American Revolution: What Were They Really Fighting for?
American Revolution: What Were they Really Fighting For?
I: Introduction
A superficial understanding of the Revolutionary War may lead to believe that it was struggle in which the purpose of the colonists was to rid themselves of the cruelty and tyranny associated with the British colonial regime. This is simply not true, or at the very least, it is not the whole truth. For the most part, the inhabitants of the colonies took pride in calling themselves Englishmen, and under the so-called tyrannical regime, enjoyed rights and privileges to a degree that would be considered exceptional in other parts of the 18th century world.
The problem that some colonists had with British monarchial rule is that it obligated its subjects to live in a society that adhered to British political understandings, one of them being the need for leaders to demonstrate classical virtue. Originating in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, classical virtue had justified the class system in Europe for centuries. However, as time passed, it became apparent that the ideologies of the Old World were not compatible with the conditions of the New World. One principle that some members of colonial society chafed under was the apparent contradiction between self-interest and republicanism. The proponents of classical virtue put forth the belief that only an individual who was able to rise above all interests could ascend to the moral level at which one could make decisions for the good of the community. Decisions made by a man with interests, especially in the market, would be marred by his own proclivities overriding those of the population whom he was entrusted to represent.
Some prominent individuals within the colonies however, particularly members of the merchant class, did not adhere to this definition of virtue. In the years that preceded the Revolution, these men began to flock to the new ideology of liberalism, which created a new understanding of virtue. Unlike its classical
I: Introduction
A superficial understanding of the Revolutionary War may lead to believe that it was struggle in which the purpose of the colonists was to rid themselves of the cruelty and tyranny associated with the British colonial regime. This is simply not true, or at the very least, it is not the whole truth. For the most part, the inhabitants of the colonies took pride in calling themselves Englishmen, and under the so-called tyrannical regime, enjoyed rights and privileges to a degree that would be considered exceptional in other parts of the 18th century world.
The problem that some colonists had with British monarchial rule is that it obligated its subjects to live in a society that adhered to British political understandings, one of them being the need for leaders to demonstrate classical virtue. Originating in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, classical virtue had justified the class system in Europe for centuries. However, as time passed, it became apparent that the ideologies of the Old World were not compatible with the conditions of the New World. One principle that some members of colonial society chafed under was the apparent contradiction between self-interest and republicanism. The proponents of classical virtue put forth the belief that only an individual who was able to rise above all interests could ascend to the moral level at which one could make decisions for the good of the community. Decisions made by a man with interests, especially in the market, would be marred by his own proclivities overriding those of the population whom he was entrusted to represent.
Some prominent individuals within the colonies however, particularly members of the merchant class, did not adhere to this definition of virtue. In the years that preceded the Revolution, these men began to flock to the new ideology of liberalism, which created a new understanding of virtue. Unlike its classical