In the Revolutionary war didn't the American Patriots know it was because of Britain they were in America?

Question

and had a life in America so why rebel against that, so what if they were being taxed, ppl in Britain were also being taxed, didnt they know they are there cuz of the British, cuz of British giving them land and a life in America.

Didnt know the Patriots realise they were living in the land what Britain made, controlled, it was because of the Britsh they managed to own land so why rebel against that, if it wasnt for the British colonizing America the Patriots wudnt be there in the first place, i always thought living in someone's land you have a right to pay something back, because they control the land, they run the country.

Answer 1

I am British.

The Patriots actually thought of themselves as good English men in many ways. Many 'British' soldiers during the war of independence were American born.

What they were essentially fighting for was equal status to Britons born and living in the British Isles. For example, to be able to elect MPs to Westminster. The British blew this and refused to treat the people of the colonies on equal terms. Many attempts were made by people like Benjamin Franklin to gain equality - but to no avail. A declaration of independence and war followed.

Answer 2

'taxation without representation is tyranny'- James Otis

The Patriots felt the taxes were unfair because the colonies weren't represented in the British Parliament; they had no voice in what taxes and laws were enforced.
Because they'd faced the challenges of colonizing a new world, the patriots valued independence and self sufficiency. These value conflicted with the imperialistic British government. Colonial legislatures dealt with all the day-to-day problems, but had no say in the rules imposed by Britain.
The patriots were looking for a society in which the people had a voice and individual rights were protected, and the British government was unwilling to provide this. The founding fathers were influenced by liberal Enlightenment writers like John Locke, who discussed ideas of self determination and the right to rebel against tyrannical governments.
These influences are seen in the Declaration of Independence, which is basically a long list of justifications for rebelling. They were fighting for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Individual rights, that hadn't been guranteed under British rule, were later outlined in the Bill of Rights, and representative government was established through a system of checks and balances in the Constitution.

Of course, there are two sides to every story, and you point out the mindset that the British had- it's the reason they fought the rebellion! They felt they were entitled to their colonies. But the major problems of colonization and imperialism can be seen throughout the world (including American history, unfortunately). The founding fathers presented a case for a legitimate rebellion and a fight for independence and representation.

Answer 3

A lot of them came from Britian and of course they were aware of that.

1. The British didn't "make' the land. That was already here. The indians were living on it.

2. The colonists came here to get away from Britain, either to make money or worship their region and set up a religious community.

3. The colonists did not have the same rights as the people back in Britain. In the early years of the colonies they had more freedom, but before the revolution Britain was imposing too much control on them. They had no say in how the money the sent to England was being spent.

4. So they wanted to rule themselves and be able to make more money doing what they thought was best for the people in America not Britain.

5. Cuz the life they had under control of the British was bad enough to fight to get rid of them.

BUT A lot of the people in America (almost half of them) felt the way you do, and wanted to keep being ruled by Britain. They were called Loyalist or Tories. A lot of them fought for the British. (Everybody else seems to have ignored tis fact)

I hope this helps. (?)

Answer 4

Actually the British did not colonize much of the area originally; the Dutch settled New York, Pennsylvania and some other areas-the British came later. Much of the territory had been scouted and claimed by other countries including Span and France; which lost there claims through treaties. The problem was not the taxes as much as that the colonist had no representation or say so in the Parliament about those taxes. The number of non-British people from the various German principalities, Dutch, French, Scot, Welsh and Irish who came here and moved out of the settled/claimed areas were a majority or very close too it of the population and many of them had little love for the British crown so adding the lack of representation it made for a revolt. We won't even discuss the love the people forced into indentured servitude or go to debtors prison or other involuntary immigrants from England. People cam here because of England is true-because they wanted to get away from it and have a better future.

Answer 5

Well the British did finance the trips in search of new land and as far as far back as Christopher Columbus whom had a hunch about some maps the vikings had drawn compared to others which didnt quite seem to add up (flat vs round world) Anyway, even so, there were many issues in America which simply could not wait for months until the British brought word back overseas. The idea of being governed by a monarchy so far away did not make sense and if you think about it today..it still would not make sense for the British to own...say..Australia where the only communication is a messenger on a boat. America is here because we rebelled against the king, thats really all there is to it.

Answer 6

The problem was that the american patriots were paying taxes to Britain, but were not allowed to be represented in Parliament. Hence their war cry. "No Taxation Without Representation ". You must also relise that the land they were given could only be kept if they grew a crop within the first year. They were not allowed to make any laws or have their own Police force plus a lot of other things. So how would you feel living under Britain then ?

Answer 7

Extremely good answers from my fellow colleagues which all contributed to the eventual downfall of the British Army. However, it must be remembered (proven historical fact) that the British High Command had only loathing for the patriots and their supporters and in consequence would not in any way accept their ability to give battle, being no more than an undisciplined rabble, that would undeniably run whenever challenged. An undeniable fact of the period! The Brit High Command invariably gave no credence whatsoever to any force that stood to oppose them. Least of all a force predominately made up of settlers, backwoodsmen and miscellaneous others. Not even remotely contemplating that many, many patriots etc were immigrants from mainland europe who had suffered terribly under royalty and its aristocracy for generation after generation. America was a far distant land an offered hope for the future as opposed to the never ending oppression of the ruling european classes. Thus to ensure America would never become a satellite european state in any subversive form whatsoever, its patriots in may forms and guises rallied together and drove the Brits out

Answer 8

Good point.
In fact it is interesting that the 'Americans' never minded confiscating what they took during the war of independence.
Workers were suddenly freed and the houses and the properties which belonged to people in Britain were taken.
But the most interesting point of American culture is that they saw it as their right to continue taking and so they took Native Americans homelands, Mexican territories including Texas and California and even usurped Chinese immigrants of their wealth and properties in San Francisco during the great gold rush.
Interestingly they forced Spain out of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in the 1898-1901 Spanish-American war.
Between the world wars they forced UK and Japan to cut their shipping fleets sizes and the strong ties between the two imperial families. This resulted in the British government siding with the USA against Japan before pearl harbour and the country's invasion of China.
But with Hollywood and their TV shows helping to create a pro-USA stance throughout western Europe in the last 70 years, these allies have helped them face down any threat from Japan, then the USSR and now North Korea and Iran, but soon to include China.

Answer 9

Being of British decent had nothing to do with it.I t was being under British rule British taxes along with the right to be a independent government and free worship.Not to mention being a few thousand miles away from the mother land gave extra incentive to be in control of the new life.Boston tea party was the final push to say leave us alone.All the tax money was being sent back to George not back to the community

Answer 10

The American people of the then thirteen British colonies which made up Colonial America, were each governed separately and not as one single nation by the British.

One hundred thousand American Colonists moved with the British by sea on-board Royal Navy ships to Canada at the end of the so-called Revolutionary War. A war which the British described then as a Civil war because it was a war between kith and kin and not a war fighting foreign invaders. The British were not foreign and were related in blood to most of the Colonists.

Sadly the American people have had their Revolution stolen from them by the big banking corporations. It has been done by stealth starting from the first day of so-called Liberty.

In 1776 a citizen of the British Colonial town of Boston would have paid on average about one English pound per year in tax. Meanwhile his counterpart living here in London would have been paying about twenty six English pounds per year in tax.

After the Revolution [so-called] Americans were heavily taxed by their new government, which incidentally they had not elected but which had been elected for them by their new 'aristocracy' which, including such as the traitor Geo.Washington Esq.

Before the Revolution [so-called] land in the British Colonies of North America belonged to rich land owners such as William Penn, the Prime minister of England. The Penn family owned the state of Pennsylvania and their ownership of that land ensured the rights of Native Americans as well as Colonist and English Citizens.

Following the Revolution [so-called] many good folk were stripped of their rights, their citizenship and their land stolen. The American Colonists then began to turn their newly stolen land into the world's biggest slave colony which lasted right until the 1860s.

Even the fair English town of New York had an army of slaves which the British had never allowed to be kept there but which was the case following the Revolution [so-called].

His Majesty, our beloved King George III of fond memory, thought that slavery was an abomination which should be abolished and owned no slaves.

Geo.Washington Esq., who espoused freedom, liberty and democracy, had twelve poor black slaves in his house. He was a slave owner and a person unfit to be seen in the eyes of God.

GOD SAVE THE KING - LONG LIVE THE KING.