In the end these early attempts at independent diplomacy, a radical notion in and of itself retained foreign aide from France, despite its early misgivings. This in a time that diplomatic aide to a rebellion would be seen as grounds for a new war the French recognized the Americans as an entity in need of aide and provided 1 Million livres for munitions for the Americans, in secret of course. The Americans then moved forward in hopes to draw actually military assistance from Spain and France. (Middlekauff 398-400) The radical nature of these ideas lays not in the fact that the rebellion deemed themselves in need of foreign aide but in the fact that they believed their colonial/constitutional and temporary government had the right to ask for open foreign aide, as an independent entity, potentially capable of total independence from the rule of the Crown. (400) The rejection by America of the traditional sense of dependence, through patriarchal systems on a legal and social level coupled with other issues, may also have been said to predispose the nation to an early sense of citizenship for slaves and eventually women. Though fights for equality of human rights were not won easily and without resistance it was still America who led the way in the western world for universal suffrage among women and blacks. I suppose a reasonable argument could be made that the people in this newly formed country had generational memory of what it was like to be dependant and without voice, and therefore were inclined...
(Wood 178) In one passage in Wood's work, Radicalism of the American Revolution, there is an idea that represents one of the most radical of this newly formed nation, though not quite the later reality of universal suffrage still a radical notion in and of itself;
American Revolution (1775-1783): The Birth of a Free and Liberal American Society The birth of America as the 'New World' during the early 16th century, as a result of the Age of Discovery in Europe had brought about significant changes in human society, particularly in Western civilization. The discovery of America by Vasco de Gama, and eventually, Christopher Columbus, had prompted Britain to extend its territorial and political powers through colonization.
In a democratic society, however, the responsibility for making governmental decisions is transferred to the citizenry and it is incumbent that the citizenry be provided with at least a rudimentary education so that they are in position to make such decisions. Although the original U.S. Constitution did not initially grant women the right to vote and otherwise participate in the government, women were afforded, on a limited basis, to
American Revolution -- causes Revolution THE CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Between 1763 and 1776, the relationship between the American colonies and Great Britain steadily declined, due to differences in social, political, economic and religious thought. But the majority of differences centered around the imperial policies issued by the English monarchy and the subsequent initiation of these policies by the British Parliament, yet despite a general lessening of tensions by 1770, specific conflicts
American Revolution: A conservative, successful Revolution of the haves against those who had more We usually think of revolutions, particularly colonial revolutions, in radical terms. Perhaps as a result of Marxist influence upon cotemporary historical analysis, the word revolution summons up in historian's minds and imaginations the blazing red flags and blazing anger of the lower classes, rising in revolt. Yet this image is not only overly idealistic and unrealistic, but
Whether it was the Spanish that fought to conquer lands in the south, or the Dutch that engaged in stiff competition with the British, or the French that were ultimately defeated in 1763, the American soil was one clearly marked by violent clashes between foreign powers. This is why it was considered that the cry for independence from the British was also a cry for a peaceful and secure
In the period between the Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution, Jefferson noted that the eventual existence of a dictator in place of a king in Ancient Rome clearly indicated the existence of real failings within the Roman system: dictator is entirely antithetical to republicanism's "fundamental principle...that the state shall be governed as a commonwealth," that there be majority rule, and no prerogative, no "exercise of [any] powers undefined
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