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Thirteen Colonies Spark Democratic Revolution

Between 1765 and 1789, the Thirteen Colonies rebelled against British rule, transforming a tax dispute into a fight for independence that would reshape the world. Inspired by Enlightenment thinkers who championed human rights and self-governance, American colonists didn't just break free—they created something entirely new: a nation founded on democratic principles that would inspire democracies everywhere.

What Started It All

The revolution didn't begin with a bang. It started with anger over taxes. Britain imposed new parliamentary taxes on the colonies without giving them representation in government—a violation that colonists famously protested with the rallying cry "no taxation without representation." This frustration snowballed into armed rebellion, ultimately severing the colonies from British control and establishing the United States as an independent nation.

Key Facts

Lasted 24 years (1765–1789)

Began as a protest against parliamentary taxation

Drew inspiration from Enlightenment ideals about individual rights and democracy

Resulted in the birth of the United States

Fundamentally influenced the development of modern democracies worldwide

Historical Context

The American colonists had grown increasingly frustrated with British imperial policies that taxed them without their consent. Enlightenment philosophers like John Locke had recently published ideas about natural rights and government by consent—concepts that gave colonists intellectual ammunition for their grievances. These radical ideas about what government should be were spreading throughout the colonies, creating a perfect storm of political discontent.

Historical Significance

The American Revolution wasn't just about independence—it was a blueprint for modern democracy. By establishing a nation built on Enlightenment principles of individual liberty and representative government, the American Revolution proved that people could overthrow tyranny and create something better. This success inspired democratic movements globally and fundamentally reshaped how the Western world thought about government, freedom, and the rights of ordinary people.

Learn More: American Revolution

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#OTD in 1765, the Stamp Act went into effect. This Act of Parliament imposed a direct tax on the colonies in America by requiring that all printed materials use paper produced in London and embossed with a revenue stamp. It was very unpopular among colonists, leading to protests and, despite being repealed less than five months later, ultimately the American Revolution. This political cartoon was created by Benjamin Franklin while he was in London in 1766. Originally issued on card stock and distributed to members of Parliament prior to debate on the repeal, it shows Britannia, fallen and resting against the globe of the world, her detached limbs inscribed with the names of the colonies strewn around her.

Benjamin Franklin, Magna Britannia, her colonies reduc'd. [London: ca. 1766]

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American Revolution

The American Revolution (1765-1789) was a period of political upheaval in the Thirteen Colonies of British North America. Initially a protest over parliamentary taxes, it blossomed into a rebellion and led, ultimately, to the birth of the United States. Rooted in the ideas of the Enlightenment, the Revolution played an important role in the emergence of modern Western democracies.

Origins: Parliament & the American Identity

In February 1763, the Seven Years' War – or the French and Indian War as the North American theater was called – came to an end. As part of the peace agreement, the vanquished Kingdom of France ceded its colony of New France (Canada) as well as all its colonial territory east of the Mississippi River to its victorious rival, Great Britain. While this left Britain as the dominant colonial power in North America, this newfound supremacy came at a cost, namely a massive war debt. To offset the debt, the British Parliament decided to levy new taxes on the Thirteen Colonies along the eastern seaboard of North America. Much of the war had been fought defending these colonies, after all, and Parliament decided that the colonists should help shoulder the empire's financial burden.

Prior to this decision, Parliament had adhered to an unofficial policy of 'salutary neglect' when dealing with the American colonies. This meant that, despite their royal governors, the colonies were largely left to manage their own affairs, with colonial legislatures overseeing governance and taxation. The influence of these legislatures often equaled if not eclipsed the power of the colony's royally appointed governor. Due to differing foundational and developmental circumstances, each colony maintained its own identity – the Puritan society of New England, the Dutch origins of New York, and the tobacco economy of Virginia, for example, all influenced the formation of their colonial identities. Despite viewing themselves as separate from one another, the colonies were loosely bound by their shared ties to Britain and had united in common defense multiple times during the last century of colonial wars.

At the same time, the American colonists considered themselves Britons, and proudly so. After the Glorious Revolution of 1689, and the constitutional reforms that went with it, the British were viewed as the freest people in the world; they were guaranteed a right to representative government (Parliament) as well as the right to self-taxation. The colonists believed that these 'rights of Englishmen' extended to them, as befitting of their English blood and allegiance to the English king; indeed, many of these rights were echoed in the colonies' own charters. The idea that Parliament could directly tax the colonies, therefore, went against this notion; since no Americans were represented in Parliament, Parliament had no constitutional authority to tax them (i.e. taxation without representation). Parliament, of course, disagreed, arguing that the Americans were virtually represented, as was the case with the thousands of Englishmen who owned no property and could not vote. It was this fundamental disagreement over the Americans' rights and liberties – expressed in the guise of taxation – that lay at the heart of the American Revolution and the birth of the United States.

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Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams (1722-1803) was a prominent Patriot leader in the American Revolution (1765-1789), and a Founding Father of the United States. He was one of the most vocal opponents of 'taxation without representation', was a founding member of the Sons of Liberty, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the fourth Governor of Massachusetts (served 1793-1797).

Adams was a lifelong resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who, prior to the Revolution, had failed at every career he tried. It was not until the Stamp Act crisis of 1765 that he found his political voice, writing anti-British essays in colonial newspapers; the "simplicity, purity, and harmony" of his prose quickly elevated him to one of the most influential Patriot leaders in the New England colonies (Schiff, 72). He worked tirelessly in the defense of colonial rights, keeping the revolutionary flame alive even when others would not. A radical and early supporter of independence, he helped unify the Thirteen Colonies by setting up a system of committees of correspondence in 1772, played a leading role in the leadup to the Boston Tea Party, and helped draft the Articles of Confederation and Massachusetts Constitution.

His propensity to resort to propaganda, as well as his association with the Sons of Liberty, has turned him into a controversial figure, with his critics accusing him of instigating mob violence to achieve his ends; he was a "Machiavelli of chaos", according to his rival Thomas Hutchinson (Schiff, 7). Other contemporaries praised his zeal and political shrewdness, with Thomas Jefferson calling him "truly the Man of the Revolution" (Boatner, 8). Whichever was the case, Adams was certainly steadfast in his principles, stemming from his Calvinist upbringing, which led him to eschew financial gain in favor of maintaining virtue. His shadow loomed large over the revolutionary era, and he played a major role in prodding his fellow Americans onto the path toward nationhood.

Early Life

Samuel Adams was born on 27 September 1722 in Boston, the largest city in the British colony of Massachusetts Bay. He was one of twelve children born to Samuel Adams Sr. and Mary Fifield Adams, of whom only three would live past infancy. The elder Samuel Adams wore many hats; he was a deacon at the Old South Congregational Church, he was a local politician who served in an informal, populist organization called the Boston Caucus, and he operated a malthouse that had been in the Adams family for generations, providing Boston with much of the malt it used to brew its beer. The Adamses were by no means rich, but owned a sizable chunk of property and a modest home on Boston's modern-day Purchase Street.

The younger Samuel Adams attended Boston Latin School before enrolling in Harvard College in 1736 at the age of 13. He graduated four years later after an unremarkable academic career; the most noteworthy thing about his undergraduate education was that he was once fined by the school for "drinking prohibited Liquors" (Middlekauff, 165). After graduation, he tried his hand at several careers but failed at every one. He was first apprenticed to a merchant but was sent home after showing little aptitude for the trade. He next borrowed £1,000 from his father to start his own business but gave up after he lost the money. He even toyed with the idea of becoming a minister but quickly gave up on that as well. As he bounced between prospects, he found steady work at the malthouse, eventually becoming a partner in the family business.

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Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party was an act of political protest carried out by American colonists on 16 December 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts. Disguised as Mohawk Native Americans, the colonists dumped 342 crates of tea into Boston Harbor to protest both a tax on tea and the monopoly of the British East India Company on the tea trade.

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Townshend Acts

The Townshend Acts were a series of acts passed by the Parliament of Great Britain between 1767 and 1768 to tax and regulate the Thirteen Colonies of North America. When the colonists considered the acts an abuse of power and protested them, Britain sent troops to enforce its mandates, thereby escalating the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789).

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Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry (1736-1799) was a Virginian lawyer and politician who played a vital role in the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789). Known for his brilliant oration, including the famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech, Henry served as the first and sixth governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and is considered a Founding Father of the United States.

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Gaspee Affair

The Gaspee Affair was an incident that occurred on 10 June 1772, when a group of American colonists from Rhode Island seized and burned the Royal Navy schooner HMS Gaspee after it had run aground. The affair contributed to the worsening of relations between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in the early stage of the American Revolution (c. 1765-1789).

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Samuel Adams

Early Life

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