From: Tim Patterson
Date: 2/14/00
Time: 9:21:51 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.168.59
When and how did the Americans decide that independence was their only option? The story of how and when the American colonists came to the conclusion that independence was their only option is complex and a little ambiguous. It can be argued that the final decision for independence was made at the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, and this is true. This is where the final vote was taken and it decided upon for the colonies to separate. The First Continental Congress, however, is what set things into motion. I believe that on September 5, 1774, when the likes of Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, George Washington and Richard Henry Lee got together and discussed the problems of resistance to the monarchy of England they made the decision to rebel. Though it wasn’t official by any means, they set in motion a revolution simply by opposing the Intolerable Acts they were showing the signs of dissatisfaction. They took the first steps onto the road of war with their mother country. It was only a few months after that that the first shots were heard at Lexington and Concord, and even George III said only war would decide whether the colonies remain a part of the British Empire or free. What brought these politicians and lawyers to their conclusion is much more complex. The accesses on the British monarchy are what caused the colonists to revolt. The British taxed the colonists and they swore loyalty to the monarch, but at the same time the colonists were not represented in the Parliament. So the colonists saw no reason that they should bow to the ‘supremacy of the Parliament’ if they weren’t going to be properly represented. In 1764, the Connecticut Assembly asserted that, unless the people approved of the representative’s decision, then no laws could be passed. The Seven Year’s War gave Britain a huge war debt and the tax payers of England were unable to handle the burden of paying it off. The British Parliament looked to the colonists to pay the debt, and instated new taxes, such as the Sugar Act (1764) and Stamp Act (1765). The colonists grew tired of paying taxes that really had nothing to do with their well being as a state, and agitators like Patrick Henry worked hard to make the colonists aware of these injustices. The Townshend Revenue Acts and Quartering Act both helped push the colonists away from the British Parliament. The Sons of Liberty organized public protests which gave the colonists a sense of unity. The Boston Massacre only served to heighten tensions between the British army and colonists. Another factor of how the colonists came to the conclusion of independence was the abuses of the customs commissioners. These commissioners often harassed the upper class of the colonies and collected more money then they were ordered to, and thus angered the men who would have the funds to organize a revolution. The Boston Tea Party set into action a series of restrictions imposed on the people of Boston by the British Parliament. These actions gained national sympathy from the other colonies, who sent the Bostonians food and supplies to fight against the British Blockade of the port city. This proved to the British that the colonies were a unified group, and not a series of provinces that were all separate. And this led the colonists to the conclusion that independence was the key to their survival.