The People That Pushed Us Into The Revolutionary War

When many people think of the Revolutionary War, they think that England was oppressing America horribly and that America needed to gain their freedom. Although some people thought that America should declare independent, they only represented one third of the population. The other two-third of the American population was either a loyalist to the mother country or they were neutral. In order for America to declare its independence it had to push its neutral population to be patriots. Two people did certain actions that pushed America into war and they were Thomas Paine’s essays entitled Common Sense and a statement made by Richard Henry Lee.

Thomas Paine had just moved to the colonies from Britain two years before the American Revolution. The essays he wrote first pointed out that England was not going to try to mend her relationship with the colonies. She was going to keep taxing the colonies and she was going to have total control over America. Basically Paine was saying if you think these taxes are bad, well then hold on, they are going to keep coming. Paine also said the colonists needed to stop blaming Parliament and to blame King George the third. This was a false statement because Parliament had the control and not the crown. Even though this claim was false, it pushed America towards war because the colonists were able to put their anger with a face and not with a group of people. Thirdly, Paine complimented the colonists by saying it was a great nation and it did not need anyone to help it succeed. This propaganda had a direct impact on the war because it pushed people to become patriots.

Richard Henry Lee was actually an ancestor of Robert E. Lee, who would eventually be crucial in the Civil War. Richard Lee made a statement at the Second Continental Congress that paralleled Paine’s third point in Common Sense. He said that “these united colonies are of right ought to be free and independent states.” Samuel Adams reaffirmed his liking of that statement and soon other delegates at the Continental Congress reaffirmed it too. The picture to the left is of Richard Henry Lee and other delegates at the Second Continental Congress.

Sometimes I wonder how life would be today if the American Revolution had not happened and if these events had not occurred that pushed America to declare independence. At the time war seemed not necessary to some people, hence the loyalists, but I am glad that the Founding Fathers pursued war after these forms of propaganda convinced the rest of the colonies to jump on the bandwagon.  If they would have just dealt with the issues that England was displacing on us (taxing us because they were in debt) would we still be oppressed by England today? Would a nation that is separated from us by water be able to govern us and know our needs when they aren't even on our continent?