The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Essays

The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Essays The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Paper The American Revolution Was a Major Turning Point Paper Alex Griffen P6 9/28/11 The American Revolution was a major turning point in American history and greatly affected Americas future. The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, to become the United States of America. It fundamentally changed the American society politically, socially and economically by the establishments of the Declaration of Independence and conflicts over stronger states rights or stronger central government, paper currency, womens rights and slavery. The American Revolution brought enormous effects on the Americans society polticially by new means of government. One major approach to endure in this change was the Declaration of Independence. George Washington declared a change in the society because he thought it was time to become independent from the Britains crown. If men were angels, no government would be necessary. This statement supports the reason of wanting independence because being under the Britains crown was unfair and Americans did not want that type of government any more. This action also led to the American colonies wanting to self-govern their own society. After the Declaration of Independence the United States of America now had to decide what type of government would watch over this new country. After the Constitution, the writers of the Constitution debated over a strong central government versus strong states. The Federalist Party supported a strong central government and was made up of mostly Northern industrialists. The Southern plantation owners mostly supported the Democratic-Republicans who stood for states rights. The Democratic-Republicans thought that a state had the right to overrule a Federal law if they thought it did agree with the state constitution. The Northern states argued that the Federal government had declared slavery illegal and the Southern states argued that they were independent of the Federal government and could make their own laws. Paper currency in American society of the time period was not established as a reliable currency for the economy. At first, the paper currency was not worth any amount at all. This was not working out because money had no value which led to confusion of the value of money. Some Americans were crying out for paper currency. This quote supports the feeling that the Americans had on paper currency because they believed if they had a printed document that states to be owned and published as their own, it would lean on toward of being independent from Britain. The First Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791, and the Coinage Act of 1792, began the era of a national American currency. The Constitution denied individual states the right to coin and print money. Another problem was that the British successfully waged economic warfare by counterfeiting Continentals on a large scale. Continentals were worth 1/40th of their face value by 1778 and this cause the currency to be worthless. The currency was soon to be taken out of circulation. Being under the Britains crown was compared to slavery and women in American society did not have many rights. Women had not rights in any part of the community unless they were widows. Women in the colonies were compared as being a dog on a leash and demanded not to speak a word unless spoken too. The women were fed up because they felt as if they should not even appear in public since they had no rights. As Molly Wallace clearly explained, ught ever to appear in so public a manner,. This shows how women in the society felt useless and unimportant because they had no roles. Also women wanted the same rights as men. Women in the society was just fed up and wanted equality. Slavery played a big role before the American Revolution in North America for mostly farmers of the south. The Britains always thought of an easier way to con duct tasks. One task they wanted to make easier was labor, which pin pointed to slavery. The British thought if slaves were placed in their society they would be free of labor and money because slaves did not need much. The Americans thought different. They felt as if all men should be created equal and have the same rights. Which this fact supports the meaning of the Declaration of Independence. The Americans exclaimed that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude,. This supports the beliefs of the Americans not wanting slavery and the way they wanted to control their lands. The Revolution had contradictory consequences for slavery. In the South, slavery became more entrenched. In the North, every state freed slaves as a result of court decisions or the enactment of gradual emancipation schemes. Yet even in the North, there was strong resistance to emancipation and freeing of slaves was accompanied by the growth of a virulent form of racial prejudice. There were many factors that fundamentally changed the American society during the American Revolution. Having the Declaration of Independence, paper currency, limitation on womens rights and slavery were just a few of those factors that sculpted the American Society. Although America had found shape as an independent nation, many changes were soon to come after the American Revolution.