Because of this anger, many groups developed to give voice to these protests such as the Sons of Liberty, the Daughters of Liberty, and the Vox Populi. These groups included many groups of people such as merchants, traders, and artisans. In one case, the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 was organized in which 27 delegates from nine colonies gathered to petition the British Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act. Parliament actually repealed the Stamp Act as a result alongside the Sugar Act in 1766. But then they passed the Declaratory Act which stated that Parliament had the right to pass whatever law they wanted in the colonies.

In 1767, the Townshend Acts were introduced which imposed taxes on imported items such as paper, tea, and glass in the colonies. This sparked massive protests and boycotts of British goods throughout the colonies, with people choosing to make their own goods instead of purchasing them from England. This anger also led to the Boston Massacre in 1770. A group of young men started harassing a group of British soldiers in Boston, which escalated into a violent confrontation that resulted in the death of four colonists. Despite the colonists' outrage, six of the soldiers were acquitted, leading many to view British rule as oppressive and unjust.

Three years later, Parliament passed the Tea Act which, as the name says, was a tax on tea and provided exclusive rights to the British East India Company to buy and ship tea to the colonies. In response, in December of 1773, the Boston Tea Party occurred. This was an event in which the Sons of Liberty dumped 45 tons of British tea into the Boston Harbor, which would be worth two million dollars in today’s currency. In response, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 which closed down the Boston Harbor until all the lost tea was paid for. Then they passed another Quartering Act. All of these combined became known as the Intolerable Acts and starting from here, many colonists began to arm themselves and gather into militias vowing to protect themselves from further tyranny.

The American Revolution

Although many colonial citizens still wanted to remain loyal to Britain in 174, this changed with the publication of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in 1776. In this pamphlet, Paine used straightforward language to introduce Enlightenment concepts to the average colonists and the population. He argued that the colonies, being in a land as large as North America, should not be ruled by a country as far away as England. Because his pamphlet made Enlightenment ideas accessible to common people who may not have understood the writings of Locke and Montesquieu, the paper became very popular and changed the minds of many colonists from wanting to remain loyal to seeking independence. And so in 1776, the Second Continental Congress was held and Richard Henry Lee from Virginia made a motion for independence, which was passed on July 2, 1776. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence to explain why the colonists wanted independence, filling it with Enlightenment ideas. On July 4, the declaration was made public, finally leading to the American Revolution.

However, at first, the colonists struggled greatly in this war. Britain, at the time, was the most powerful nation in the world. Additionally, only half of the colonists wanted independence while the other half, called loyalists, wanted to stay loyal to the British crown. George Washington, from the French and Indian War, was appointed as the general of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. In the first few months however, the army struggled because of poor organization, of ill-equipped and poorly trained soldiers, and because not all soldiers wanted to fight outside of their state. So how did the Continental Army eventually win the war? Through attrition. Washington understood that the only way to succeed was to prolong the war as much as possible, draining the British of their resources and exhausting them. Finally, in December 1776, Washington led his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas Eve and won their first battle against Hessian soldiers (hired Germans) in the Battle of Trenton.

Later, the most important victory came in September of 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga. Why was this the most important? This was the battle that convinced France to help the Americans. Before this, France didn’t join the war because they feared that Britain had a high chance of winning. However, after the victory at Saratoga, they joined to take the opportunity to weaken Britain. A year later, Spain and Holland joined the war against Britain for similar reasons. This forced Britain to change their priorities away from America. In the end, in 1781, America defeated the British with help from the French at the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia and forced Britain to surrender. In 1783, the Paris Peace Treaty was signed in Paris, recognizing America as an independent nation, ending the Revolutionary War.

Influence of the Revolution on American Society

The American Revolution affected American society in many ways. Because of all of the revolutionary talk about liberty and rights and protecting them, such as in the Declaration of Independence, people started discussing more about societal inequality after the revolution. This mostly involved the issue of slavery and the statement that “all men are created equal”. Because of this, the North abolished slavery and then abolished the importation of enslaved laborers in 1808. However, the South continued to practice slavery because of how important plantations were to their economy.

In addition, the revolutionary ideal of representation led to increased access to democracy in state and national governments. State legislatures gave universal suffrage to all white men, allowing them to vote regardless of their social status or their title of nobility. Additionally, titles of nobility or aristocracy were abolished in America. Keep in mind that white men were the only people allowed to vote in the United States at this point though.

For women, the revolution led to the emergence of the concept of the Republican Motherhood. This was the idea that because America was now a democratic country, it was the duty of women to raise well-educated children who would uphold American values, republicanism, and democracy. Women were expected to be mothers and educate their children about politics and democratic ideals, making them crucial members of society.

Influence of the Revolution on Global Society

Initially, no one expected the American colonies to succeed in their revolution. However, their victory inspired other revolutionary movements worldwide. The French Revolution took place in 1789, in which the commoners overthrew the French monarchy due to a lack of representation in the Estates-General, the representative body of France. They produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, a document heavily influenced by the American Declaration of Independence and Enlightenment ideals, such as the protection of human rights.

In 1791, the Haitian Revolution occurred after the French colony of Haiti heard about the revolution in France. Most of the population of this island at the time were slaves. Led by a Haitian named Toussaint L’Ouverture, the slaves rose up, killed their masters, destroyed many plantations, and won freedom from France. This was the first successful slave revolution and created the first black-led independent nation in the Western Hemisphere.

In the 19th century, Latin American countries began rebelling as well, especially against Spain and Portugal. In the end, countries such as Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Columbia, and Chile were all independent.