Revolutionary Massachusetts (1763-1775)

Boutkhil Guemide

Description

The bulk of the American Revolution started and occurred in the colony of Massachusetts which played an important role in the emergence of the American radical movement towards independence during the revolutionary era. To which level did the economic factor of taxation affect the people of Massachusetts, and how did it mobilize people to resist? How did the crisis outbreak in Lexington and Concord? Although focusing on the history of the American Revolution in Massachusetts, Boutkhil Guemide not only studies the specific case of the third oldest British colony in North America but also reveals the whole background and process of the American revolutionary movement that would emerge in a snowball effect after the Boston Massacre and the famous battles of April 19, 1775. Greatly documented, a gripping chapter of history.

Sujets

• Sciences économiques
• Amérique
• Amérique du Nord
• Massachusetts
• Colonialisme
• Révolution
• États-Unis
• Colonie
• French Revolution

Informations

• Publié par: publibook
• Date de parution: 17 juillet 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 16
• EAN13: 9782342026238
• Langue: Français
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Revolutionary Massachusetts
(1763-1775)
Boutkhil Guemide










Revolutionary Massachusetts
(1763-1775)

History of the American
Revolution in Massachusetts

















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To Sissa
To my parents
To Chellali, Miloud, Samir, and Salim


Introduction



When governments are established to manage the
state’s affairs and to serve their populations, they are
regarded as legitimate authorities that are limited by laws to
respect peoples’rights and privileges, and on the other
hand, the people should do likewise to respect and obey
these authorities.
In each society there exist dissatisfied groups. These
categories of people are represented in malcontents and
protesters who do not agree with their governments.
Historically, societies have undergone stages of political
turbulence and unrest when groups of malcontents began
their resistance to the established forms of governments
which were considered as corrupt ones. When such a
government abuses the machinery of the state, opposition
arises consequently among the people, the malcontents in
particular; and then both of governments and malcontents
would undergo conflicts since their ideas and interests do
not coexist.
Political resistance which is carried by these people
against government may develop and lead to revolts when
rebels use violence to attack their authority and destroy the
established social hierarchy. In the last resort, revolution
takes place, and this radical movement is directed towards
establishing a new form of government, and a new social
order in society (« Resistance », 1974. p. 540).
Revolution is defined as a radical change in politics and
society. Through these revolutionary movements, people
direct their efforts towards the succession of power in
order to establish a new authority using violent means, and
then the political, social, and economic changes occur in
9 society. Thus, a revolutionary movement is different from
Conservatism and Reformism (Morin, 1966, p. 126).
So, the most important discourse of revolutionary
movements is to throw off the chains and authoritarianism,
establish new governments, and achieve political,
economic, and social reforms. These former factors are
regarded as the motives which mobilize people to revolt
and awaken revolutions in society.
Revolutions took place almost everywhere, and the
American history includes one chapter of the
revolutionary period. The United States’ history constitutes the
history of, fundamentally, a number of colonies which
succeeded to form the United States’ Republic. These
colonies were of British origins, since the task of building
colonial settlements in North America was held by the
British themselves, and once established, they formed part
of the British Empire in the New World.
If we look back at the United States’ history, we are
required to deal with the Pre-Independence era in which an
important historical event took place in the eighteenth
century; it was the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783).
It tells the story of the Americans and the means they used
to achieve their independence.
Although the Amar took place
in the period from (1775-1783), it had its roots before
1775. It emerged because by 1763 the English speaking
communities in the American Continent realized to some
extent that their interests and goals were distinct from
those of the ruling class in the mother-country («
Independence », 1998, p. 51).

After the North American territory had been settled, the
American colonists were used to do things in their own
way. Thus, they succeeded to manage their colonial affairs
without British interference. However, the stage of revolt
was set in motion when the British Government decided to
10 rule the American colonies after the Seven Years’ War
(1754-1763) (Denise and Kaspi, 1969, p. 36).
When the Americans started their revolt, their
resistance was symbolized by certain events which had taken
place during the revolutionary era such as The Boston
Massacre, The Boston Tea Party, and The Lexington –
Concord revolutionary outbreak. All these events hold the
common belief that the bulk of the American Revolution
started and occurred in the colony of Massachusetts which
played an important role which caused the emergence of
the American radical movement towards independence
during the revolutionary era.
The book focuses on the history of the American
Revolution in Massachusetts (1763-1775). The first section
deals with the origins of the American Revolution which
was sparkled in Massachusetts. It examines the reasons
and the different predominant factors of the revolution,
whether economic based particularly on the British
imperial policy of 1763 which included taxation and some
other economic measures, or political which was based
primarily on colonial awareness of political affairs.
The second section describes the emergence of the
revolution in Massachusetts. It discusses to which level
the economic factor of taxation had affected the people of
Massachusetts, and how it mobilized people to resist. It
deals also with the different means taken by the people of
Massachusetts to react against the British measures.
Lastly, the third section talks about the revolutionary
outbreak in Lexington and Concord. It analyses the armed
resistance between the British Redcoats and the
Massachusetts’ Colonial Militia in the battles of Lexington
Common Green and Concord North Bridge. It discusses
the reasons of these military engagements, and how these
troops got involved in this armed conflict. Moreover, it
talks examines the aftermath of these two battles, and what
the colonists achieved from this important day.
11


I.
Historical Background
of the American Revolution



During the fifteenth century, Europe’s knowledge of
the world grew with an incredible rapidity, and as a
consequence, the Europeans started their expansion process
through different voyages of discoveries and explorations
which resulted in founding different colonies and
settlements in Africa, Asia, and the New World in particular.
Following the Portuguese who had started their
overseas explorations to the New World, other European
nations joined in the process and started colonial activities
America. After Pedro Alavas Carbal had arrived at the
coast of Brazil en route to India, Christopher Columbus’
discovery of the New World in 1492 opened a new era in
the European expansion and colonization of America. The
Spanish benefited much from this discovery; they
conquered the Caribbean Islands, and then Latin America.
After France, England was the next country to share in
colonizing America. However, the English colonial
process was late, and many factors contributed to England’s
tardiness. England was not as powerful as other European
nations in the sixteenth century. It was divided in the
1500’s by a great religious turmoil. The English succeeded
afterwards to found thirteen colonies in North America
during the seventeenth century and the eighteenth century.
Since these colonies constituted part of the British
Empire in North America, their relations with the
mothercountry were carried in the good manners before England
decided to introduce an imperial policy for the government
13 of theses colonies after its struggle with France ended.
Accordingly, colonial relations between England and its
American colonies were worsened and destroyed, and this
factor led to the American Revolution. It is very impo