Now, the American Revolution didn't just happen because the colonists were having feelings about Big Mama Britain's increasingly oppressive policies. No, there was a whole set of revolutionary ideas swirling around their thinkythinky parts that taken together became a significant cause for the independence movement. And I reckon we ought to talk about it.
So, if you're ready to get them brain cows milked, let's get to it. Okay. Now, right at the beginning, I need to remind you that even as late as 1775, independence from Great Britain was not the main desire of the American colonist.
Mainly they wanted to remain British subjects, but they wanted their imperial parent to stop dumping all over their rights as British subjects. However, in the short span of time between the end of the French and Indian War and the beginning of the American Revolution, certain ideas began to change some of the colonist views on the relationship between the government and the people. And once these ideas became firmly planted in the colonial imagination, independence started to seem like the only way forward.
Oh, and by the way, if you want note guys to follow along with this video and all my videos, check that link in the description. Anyway, it's high time we looked at these revolutionary ideas square in the face. And we're going to break into three categories.
First, the colonists embraced a big surprise, enlightenment ideas. But before we explore some of those ideas individually, you have to understand the context. You see, the Enlightenment was first of all a European movement.
And lots of Europeans embraced these ideas as well. But even so, no European state experienced revolution on account of these ideas with the possible exception of the English Civil War. But the colonies in North America were different.
You see, for the most part, those who migrated to the North American colonies were able to build a new society from scratch. And that way, without the heavy weight of centuries of social tradition like they had in Europe, the new world was kind of an experimental laboratory for new ways of thinking and living. Therefore, it is not surprising that new ideas about government and the nature of human beings developed by enlightenment thinkers found eager adopters in this part of the world.
And that those ideas created fertile soil for a political revolution. Anyway, let's sit a spell with a few of the most potent enlightenment ideas that animated the American Revolution. First was the elevation of the individual.
In other words, enlightenment thinkers emphasized that the most basic element of society was the individual human, not collective groups. Second was the idea of natural rights. Thinkers like John Lockach argue that every individual human was born with certain rights that came from God.
Rights like life, liberty, and property. That my dear pupil is an explosive idea because the implication is that if human rights come from God then they do not in fact come from a monarch. And that further means that if natural rights are granted by the dang almighty then monarchs who are not the almighty have no business infringing on those rights.
And then related to that is the third enlightenment idea you need to know, namely the social contract. And this is very timely at this point in the video because I'm sure you're wondering, >> but Heimler, if rights do come from God and a monarch does infringe upon them, then what? >> Well, that's where the social contract comes in, baby.
So thinkers like Lockach and Jean Jacqu Rouso developed the idea that human societies made up of individuals endowed with natural rights must construct governments of their own will and that the main purpose of that government is to protect their natural rights. In other words, the power to govern is actually in the hands of the people and they agree to give up certain freedoms in exchange for government protection of their rights and security. And that means that if the government becomes a tyrannical turd, thus violating the contract, then the people have the right to overthrow that government and replace it with a new one.
And compared to the reigning view of government power, namely the divine right of kings, which basically said that God establishes monarchs, so you know, do whatever they say. This was a significant departure. Okay.
Now, more briefly, let's consider a second set of ideas that played a role in the independence movement, namely political ideas from the radical wigs, who were a group of British political theorists. So, educated colonists with a penchant for thinkythinky stuff got an earful of radical wigish ideas, which really all came down to this. They warned against political corruption and the danger of tyranny that comes from the arbitrary power of monarchs and aristocrats.
And by arbitrary power, they meant power that was hereditary or handed down through families. In that scheme, power was given to the people born in the right family, even if they were dumber than a box of rocks. And so these ideas along with several others deeply shaped the American imagination about society and politics and led them to emphasize individual talent above hereditary privilege.
And finally, the third category of revolutionary ideas were religious in nature. You see, the effects of the first great awakening still lingered in the American population, which among other things had greatly increased the nation's religious identity and fervor. And this had two effects.
First, many colonists who had been influenced by this movement perceived the relative liberty they enjoyed in the American colonies as a gift from God. Second, with the awakening's emphasis on the authority of individual religious experience over against submitting to formal church hierarchies, they had learned to treat systems of authority with suspicion. Therefore, as British policies became more and more oppressive, the widespread adoption of these ideas made many colonists exceedingly wary of any perceived threat to their rights.
And so, now we begin to see the colonists change their minds about the notion of independence over the course of a few years. And there were several ingredients in that independent stew. First was the convening of the first continental congress in 1774 in Philadelphia, which was called in response to the passage of the intolerable acts, which we talked about in the last video.
Their goal was to create a united plan to resist further violations of their rights, which in their mind were still British rights. And so among other things, the Congress encouraged colonists to continue boycotting British goods. But the point to remember here is that the meeting of the Congress centralized resistance to British policies rather than relying on weaker, more localized resistance.
And then the second ingredient was actual armed conflict. So by 1775, fighting had erupted between British soldiers and colonial people in Boston and eight colonists had died. These fights in Lexington and conquered and the additional conflict in the battle of Bunker Hill led the colonist to convene the second continental congress.
And this body served as a provisional government that organized the colonial response to British aggression. And in this series of meetings which built off a petition of grievances outlined in the first Continental Congress, some delegates argued for negotiation with Britain in order to reestablish a proper colonial relationship with their rights intact. To that end, Congress issued the olive branch petition, which appealed directly to King George III to avoid a full-blown war and reestablish colonial rights, which is to say the fullness of their British rights.
But others like Patrick Henry argued loudly that the British actions had indeed revealed their turd hood and therefore what was needed was a movement for independence. But even so, those who called for independence were still a minority among the colonists. So what changed?
Well, what changed was in fact the third ingredient, namely the publication of a pamphlet called common sense by Thomas Payne. So after the petitions sent by the Continental Congress to the king asking for peace were rejected, colonial resentment reached its peak. And right as that resentment stew reached a boil, Thomas Payne seemed to put words to what the colonist had felt but so far had been unable to articulate.
And basically the common sense of common sense was that independence from Great Britain was the only way forward. And once it was published, this pamphlet sold like mad across the colonies. But of special importance was the kind of arguments Payne used to make his case.
First, he made abundant use of enlightenment ideas like natural rights and social contract and republicanism to demonstrate that Britain's behavior of late amounted to nothing short of tyranny. Second, Payne also made use of biblical arguments, most notably the development of the monarchy in the Old Testament and how God considered it a sin. Additionally, he combined anti- monarchical ideas with calls for popular support of the revolution by appealing to common people.
And given how deeply the colonists had been shaped by the Enlightenment and biblical thought, this pamphlet convinced a lot of folks. And so by 1776, the actions of the British and the wide diffusion of these ideas led to a formal declaration of independence penned by Thomas Jefferson with editorial help from John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. And it's going to be important for you to remember that Jefferson didn't just think this whole document up with his own magnificent brain.
No, he based the ideas of the Declaration off of dozens of state and local declarations, not least the Virginia Declaration of Rights. All of which, when taken together, revealed the unique expression of the American mind. Anyway, the purpose of the Declaration was to affect the formal separation of the colonies from British rule.
And as you may have guessed by now, the way Jefferson did that was by making liberal use of enlightenment ideas like the social contract and natural rights. Okay, click here to watch my other videos for unit 3 and you can click here to grab my video note guides which are going to help you cram all the contents of this course firmly into your brain folders. I appreciate you coming around and I'll catch you on the flipflop.
