The American Revolution: A Radical Revolution

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The American Revolution was primarily a conservative revolution, because the rebels weren’t trying to create something that was new, unheard of, or radically different. The rebels were simply trying to restore things back to the way they had been before the Seven Years War. Even some British understood the logic behind the revolution and were not keen on putting forth money, time and effort in order to stop it. The British had been radically changing their policies towards Americans after the Seven Years War, so the Americans were conservative in attempting to restore their ideas of representation and government. But, the rebels were also radical in the sense that they were overthrowing the government and declaring themselves an independent …show more content…
They had many differences, but they shared many large similarities; most colonists were quite religious, the colonies had economically stable middle classes, and all the colonists are British people living in the New World. Although they had their differences, their similarities are what allowed them to band together to really oppose the King and Parliament. If they were completely different from one another there would be nothing connecting them, which would never allow for a cohesive revolution. Their differences cannot be ignored, though, which leads to the conclusion that if colonists could join each other to rid themselves of an old, corrupted government, then the Revolution can almost be justified. This, in a way, makes the revolution seem radical, because all these people from different backgrounds were coming together to change the system they were being oppressed …show more content…
The colonists were attempting go back to the way they were before. No internal taxes, no derelict corruption, no oppressive military presence. Some of the reasons for the revolution were radical, and a revolution in and of itself is radical. Although the revolution was slightly radical, it was prevailingly conservative. The American Revolution was so prolific because it was a conservative revolution, and the ideas fostering the revolution were something everyone could grasp and give support

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