The Americas 1750-1900 CE

Question 1

What philosophical school influenced the leaders of the American Revolution?

Answer 1

The leaders of the American Revolution, such as Washington, Jefferson, and Adams, were influenced by the writings of Enlightenment philosophers, such as John Locke.

The Declaration of Independence opens with language similar to that from Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. Meanwhile, the Constitution’s notion of balance of power derives from Montesquieu.

Question 2

What caused the outbreak of the American Revolution?

Answer 2

After 1763, the English government established taxes on the American colonists to pay the cost of the French and Indian War and to fund the British Army forces protecting the colonists.

Irritated that they were being taxed without their consent, the American colonists sent missives to the British government and, when these were refused, broke out into open rebellion.

Question 3

Why were the American forces able to achieve victory in the American Revolution?

Answer 3

There were many roots for American victory in the Revolution. The war was unpopular in England, and Britain never dispatched the full might of the British Army to America.

The British supply line also stretched across the Atlantic, while the Americans were fighting close to home.

Finally, a timely alliance between the Americans and the French tilted the balance against England, and peace was declared in 1783.