American History Essay

In the aftermath of the wars waged with the other European countries, vying with each other to subjugate and exploit the American continent, Britain emerged as the sole Imperial Power in North America. Nevertheless, the cost was prohibitive and this compelled the British to impose additional taxes, which were very much resented by the people in the colonies. The authorities who had been appointed by the government in England, made it very clear that taxes would be imposed by England and that the colonial subjects would perforce have to abide with such legislation (Johnson and Woloch). The colonies had elected assemblies and these were deemed to be protection against the avaricious British and the governors appointed by them. A major objective of these assemblies was to mitigate the power of the British over them. The grouse of the colonists was that after having fought in the wars, provided most of the finances for the war and having sustained losses, they would once again have to pay taxes to prop up the profligate British. Moreover, the colonists were fiercely independent and brooked no interference in their affairs. Accordingly, they were unwilling to pay taxes to the British and felt that the only taxes that they had to pay should go into the coffers of their own colonies (Johnson and Woloch). To this end the British government introduced the Stamp Act, which levied a tax on commercial transactions, newspapers and gambling. This act was strongly opposed by the colonists and had to be eventually abandoned in the year 1766. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, introduced a number of taxes in 1767. These were to be imposed on the import of tea, glass, lead, paper and paint. Moreover, such imports could only be made from Britain. When the colonists agitated against these taxes, their assemblies were dissolved and repressive measures were adopted against them, resulting in the death of civilians in Boston, on whom the Redcoats fired indiscriminately. Most of these taxes were subsequently, repealed, with the exception of that on tea. The redoubtable colonists boycotted tea (Johnson and Woloch). In 1773, a shipload of tea was dumped into the sea at Boston. This increased the brutality of the British, who brought about legislation that was clearly meant to crush the colonists. In 1774, the colonist responded to this British barbarism, by inaugurating a Colonial Congress at Philadelphia. The resolution passed at this congress, which was conveyed to the despots back home in England, was that taxation and other legislation was to be enacted only by the colonial assemblies and not the British Parliament. The English retaliated by declaring the colonies as being in rebellion and deployed its hated army. The colonists fought tooth and nail against their oppressors and managed to drive the British army out of their colonies. To compound the felony, the English hired some thirty thousand odd German mercenaries to fight against the colonists (Johnson and Woloch). This was the last nail in the coffin, and the colonists decided to secede from the overbearing British. Accordingly, the declaration of independence was formulated in 1776. The British had a large, well armed, well trained and highly experienced force at its disposal. However, as the colonists had only to demonstrate that they could not be defeated and as the terrain was not only unfamiliar but also vast, the British failed to make significant headway against them. The British tasted defeat at Saratoga and this prompted the French to provide support to the colonists. Finally at Yorktown, the Red Coats, led by Cornwallis were besieged on land by the glorious American troops led by that paragon of virtue, George Washington; on the sea the French Navy ensured that the despicable British could not make good their escape. The oppressors were forced to surrender before the valor and indomitable spirit of the Americans. In 1783, the loathsome and rapacious British recognized America as an independent country, much to their chagrin (Johnson and Woloch). Right from the inception of measures to rescind the rule of the British, the colonies had unanimously rejected the British Constitution. The different states of the Union were in favor of implementing their own constitutions. Since, the federal government was in favor of a uniform constitution, this led to quite a few disputes between the states and the federal government. After the revolutionary war had ended a wide range of disputes arose between the states and the federal government. In addition, there were a few disputes between several states of the budding nation. There were economic disputes, political disputes and differences in the ideologies of these states. The disputes had emerged as an aftereffect of the French Revolution and hence there was an immediate need to resolve them. President Jefferson had undertaken several measures to resolve these issues, but was unable to sort them out entirely. This led the rulers of the US to review the situation and it was established that the US had to rescind its relations with Europe and renovate the entire code of administration, which had a European background. It was realized that the fundamental issues to be adopted were self reliance and an enterprising spirit (GREAT BRITAIN-U. S. RELATIONS , 1991). The incomparable James Madison was the fourth US President. He was the greatest political theorist of his time. The efforts extended by him towards the success of the American Revolution were prodigious. He also strived hard to strengthen the US in its early days. His was the principal impetus to the implementation of the US Constitution. Madison was the leader of the Republican Party. His main objective was to establish a national government that represented the people and not the states. In this endeavor he represented the aspiration of the states to oppose any measure to control their respective administrative powers. His vision was that such a national government would resolve the disputes effectively between the states of the union. He contributed vastly to the establishment of federalist governance, and he was successful in achieving his goal. The first ten Constitutional Amendments were introduced by him and they are known as the bill of rights. These amendments, serve as a check on federal power. The states of the Union have been protected to a major extent by the bill of rights (Madison, James, 1991). The economies of some of the southern states were mainly agrarian and dependent on slavery. The northern states had become wealthy due to industrialization. In that situation, Abraham Lincoln was elected as the US President. He liberated the slaves through his Proclamation of Emancipation. This drastic measure resulted in the US Civil War in the year 1861. The Civil War lasted for four years. Eventually, in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was adopted, which ended the practice of slavery. The Civil War also came to an end during that time (abolitionism, 2005). Subsequently, the political system became fortified and democracy was well established in that period. The common man’s rights were protected through the Bill of Rights introduced by James Madison. All the political parties, without exception, cooperated in the process of nation building. These efforts resulted in a United States, which is the only superpower in the world. In this manner, the citizens of the US had always opposed measures by the government to curtail their rights.First the British and then the federal government, had to countenance the wrath of the American populace in this regard. Works Cited abolitionism . 2005. 16 December 2007 < http://www. credoreference. com/entry. jsp? xrefid=6400501&secid=. 2. -abolitionism>. GREAT BRITAIN-U. S. RELATIONS . 1991. 16 December 2007 . Johnson, Paul E and Nancy Woloch. â€Å"United States History . † Microsoft ® Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2007. Madison, James. 1991. 16 December 2007 .