Why America Sought Independence

Book Review: Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia Author’s Thesis Holton’s (1999) book Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves, and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia makes the case that the Founding Fathers of the U.S.A. were not really motivated by the laundry list of grievances identified in the Declaration of Independence.

Rather, their individual experiences in the country taught them that, on a practical level, it would be easier for them to obtain what they wanted by operating independently of the England than through England.

The main argument that Holton (1999) makes is this—the tyranny of the Crown was not the real issue or driver of the push for independence; the real drivers were contentions over land, in-fighting among the colonists, a dislike of paying taxes, and the desire of the separate colonies to arrange affairs with foreign countries on their own.

Development of the Thesis Holton (1999) develops the thesis by showing the practical troubles that the early colonists faced and how it simply made more sense for them to be in charge of their own individual affairs than have to rely on England for permission. For example, when it came to claiming land themselves, the colonists had to contend with the Native Americans. The Cherokee were worried that they would lose their hunting ground to the colonists, so they went ahead and made a deal with the British authorities.

Their treaty put a stop to the land grab by the colonists—or at least that is what they hoped it would do. Found Father Thomas Jefferson had other plans. The Virginia House of Burgesses squashed the treaty and sought to take land in Kentucky and in the Ohio River Valley. This aggravated the Native Americans still more and they felt compelled to fight. The colonists, instead of relying on England for protection, wanted to have their own means of warding off the Native Americans.

For them, it simply made more sense to be free and clear of the British and be in charge of their own affairs. By describing the practical issues on an issue by issue basis, Holton (1999) justifies his claim. He shows step by step how one problem after another arose. He uses many examples to support his narrative: one being the debt problem that many colonists had.

They came to the country on loans given by the British—but when their ventures failed, many of them could not pay their debts. The Virginia House of Burgesses sought to alleviate the situation of the colonists by allowing the colonists to settle under bankruptcy. This upset the English, who wanted their debts paid—not wiped away by the Virginia authorities. Thus, Holton (1999) shows that getting free of the British altogether made sense: throw off the Crown and they could throw off their debts.

Holton shows that the same story went for taxes, and the same idea went with Virginians desiring the Crown to stay out of their slave-related affairs, which the House essentially wanted to stop as it felt importing more slaves would only cause trouble. The Crown wanted the slave trade to continue. Even just the basic problem of issuing money became a reason to break: Virginia had issued its own paper currency, which angered the British who refused to recognize it as legitimate.

Thus, from a purely practical standpoint, the colonists felt they had to part ways with the British, who were simply gumming up their works. Holton (1999) also supports his argument by showing how the Crown ruled over trade. Colonists wanted to cut out the middle man—which was Britain—and act independently in terms of international trade. On top of all that, the colonists were becoming more and more rebellious in their attitudes, and small fights were breaking out in the colonies—particularly in Massachusetts.

Holton (1999) shows that the relationship was essentially doomed from the start. My Critique Holton (1999) does an exceptional job of peeling away the myths about the American Revolution. Instead of viewing the Founding Fathers as heroes, whose principles and love for freedom were their guiding light, he shows that much of the desire for independence was simply founded in practical day-to-day issues that the colonists were having with the British.

The book holds together very well, as Holton (1999) describes these issues in detail and provides the reader with a vivid sense of what life was like for all involved in the early colonial days. The best part of the book is how Holton (1999) is able to make the reality of the situation come to life. When the colonists, for instance, tried to get around the British in terms of trading, foreign countries were fearful of engaging in trade with the.