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Prior to 1754, America was evolving economically and began producing its own materials without relying on Britain. As populist ideals of a possibility of America standing on its own spread, imperial British soldiers controlled colonial towns. The constant presence of soldiers within the cities raised tensions between the American colonists and Britain. Increased involvement of Britain within American life set the stage for resistance to the English Monarchy. Some may say that absolutism was the most influential ideology that encouraged American self-government because of the endless taxes and acts Britain imposed. However, the movement of enlightenment was the most influential ideology that motivated the American Revolution because of its recognition of rights for individuals and its criticism of the divine right of kings.

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Although the American colonies were influenced by their new sense of freedom from British rule through the period of Salutary Neglect, new acts and taxes following the French and Indian war significantly inspired colonists to fight back against British Rule for their independence. As taxes and control increased and ideas of Enlightenment spread, the push for self-government became apparent after the American colonists were faced with the Intolerable Acts after the Boston Tea Party retaliation. During this period, American colonists were doubting British rule after constant taxation and expansion limitations following the French and Indian War. Egalitarianism began spreading through the colonies, the Dominion of New England brought in extensive control, and King George’s despotic ideas ultimately led to the separation from Britain. Extreme control set in and colonists fought back to form a new government that would separate them from monarchies and thrive as a Representative Republic.

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Following the Seven Years’ War, in 1763, the British monarchy punished the American colonies by forcing them to pay taxes and limiting where they could settle.  However, this time period also marks the end of salutary neglect, where the colonies no longer had the freedom to govern themselves, which angered them greatly.  Ideas such as enlightenment spread like wildfire through the colonies, which gave colonists the idea that they had the right to make decisions and overthrow the government that they believed had wronged them. After the colonies won the French- Indian war, the monarchy of Great Britain imposed many policies, such as the tea act, navigation acts, and the Proclamation of 1763, which angered the American colonists due to the fact the colonists were not able to move west of Appalachia for the sake of minimizing conflict with Native Americans.  However, it was the idea of self-government and enlightenment ideals that urged the colonists to rebel and take up arms against their home country.

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There was always bad blood between Great Britain and America, leading to the end of the French and Indian war. Great Britain tried pinning all of their war debt on us and the French to pay off. These taxes and the acts that followed were the breaking point of America, they had enough. Rebelling against Great Britain to ensure freedom and independence was an idea flowing through every American’s head. Although Propaganda was a major factor led by the self-governing advocates to show the Imperial Authority of America to Great Britain, their revolt against British taxes and acts is truly what stood out and created the thought of having their own self governing. Therefore, if propaganda movements stood alone, then we wouldn’t have gotten very far in comparison to rebelling against British taxes which gave us the idea to strive for independence.

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Colonial America from the period 1754-1776 was a deciding point in American history where the French and Indian war had occurred. This battle was between the British and the French and ultimately ended in 1776 with a British victory. This led to a substantial amount of war debt which needed to be paid off through taxes; However, this debt wasn’t placed on British citizens but rather the American colonies. This sparked several reactions from the American Colonies, and Although propaganda was a factor in providing a reaction from American Colonial society, the majority of reaction provided by Colonial America was through the rebellion against taxes and acts that were indebted to American colonists. Propaganda allowed for the idea of self-governance to spread but the initial idea was started through the rebellion against British taxes and acts; Therefore, the importance of rebellion against taxes was substantial in providing reaction from Colonial America with the ideas of self-government from British rule.

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Prior to the American Revolution, the American Colonies shared a common nuisance which was the overarching authority of British Imperialism. The British Royalty imposed many acts upon the Americans that were seen as unfair and unjust. The American colonists had no say in British affairs in the British Parliament. American colonists became aware of inspiring ideas of Enlightenment and independence. The call for self-governance within the colonies was never as strong as during the time period before the American Revolutionary War, as evident by the actions of retaliation committed by the Colonies toward Britain. Although the principles surrounding Enlightenment had an impact on the reaction of Colonial Americans on the issue of British imperialism, it was the direct actions carried out by various parties, such as the Sons of Liberty and their powerful movements, that helped influence the Colonial Americans in embracing the concept of self-government to free themselves from the ruling hand of Britain. Therefore, it wasn’t the philosophy of Enlightenment but rather the idea of Independence that led to the Sons of Liberty to take direct action in aiding the American colonies and its colonists to rally support for the idea of self-governance and the undermining of British authority.

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America enjoyed a great deal of automony in its establishing English colonies of America until the 1660s when Navigation laws came into place which resulted in smuggling. Colonists began to get frustrated and started resorting to more aggressive ways to rebel against the mercantilism that was being pushed against them. This led to events such as the Boston tea party. in order to stop Americans from smuggling around mercantilism, colonists started the American Revolution in 1775 to fight for separation from the British government. Although mercantilism was beneficial for Britain as it brought them more money and supplies due to the North American government only being able to trade with Britain, it weakened the North American government economically because it gave Britain more power. Therefore, mercantilism fostered a great amount of change for the British North American government. America began to pull away from Britain by protesting the changes mercantilism brought by doing acts such as smuggling, the Boston tea party, stamp act, quartering act, Boston massacre, and more.

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Prior to the increased imperial authority in the colonies, ideas of democracy and independence took firm hold in the new American colonies. During this period colonies were subjected to salutary neglect, spurring the colonies to create their own governments, giving the people in these new colonies a taste of independence from Britain. New publications during this time, like Common Sense by Thomas Paine and writings by John Locke, greatly influenced the colonies, contributing to an increase in ideas of independence and democracy. While some colonists believed that British authority was necessary for access to resources and trade, many others preferred having control over their own affairs without British interference.  The increase of taxes, British military presence, and harsh restrictions for what the colonists could and couldn’t do directly opposed their ideas of taking control of the colonies, leading to riots and protests such as the Boston Tea Party.  In this way, American colonial ideas directly influenced their reaction to British authority.

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Prior to the American Revolution the North American colonies exported raw materials to Europe, mainly Great Britain. During the War of 1812 Britain sent troops to support the colonists and kept those troops in the colonies. These troops would have to be housed and fed by the colonists. With these and other factors leading to rising tensions it is no surprise that colonists wanted independence. Although ideas of self-government fostered a sense of nationalism in the colonies, the want of freedom from the oppression of King George had far more influence on American colonial reaction to British imperial authority, because colonies wanted to control their own trade routes and colonies opposed taxes placed on British goods.