American Revolution

The American Revolution changed the society of America by a plethera of different means. The rights of citizens, the rights of women, the question of slavery, and the possibility of democracy were all discussed during this time of 1775 to 1800. Before this time period began, not a whole lot of change for these ideas had occurred or was favored at all. The American Revolution caused a wide variety of people who desired such freedoms to take action, later on drastically changing American politics, economics, and social ways of life.

One area that was greatly impacted by the American Revolution was politics. Politics were changed by the American Revolution, which put them into action. Perhaps the biggest change caused by the American Revolution was the switch from English rule to American rule. The ideas of freedom for all were introduced when monarchial power controlled a lot of land in the world, who were still not listening to the lower social classes. The developing government in the colonies was originally established to please all of these social classes. Nevertheless, it remained a struggle to set up this government because of the people who opposed this idea. The government strived for a republic, but it also wanted to eliminate the Tories who had opposed them earlier on their ways of setting up the government (Document B). The government needed to control its people in order to make a more correct judgment of the principles and structure of government (Document I).

Economics were another key factor that were affected by the American Revolution. The practice of agriculture was a very important business and industry during the times both leading up to and following the American Revolution. The colonists were widely in favor of hard work and they gained a profit from growing many of these agricultural products. (Document F). Later, the agricultural industry was not quite as strong as it had been in previous years; so, many farmers lost the majority of their incomes as well as became poor debtors. Because of this, many of these farmers were taken to court. As a further result of this injustice, many of the farmers tried to revolt in the famed revolution Shay's Rebellion, in an attempt to shut down the court system (Document G). This revolution conducted by the lower class tested the new American government. This situation proved that the economy was suffering greatly because of the large numbers of debtors and inflation. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, in an attempt to solve these problems, set up a system of currency and checks and balances, which had a positive effect on the economy that began to solve some of these problems. The practice of slavery was more than common during the time of the American Revolution, and it was a primary economic engine especially in the southern colonies. The morals of slavery were pondered by many revolutionaries, but they were unable to change much during this time (Document H).