How Did The English Civil War Affect Politics

Forced Founder’s, written by Woody Holton, sheds new light on one of the best-known events in American History. Holton challenges the traditional narrative of the great land-owning elite leading the revolutionary war. He does not believe it was one single factor but in fact, a web of influences that pushed Virginia into the war of independence. Holton’s main argument consists of the idea that the Indians, merchants, slaves, and debtors helped propel free Virginians into the independence movement. Virginia’s gentry were joining their peers in declaring independence from Britain in response to grassroots rebellions against their own rule.

After the colonization of America took place, sectionalism emerged between the now industrialized North and the agrarian South. Throughout the existing sections in the North and South, different perspectives about social, cultural, and economic issues such as slavery, rights, and tariffs arose, proving to be the foundation for the American Civil War. The economy called for a strong sense of unity and support within the regions due to the need for modern transportation in importing and exporting purchased goods for war. Led by President Davis, the Confederate economy of the South was unsuccessful in reaching its highest capability. Meanwhile President Abraham Lincoln led the Union States of the North to a prosperous industrial economy.

The way in which the colonies made enough money to support England was based off as the geography of the land and how conducive the use of agriculture and cash-crops would be. The different climates of the New England and Chesapeake created different economies for each. In New England, the economy was based on shipbuilding and fishing because of long winters and the rocky soil that was not fertile. New England colonies, founded by primarily large families, only had small family farms as a result of the climate and turned to trade and industry rather than agriculture. The lack of need for farming for the economy led to the abolishment of slavery, as it was seen as unnecessary based off the economy.

The colonists were mistreated from the start the British forced them to pay their war debts basically and controlled them harshly this caused the colonists to rise up and take back power. These events eventually led to the American Revolution and colonists

(Doc. 6). Madison also displayed beliefs similar to those of Hamilton when he went to war in 1812. Hamilton, in “Tully No. III” maintains the necessity of force to preserve law and that “Government supposes control” (Doc. 2). Although Madison did not believe in a strong central government, he did believe that force must be applied in order to maintain laws and the order, demonstrated by his engagement in the War of 1812. John Adams, a Federalist himself, even claimed in a letter to Benjamin Waterhouse that he “give [his vote] to Mr. Madison” (Doc. 7).

The lecture 10 mention, “the idea of iron central control was becoming archaic. The rebellion led by a disgruntled member of the gentry occurred in Virginia in 1676. ". Rebellion of the colonies was

John Locke had a major influence on Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes wrote the Leviathan arguing that an absolute monarchy was the best type of government. Hobbes published the Leviathan before Locke wrote the two treatises on government. Hobbes believed people were greedy and wanted power so an absolute monarchy would be best. That differed from Locke's beliefs which led to him writing the two treatises on government in December of 1689 which had a major impact on many others.

Slavery is the opposite of indentured servants. The slaves are bound for life unless they escaped or received their freedom. Barbados, according to Breslaw, “the major source of labor in Barbados until the middle of seventeenth century was immigrant indentured servants from the British Isles, particularly England.” The planters did not choose the Native Americans for labor in the plantation because “the Indian death rate was so high following contact with Europeans and their passive resistance to labor demands.”

Throughout history there have been many wars and revolutions. During the 1600s’ there was the English Civil War. Shortly after that, in the 1700’s there was the French Revolution. The English Civil War was a war between the Parliamentarians and Royalists in England. The French Revolution was a revolution fought between the peasants and nobility of France.

For example, he frequently mentions the differences between suitcase farming and lifestyle farming and how they are affected by capitalism. Suitcase farmers are those who only farm for profit whereas lifestyle farming, the farmers care about the

The poor Virginian tobacco-growers of the 1700s blame the pressing economic issues they faced within the realms of slavery and debt as their driving force behind the American Revolution and battle for independence. (Holton, 60) The conflict between the British Merchants and Virginian farmers wasn’t shy of bloodshed; the intense debt to the merchants that the farmers found themselves in stirred anger and thoughts of rebellion which were not easily appeased. (Holton, 42) The cause for their debt is caused by a culmination of lavish spending, the decisions of Parliament (such as the Navigation Acts), and slavery.

POLITICAL - shortly after the economic surge, peasants and workers across Europe resorted to rebellion, fearful that rising taxes would negate their significant raise of wages. By the end of the 15th century the monarchs of England, France and Spain put an end to the state of unrest by forming state administrations to control sectors of the country, as an extension of the throne. The bubonic plague’s devastating effects on the Native Americans may have helped Spain conquer and colonize the New World by reducing the native’s numbers significantly. SOCIAL - the economic improvement incited what is referred to as the Renaissance in Europe, or an increase of interest and funding for the arts. The Black Death in the New World had the opposite effect,

The alliance aquirred over a million members by 1890 , but the group was weakened the plight of landless tenant farmers and sharecroppers. It was also weakend by exclusion of blacks who made up half of the agricultural population. In the 1890’s, the People’s party was started. They were also known as the Populists, these farmers fought against Wall Street and the “money trust.” They advocated for the nationalization of the railroads, telephones, and telegraph, a graduated income tax, and a new subtreasury.

Although, the British had some success in the beginning of the strategy to take hold of Charleston and Savannah, they had met their match when it came to the Continental Army. Their guerrilla and hit-and-run tactics, forced the British to chase them around, depleting their supplies and their manpower. Moreover, the British overestimated the amount of Loyalists that occupied the south, and ended up creating more enemies by freeing Black slaves who escaped to British-controlled territory, and by taking food from farmers. Also, the British underestimated the operational problems they would engage in, especially when their men were away from their supplies in the interior. On the other hand, the Continental Army were well supplied, and had the advantage of being able to hide among the local people.

One of the more well-known and documented acts of political violence started in the colonial era when “Nathaniel Bacon and a sizable number of Virginians rose up in armed rebellion against the royal governor of the colony in 1676.” (Britanica) It was the result of Bacon and the then Gov. Berkeley having two different viewpoints about Indians and colony expansion. Berkeley did not want to remove the Indians for fear of war with the Indians as well as trade being interrupted. Berkeley eventually “launched military expeditions against Bacon” (Britanica) and his colonialists.