If I were an American in 1776, I would have chosen to side with the Revolution because the English Crown was interfering too much with the will of the colonists. The colonists had set out for America to start fresh and have their own country to govern. People like William Penn came to America to have a place for Quakers so that they would not be persecuted in England any longer. He developed humane laws to help spread Quaker ideas in Pennsylvania, yet the Crown still interfered and asserted its own criminal justice system and taxed the people and made them adhere to the British laws. Yet, America was not a typical British colony, where British people came to govern over natives. The colonists were British who wanted to govern over themselves, separated and distinct from the British Crown. Therefore, I would have signed on with the Revolutionaries, who were fighting for the right to have “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as they stated in the Declaration of Independence. I would have stood with Thomas Jefferson who wanted the Crown of the business of the colonies as they had their own forms of government, their own ideas, each one uniquely driven by the character and will of their people. The colonies were not the brain child of the King; rather, they went to America to elude the reach of the King. England had become a land of persecution and tyranny. The colonists were seeking freedom. They wanted to worship as they saw fit. Penn wanted to support the idea of religious freedom and so he welcomed all manner of diverse people into his colony—Catholics, Quakers and anyone else who was met with scorn by the Puritans. The problem of taxation was also a big one—so it was not just a religious issue or an issue related to law and order. It was also an economic issue—and the New World wanted to be able to trade with other countries without having to go through the Crown to do it. France however was unwilling to offend England—so it was more than high time to revolt.
