Time is marching on! The execution of Charles I changed the relationship between monarchy and parliament. The challenge to authority had lasting consequences. By the eighteenth century there were 13 colonies in America that were subject to British rule. In 1763 expansion west was prohibited which irritated the colonists. They also stated that they would not pay taxes unless they received parliamentary representation in London. Essentially they objected to decisions being made 3,000 miles away that impacted on their prosperity. In London, Parliament required taxation to conduct its European wars (1756-63 the Seven Years War). They also wanted to take advantage of the American markets – they had to buy British goods which had heavy levies imposed upon them. In addition many people had gone to America because they wanted political and religious freedom.

The European war crossed the Atlantic to the Americas – British soldiers went to the colonies, there was war with the French in Canada and in Britain the colonists were required to pay for the soldiers sent to ‘protect’ them.

IN Britain no one paid attention to the increasing unrest and instead imposed the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Navigation Acts. The first meant there was a tax on official government paper (seriously) and the later meant that the colonists couldn’t trade with any other country than Britain. Colonial opposition hardened against the British – there was a Continental Congress which create new constitutions, men such as Samuel Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine’s booklet entitled Common Sense which advocated independence collected political and moral arguments to encourage ordinary people to join in the fight. At the time the population was 2.5 million and Paine’s book was an immediate best seller. Paine connected his ideas with Protestantism – which was of course why the Puritan Pilgrim Father’s left England- and gave it an American political identity. The people who wanted to do what Britain said had no answering response or anything that stirred similar passion.

The response in 1775 was the Boston Tea Party which saw British tea imports dumped into the harbour. Note in the image that the protesters dressed up with feather headdresses when they carried out their destruction. The British closed the harbour until compensation was paid but in March 1766 Britain repealed the Stamp Act. However, it was too late, tension turned to conflict. In 1783, America became independent – the resistance to Crown authority split British politics – there was a fear that the loss of America would reflect on British power in the world. And radicals started to exert the same demands in Britain as America that there should be no taxation without representation.

Right – feeling brave? G.C.S.E students should be able to explain how the American Revolution and the Peasants Revolt are similar. And the American Revolution might also fit into the question Has Government been the main factor in improving people’s rights in Britain.

Essentially there is always a question asking students to compare to events to look for similarities and consider their impact on government and authority. By now most of you will have decided that there is some one doing GCSE this year! You are quite right but time is running out – so tomorrow is going to be something of a timeline to get us from revolutionary Americans to modern day – eek!

If you’d like to know more about the American Revolution but need somewhere to start the very short histories have a book on the subject which provides an excellent summary before delving further in.