History concepts and overview

¶ … American History from the Origins of the Revolution to the Close of War of 1812

In the 16th century, America, in its development as a new nation, had been colonized by the British government, and for a decade, Americans had shown little resistance against the British colonizers. However, a decade after their conquest, the British forces and government in America had met resistance from the people, and these acts of resistance were triggered by a number of events and policies that further illustrated the growing inequality and injustices of the British to the Americans. As the American Revolution became successful, and America had finally achieved independence, the War of 1812 broke out, pitting the country once again against the British forces. The War of 1812 had also encountered problems that had happened before and during the development of the said war. These conflicts and major problems are essential to the study of American history because these major problems show a relationship on how America had emerged from a colonial to a free nation, and how it further expanded and developed to become a 'superpower' nation of the world. Economic, political, and social-civic problems have been the primary themes of the major problems of Americans during this time period (from American Revolution- War of 1812). These problems will be discussed in this paper, chronicling the various problems Americans had encountered from the start of the American Revolution to the close of the War of 1812.

Prior to the American Revolution, Americans have been subjected to numerous injustices regarding economic and social policies imposed by the British colonizers. The first major problem that Americans had encountered was the imposition of the Sugar and consequently, the Stamp Act. These acts were implemented to legalize the collection of the British government to Americans on the goods that come into and distributed commercially in the country. The Sugar Act imposes taxes on molasses brought in the country, while the Stamp Act issue revenue stamps on businesses concerning newspapers, legal documents, and other printed documents. These policies led to resistance among the elite class of the American society, since the owners of big businesses are directly affected through the imposition of taxes by the British. Heavy taxation without due 'representation' in the British House of Commons had been the primary issue that sparked American resistance. Because of this resistance, the Sugar Act was 'modified,' and the Sugar Act was repealed.

However, the said policies are just two of the many succeeding legal policies that the British monarchy had implemented on American soil. The Townshend Act, which is a policy developed to impose taxes "on goods imported by the colonies." This act makes the tax collection legal, since the British had clarified that "good s imported by the colonies" are legal transactions that should be taxed by the British. The dispute over this policy had worsened with the emergence of a tea monopoly through the British India Company. The Company's monopoly on the imported tea coming to America had infuriated American businessmen and traders, and this again resulted to a resistance, this time in the form of the Boston Tea Party 9 led by Samuel Adams), a group that expressed their opposition by attacking the cargo ships of the British India Company, and throwing out the cargos of tea into the sea. This rebellious and courageous act had disturbed the British government greatly, and indeed, the over taxation and unequal treatment between the Americans and the British had resulted to a greater resistance by the Americans, and the Revolution against British invasion began. It is evident that before the Revolution, the major problem of the Americans had been economic and social in nature, which is illustrated in the problems of over-taxation (economic), and inequality and injustice to Americans (social).