The Revolutionary Period

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The Revolutionary Period was the political, social, and economic foundations for this nation. The Revolutionary era was the catalyst for the birth of dissent ideologies, radical literature, protests and boycotts (Dennis Lecture Notes). The Seven Years War had a negative economic domino effect on the colonies. Debt from the war on American soil consisted of various increases on tariffs and taxes in order to pay the debt left by The Seven Years war (Dennis Lecture notes). Tensions brewed between the colonies and the British crown due to unpopular taxes such as the tea, sugar and stamp act (Dennis Lecture notes). The Stamp Act crisis inaugurated not only a struggle for colonial liberty in relation to Great Britain, but also a multisided battle …show more content…
An example of women boycott was the creation of home made butter (Dennis Lecture Notes). In addition, women meticulously took on the roles of spies to get information from the British soldiers through “pillow talk”. Some women such as Deborah Samson, Hannah Snell hid their genders and fought in the war (Dennis Lecture Notes). Many factors led to the to the birth of the American Revolution such as British attempts to reign in colonies, taxation without representation and the Glorious revolution (Dennis Lecture notes). African Americans played a crucial role during the American Revolution. Five thousand African Americans enlisted in the Continental Army and fought in the battles of Lexington & Concord as well as the battle in Bunker Hill. Although president George Washington forbade the recruitment of blacks in 1775 he changed his mind after Lord Dunmore’s 1775 proclamation, which offered freedom to slaves who joined the British Cause (Foner,GML,200).Some 5,000blacks enlisted in state militias and the Continental army and navy (Fonr,GML,200). By seeking to impose uniformity on the colonies rather than dealing with them individually as in the past, Parliament had inadvertently united America …show more content…
Slave rebellions quickly escalated from silent sabotage to brutal revolts. As slavery increased, so did slave resistance, and through resistance, security against slaves increased. Slave rebellions quickly escalated from silent sabotage to brutal revolts. The most important slave rebellion in the 19th century was organized by Nat Turner, a slave preacher and religious leader in Southampton country, Virginia. Turner believed that God selected him to lead a black uprising (Foner,GML, 428). On August 22 Turner along with a handful of followers marched from farm to farm assaulting white inhabitants (Foner,GML, 428). By the time the militia shut down the bloody revolt, approximately 80 slaves were part of Turner’s band, and about 60 whites had been killed, mostly women and children (Foner,GML, 428). While waiting to be executed Turner revealed in an interview that “the spirits that spoke to the prophets in former days spoke [to him]. [Turner] experienced a total of 3 religious revelations, confirming the impression that [he] was ordained for some great purpose in the hands of the Almighty” (Foner,VOF222). Turner along with a few of his men were captured and executed. Turner’s rebellion hit like an earthquake and was followed by various aftershocks. Fear induced whites and caused tight control on slaves. Foner