions
undertaken by both England and America. The English stated that
rebellion was a sin, while the Americans stated that the corruption of
England, as well as its intolerance of liberty to the point of
warfare, was also a sin. War, from the religious perspective of the
revolutionary in America before the outbreak of war with England, was
seen as a necessary evil. God could permit war as a means of escaping
tyranny, such as that which England was symbolic of. God was, in the
eyes of the pre Revolutionary War revolutionaries, without question on
the side of liberty and personal freedom.
The suffering of Americans under the tyrannical hand of
English government was much the same as the suffering undertaken by
Jesus at the cross. He suffered for all the sinful people of the
world. He died for our sins. The revolutionaries felt much the same
way about any suffering that may be incurred throughout the war. They
felt that it would be looked back upon as a sacrifice that they made
for the success of future generations of Americans. On an even larger
scale, it would also be looked upon as a sacrifice for liberty and
freedom in all countries around the world who suffered under the
sinful hand of oppression.
The revolutionaries also had their own ideas about
independence as well. To them independence was a necessity. It was
absolutely key to any further advancement towards their ultimate goal
of freedom to enjoy personal liberties. How exactly independence was
physically achieved was not as important as the fact that it had
already, and would always be, achieved in the minds of Americans.
Their thoughts and actions were already that of an independent people
regardless of whether or not England still had legal domain over them.
Independence was a essential aspect of self-preservation which,
according to the revolutionaries, was their objective. Their motive
was not an act of active rebellion against authority as much as it was
one of self-preservation.
As the Revolutionary War continued to wage