2.2.4 The American Revolution
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2.2.4 The American Revolution
Classical liberalism also contributed to the creation of the United States of America, otherwise known as the American Revolution, which occurred between 1775-1783.
Before this, the 13 colonies along America's east coast had local governments, but under the the control of Great Britain. American settlers had to pay British taxes, as well as tariffs on imported goods.
They did not want to be ruled from a government from abroad and declared themselves independent from Great Britain with the "Declaration of Independence" that established a republican form of government in which authority to rule came from the citizens, and not a foreign monarch.
Bolstered by enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Paine and John Locke, they set out to establish political autonomy and economic freedom from British control. On the right hand side is Thomas Paine's original pamphlet entitled Common Sense, which was immensely popular in the United States when published in 1776.
Official Presidential Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, 1800, by Rembrandt Peale. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." -Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense (1776) and an American Revolutionist
"Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense (1776) and an American Revolutionist
"We the People" (a representation of the preamble of the Declaration of Independence) by Navyatha123, Wikimedia Commons.
Portrait of Thomas Paine for the purpose of engraving, 1792, by Laurent Dabos. Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain
A scan of the cover of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense. Scan provided by
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/history/common-sense-larger.html, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/history/common-sense-larger.html, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
Read and complete the questions VOICES: The American Revolution in your textbook, located on page 117.
"Tea, Taxes, and the American Revolution: Crash Course World History #28", Crashcourse, You-tube
What you might not know about the Declaration of Independence. Can you identify the classical liberal principles?
"What you might not know about the Declaration of Independence- Kenneth C. Davis" by TED Ed, You-tube