The American Revolution: Stamp Act, Boston Tea Party, and Declaration of Independence

American Revolution was the outcome of a succession of societal, political, and rational alterations that took place in the early American culture and administrative structure. Americans did not have an acceptable attitude towards the established oligarchies within the aristocratic European structure at the time. They instead were more inclined towards the development and sustenance of the phenomenon of republicanism that was founded upon the Enlightenment perception of liberalism. Along with the noteworthy consequences of the revolution was the formation of a democratically -- voted representative administration answerable to the resolve of the citizens. On the other hand, intelligent political arguments broke out over the proper intensity of democracy wanted in the new administrative setup, with a large quantity of the Pioneers anticipating a mob regulation (Center for History and New Media, 2010).

Numerous essential issues of national governance were resolved with the endorsement and approval of the 1788 United States Constitution, which substituted the comparatively feeble first effort at a national government structure that had been implemented back in the year 1781 under the "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union." In comparison to the loose structure presented in the confederation, the Constitution recognized a well-built, networked and flexible government structure (Greene, 2000). The United States Bill of Rights established in the year 1791, inclusive of the initial ten points that were part of the amendments, was the next strong addition to follow the Constitution's structure. It assured numerous "natural rights" that were prominent in mitigating the revolt, and endeavored to stabilize a powerful national government with comparatively extensive personal autonomy. The American move to moderate republicanism, and the steadily escalating democracy, instigated a disruption of conventional social hierarchy and lead to the moral standard that has shaped a foundation of the majority of the political principles that exist in the United States today. Some of the major events that led to the facilitation of the American Revolution will be discussed hence forth (Greene and Pole,2003).

The Stamp Act of 1975 is the first important event being discussed here. It imposed the direct tax on the colonies for the first time. This tax was issued by the British Prime Minister at the time -- George Grenville -- as well as the Parliament in place. Every executive certificate, newspaper, magazine, directory and booklet was only allowed to be used if it had the relevant stamp on it. Majority of the settlers in these colonies were still very loyal to the British rule and had no objections to the prior human rights and responsibilities that they were given as part of the British Empire. On the other hand, there were a total of 13 colonies that protested very strongly against this act. Some of the most significant leaders to lead this protest included Patrick Henry from Virginia and James Otis from Massachusetts (Klos, 2004). The formation of a group called "Sons of Liberty" became the threatening force against the printing and distribution of these stamps. This escalated to complete boycott off all British goods by the colonies and it was Benjamin Franklin's appeal to repeal the stamps on the basis of payments for wars that ended up being accepted by the British rule in the Declaratory Act of 1766. The downside in the Act, though, was that the British rule still retained all the authority to make laws for the colonies in every sphere and instance (Chisick, 2005).

The Boston tea party was another major event that established the colonists' patriotic awareness. It was a direct display of the disregard for the British goods as on December 16, 1773 Samuel Adams led numerous colonists to get on board the ships owned by the British East India Company and dumped overboard a large stock of tea, one that would amount to over £636,000 in 2008. This was an act that was more than just a boycott of the British goods, this was an act that send them a much more aggressive message of how their rules and their government was not welcome anymore and that the colonies were starting to speak up against the unnecessary and unjust regulations. This was perhaps the clearest warning sign for the British to understand that the rebellion would lead to a permanent shift and change in the region i.e. In the form of an independence (Shy, 2008).

The Battle of Lexington and Concord was the first real encounter between the American colonies and the British and the Boston Tea party incident most likely set up the stage for that. It happened on the 19th of April 1775, when the American revolutionary militants interfered in the British Army's surge into Concord to commandeer weapons and detain the revolutionaries in the area. This was the very first direct fight in the American War for Independence (Brinkley, 2010). This clash on the 19th led to all 13 protesting colonies sending their reinforcements to surround Boston. This siege was followed by the Battle of Bunker Hill that took place on the 17th of June 1775 and even though, the British won this battle, even though it caused a major dent in their arsenal and militancy with over a 1,000 British casualties compared to the 500 American casualties who did have a much larger armed force to begin with (Ferguson, 2000).