Were the Americans justified in rebelling against the British? Comparisons between The Roman Revolution and The Revolutionary War.

Comparing

The Revolutionary War and the Roman Revolution were both revolutions that shared many commonalities. In the revolutionary war the colonists wanted to rule their own provinces due to various negatives factors from the British, which relates to the Roman Revolution since the people saw that the king was no longer fit to continue assuming his role, making them want to assume control by themselves. Another reason these revolutions are similar is because in both scenarios the leaders abused their absolute power and then, as Locke wrote, the people took down the previous power and set up their own civil government. Also both of these revolutions were based off Locke's Ideas however the American Revolution was literally based upon his books while the Roman Revolution was two thousand years before Locke, proving him to be correct instead of Hobbes.The last and final similarity between these power struggles was the result of them. After both the revolutions the people won and set up their own unique governments which allowed the right of the people to rule instead of giving absolute power to one leader. This proves that The Revolutionary War and the Roman Revolution were alike in their ways.

Were the colonists justified in rebelling against the British?

The Roman Revolution

The Roman Revolution took place after the rape of Lucretia, a noblewoman, by the son of the king of Rome. This led to Lucretia exacting her revenge on the son and finally stabbing herself to death in her own confines. Enraged the people of Rome, with the support of Lucretia's relatives, overthrew the king and formed what is now called the Roman Republic, on the day 509 BCE. It was proof of Locke's ideas even before he was born.

The colonists were justified in rebelling against the British due to several reasons, a large part being Locke's reasoning. Locke stated "That if a government abuses their power it is the right of the people to... and form a new civil government." The colonists had determined that the British were abusing their power and therefore were set upon breaking their links with the British. It was also due to Locke's theories that the first paragraph was added to the declaration of independence, "When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth"; Which is a sentence taken directly from Locke's beliefs.

The colonists also stated that due to the acts and the manners he committed them, they would write up a series of complaints which would stand as the pinnacle of the declaration of independence. In this series of complaints they stated, while I present a less complex version, that " He makes us pay all kinds of taxes without asking us about it" referring to the several tax acts (the sugar act, intolerable acts) where the colonists were forced to pay taxes against their will, ( In the sugar act a tax was put on sugar forcing all the colonists to pay a tax for a common household ingredient that, the British knew, they had to use.

The American Revolution

Several events, such as the many acts, led towards the revolution. After the intolerable acts however did the mindset come forward that the colonists should be free of the British. This mindset, headed by Sam Adams, is what started the American Revolution.

The American revolution was led by key people and events. The declaration of independence was one such key event because it led the people to a firm agreement against the British. Another key event was during the war, the colonists could no longer fight, however with the help of the french they managed to fight back the British. An influential man in this factor was George Washington, the general of the Colonial Army. He led the army against the British countless times.

Works Cited

BBC News. BBC. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.

"Lucretia | Ancient Roman Heroine." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 02 Feb. 2016.

"One Account. All of Google." Google Docs. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

"US History." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 14 Feb. 2016.

The Revolutionary War

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The Roman Revolution

By Reuben