The Age Of Reason In The 1700's

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Throughout history, people have established governments to maintain organized communities within themselves. These governments, created to maintain order and structure, can be unbalanced and sometimes even corrupt; it is then when it is justifiable for the people who are affected by such a government to revolt in order to defend their rights. During the Age of Reason in the 1700’s, many American colonists began to realize that the European government they were under was unjust. Because of this, colonists began celebrate reason, logic, and justice- and this would turn into a movement called the Age of Reason. The Age of Reason helped the colonists realize that it was their responsibility to overthrow the corrupt British government and that it …show more content…
These Acts served as a punishment to the colonies in result of the Boston Tea Party. This famous ‘party’ was on December 16, 1773, when a group of Patriot colonists destroyed several amounts of tea in Boston, Massachusetts. The colonists partook in this action because Parliament had passed the “Tea Act” which allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to the colonies, saving the company from bankruptcy. Although the tea remained less expensive, there was an added tax on which the colonists were not allowed to give their consent. Again, Parliament taxed the colonists without their representation and further worsened the American-British relations. News of the Boston Tea Party reached England in January 1774, and Parliament responded with a series of acts that were intended to punish Boston for this destruction of private property. These Acts included the following; The Boston Port Act, The Massachusetts Government Act, The Administration of Justice Act, and The Quartering Act. These acts were also intended to restore British authority in Massachusetts, and otherwise reform colonial government in America. Many Colonists saw these acts as a violation of their constitutional and natural rights and viewed the acts as a threat to the liberties of all of British America, not just …show more content…
They began this process by writing The Declaration of Independence. In this historical text, the authors explain that “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation” establishing that if the British had any respect for them, they would accept the colonies’ request to separate themselves. In addition to that, the text further states that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”, establishing that it is the responsibility of the people to overthrow a government when it has become corrupt. This document is a great piece of evidence to prove how determined the colonists were to create their own government and escape the unjust ways of the

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