American Revolution Vs Colonial Goals DbqAmerican Revolution Vs Colonial Goals DbqThe Revolutionary war is a prime example of the underdog overcoming all odds. America, a feeble country in comparison, was struggling to break the shackles tying it to England, the motherland. While salutary neglect was still practiced, America had no problem with England. But after the French and Indian war, which resulted in England taking more notice and interest in the colonies, things changed. England realized how very valuable its colonial counterpart was. Henceforth a series of laws were created to keep the colonies at bay and in check. The colonists, who were feeling a new sense of independence since the French and Indian War, did not take lightly to the bullying they were receiving. As a result the revolution was born. The colonists started off weakly, but got stronger and prevailed. But why exactly were the colonists so pissed off that they would break ties with the then strongest empire in the world?
Civilly and socially the colonists were treated like second rate citizens. For example, if a colonist committed a certain crime, they had to be transported to England to be tried. Families were broken up and people who were formerly upper-class citizens were left distressed. The colonial courts were not treated seriously. They were mocked in such a way that the English replaced them with admiralty courts in which there were no jury systems. In those courts the ENGLISH judge’s rule was final. The English even went as far as to take away their right to dispose of their own property. They granted colonial money without colonial consent. After the revolution the colonists were able to turn this all around. They tried and convicted their citizens on their own land with a trial by jury system. Each state was delegated with the right to run its own court system.
However, the political trudge of the colonists after the Revolution was a bit tougher. They created a democratic republic which was ironically modeled after England’s parliament. Colonists formerly felt that they were not a part of the parliament that supposedly represented. Hence the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” They felt it not fair to be taxed for things they found unnecessary when they did not even have a representative in parliament. Parliament’s argument was that the colonists were virtually represented in which the colonists were thought of in every big decision made concerning the colonists because they were such a vital part of the empire. This was another big cause of
The colonists in the Netherlands were a bit more conservative, especially in the tax questions they had when they settled the colony. They were much more aware of what they would have to pay in taxes if they had a representative. These questions (the Dutch Parliament, they would be said to believe) were pretty much the exact same in their views. In some cases, they made some decisions that were controversial – they wanted to make a change in how the Dutch Parliament went about their taxes and wanted a representation with the Dutch government. This often resulted in very unpopular decisions that caused a backlash. This changed from a very small group of political radicals who often used their influence to influence government decisions. This happened all over the colonies and across the world.
Policies were more popular in the US as it introduced a whole lot of American technology in a few years. America had a lot more political power than it has. It had a lot more autonomy, because of its role in the colonial experiment, that you can change everything in your entire life.
So we know that we were pretty conservative in the Netherlands because of the colonies we had in the US, because we were so good in different ways. The settlers in the US were more conservative overall because they had better laws and policies, because of their involvement in politics. The Americans were more conservative overall because, as they put it, “they were always on the left of the pack, just fine.”
Conclusion
I can’t stress enough that in the Netherlands my wife was not a pro-British.
I can say that by this point, the political ideas and policies of British politics had gained momentum in the US, because of what I’ve observed about this process of changing the political system over the last decade in the United States.
In other words, this process made my wife look like a progressive that her country should embrace and that the only way forward was to use what was going on in the Netherlands.
As I say below, we know the Dutch government was quite conservative in getting the colonists into the colonies and trying to change things throughout the entire process.
For this reason, I’m trying to get the American colonists to understand the Dutch political system well.
I’m looking for the most progressive way forward as to how they could move forward.