The son of an English revolutionary, William Penn was a central figure in the early days of America and laid the basis for religious freedom in the country. Born October 14, 1644, Penn came to the New World in his 50s after a lifetime of public service and a comfortable domestic life.
Penn’s public life was full of conflict from challenges to his authority, laws and loyalties to his insurmountable debts. He spent a few years in prison because of his allegiance to King James II and because of his economic troubles. Penn didn’t move permanently to Pennsylvania until after the English revolution in 1699.
The Revolutionary War that was to decisively sever the relationship between the American colonies and their British rulers was provoked by increasing British infringement on the rights of the colonists in the 1760s.
After having accrued substantial debt during the French and Indian War and in attempts to both garner more income from their American colonies and solidify control over their economies, the British took measures that would ultimately antagonize their American subjects. In 1764, the British government attempted to pass the Currency Law that would forbid the printing of legal tender paper money in the colonies. This threat to the economies of the industrial North and agricultural South united the colonies against the British in an act of civil disobedience and tensions were further heightened when England sought to impose the Stamp Act, taxing the colonies directly for the first time in order to assuage British debt. The issue of taxation without representation under British power surfaced as a pivotal point in the movement towards action against what would increasingly be felt as excessive rule by the British. Rebellion by the colonies would not flourish for another decade, but these first incidents of colonial upheaval in face of British mandates, set the tone for a period of mounting tensions.
The Revolutionary War that would mark a new era in global politics was not without internal struggle. Although an impetus for change was irreversible, about 20 to 30 percent of the colonists remained loyal to the British crown during the War, becoming known as Loyalists or ‘Tories’ or ‘King’s men.’ Furthermore, the colonies were still in conflict with some of their Native American neighbors and the later intercession of foreign European forces, such as the Hessians, French, and Spanish, made the lines of war and boundaries of conflict less clear.
| The Revolution began in 1775 after an altercation in Lexington, Massachusetts. The unraveling of British dominion in the American colonies had as much to do with reaction to authoritative acts by the British as it did with disparate ideologies evolving in the New World about republicanism and democracy in the face of traditional hierarchical and monarchical systems. It | |
| was also a case of local governance versus distant governance and the question of the effectiveness and legitimacy of one system over another. What was unique and formidable about the emerging Americans was the strength and determination of their leadership and the vision they had for a future government that would rest on principles of republicanism and enlightened ideas regarding the rights of citizens and would institute a system of laws chosen by the people themselves. | |
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