In this section, we will look broadly at some of the long-term political, intellectual, cultural, and economic developments in the eighteenth century that set the context for the crisis of the 1760s and 1770s.īetween the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the middle of the eighteenth century, Britain had largely failed to define the colonies’ relationship to the empire and institute a coherent program of imperial reform. The American Revolution had both long-term origins and short-term causes. But once unleashed, these popular forces continued to shape the new nation and indeed the rest of American history. The “founding fathers” instigated and fought a revolution to secure independence from Britain, but they did not fight that revolution to create a “democracy.” To successfully rebel against Britain, however, required more than a few dozen “founding fathers.” Common colonists joined the fight, unleashing popular forces that shaped the Revolution itself, often in ways not welcomed by elite leaders. The revolution created politicians eager to foster republican selflessness and protect the public good but also encouraged individual self-interest and personal gain.

Resistance to centralized authority tied disparate colonies ever closer together under new governments. A revolution fought in the name of liberty allowed slavery to persist. Moreover, revolutionaries justified their new nation with radical new ideals that changed the course of history and sparked a global “age of revolution.” But the Revolution was as paradoxical as it was unpredictable. The Revolution built institutions and codified the language and ideas that still define Americans’ image of themselves. Seen from 1763, nothing would have seemed as improbable as the American Revolution. And yet, in a little over a decade, those same colonists would declare their independence and break away from the British Empire.

The British North American colonists had just helped to win a world war and most, like Rush, had never been more proud to be British.

Upon seeing the king’s throne in the House of Lords, Rush said he “felt as if he walked on sacred ground” with “emotions that I cannot describe.” 1 Throughout the eighteenth century, colonists had developed significant emotional ties with both the British monarchy and the British constitution. In the 1760s, Benjamin Rush, a native of Philadelphia, recounted a visit to Parliament. The Consequences of the American Revolution

Ch 5 brave new world summary