Question

"Had Britain given each colony the degree of self-government found in Connecticut and Rhode Island, the Revolution might never have occurred." Do you agree or disagree? Explain.

Answer 1

The American Revolution, which took place between 1765 and 1783, was a military, political and social movement that sought to bring independence to the 13 North American colonies under the control of Great Britain. One of the reasons why Americans decided to rise against the British crown, was the change in the policies with which the English Parliament and the Crown were controlling their colonies. Among these policies was the negation by the British to give most of the colonies further selg-governing capabilities, unlike the ones enjoyed by Rhode Island and Connecticut. But most of all, what angered the colonies was what they called "taxation without representation", which meant that the colonies still had to pay taxes to the British crown but without having people to represent them in Parliament, the English governing body. This angered colonialists who did not see why they needed to pay taxes when they were not represented.

Although by this point Americans were already being moved towards a desire for independence by the influence of European thinkers and philosophies, and at some point, I believe, independence would have been sought regardless of anything else, I do think that the decisions made by the British crown to deny Americans further rights within the Empire, especially when it came to self-government, encouraged feelings of anger and even patriotism that fueled the desire for an independent nation at all costs.