Term Paper on American Revolution
The
first government formed after the Revolution of the United States was a
confederation. It was a loose confederation, which gave freedom, sovereignty,
and independence to each state. All the thirteen states were in the firm league
of friendship with each other. They have united to form a common defense, the
security of their liberties and their mutual and general welfare.
According to the articles of confederation, they have established a common
national legislature, called Congress. The Congress had the responsibility of
maintaining foreign relations and to make a common foreign policy for the United
States. It is the duty of Congress to declare war or peace, maintaining an army
or navy, setting boundary disputes, establishing and maintaining a postal
service and various lesser functions. The Revolution had great impact on the
social and political life of United States. After the Revolution, the American
Republic was founded on the basis of equality of men. The concept is all men are
created equal, and thy have equal rights to live their life. Black slaves
should, therefore be equally free and independent, with equality under the law,
as white human beings. Let us discuss the social and political changes after the
American Revolution.
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Slavery
The Slavery has existed in the North America since the beginning of the 17th
Century. After the Revolution, it was a matter of conflicts that whether slavery
is allowed or not. The framers of the constitution had agreed that the
continuance of slavery was clearly sanctioned but the words slave and slavery
were not mentioned. In 1791, Bill of Rights had adopted, but it says nothing
about slavery. But afterwards the 14th Amendment of the constitution abolished
slavery for good.
Women Rights
Women have no right to vote in the United States. When the constitution of the
United States was written, only 6 percent of the adult male population has the
right to vote. But afterwards, the nineteenth Amendment of the constitution, in
1920, had given the right to vote for women. This right to vote was extended to
18 years old in 1971 under the twenty-sixth Amendment.
One of the most significant changes in women’s rights is the permission to
become the heir and testator. Many states had allowed the women to have a
control over personal inherited property. By the year 1890 the wife inherited
the one-third to the one-half of the intestate settlement during her lifetime.
Property Distribution
After the Revolution, the self-rule has been determined in the United States,
and all the claims on land by the British had been negated. After the Revolution
the territory of west of Allegheny Mountains also opened. Those of the people
who were either unable or unwilling to purchase property from land companies
claimed homesteads on the frontier through squatter’s right. This helped the
settlers to avoid considerable expense, but opened a door for a series of
unsettled problems like conflict with Native Americans and diseases etc. To
overcome all these difficulties the government had made several treaties with
the Native Americans and, by the year 1800, formed the local county government
in such states.
Native Americans
To solve the Native American’s problem, the United States Government had passed
the Dewas Severalty Act in 1887. This act solved the “Indian problem” by
eliminating different Indian tribes and merged them into the society as regular
citizens. This Act dissolved the tribes as legal entities and gave the Indians
equal rights as official citizens. They have allowed to use Federal laws for
protection and responsible to pay taxes. This Act had changed the entire
lifestyle of the Indians. Instead of roaming the land and hunting for their
food, they would be forced to become farmers. This Act had broken down the
reservations into individual plots. Now every family had its own plot instead of
the whole tribe owning the entire land. The government just for the betterment
of Indians would hold the land of the landowners in trust for twenty-five years.
The above discussion shows that the American Revolution had a great impact on
the lives of the Citizens of the thirteen States. The changes in the social,
economical and political life of people of thirteen states helped them uplift
their standard and develop their country.
References
Robert N. Bellah, The Revolution and the Civil Religion, November 18, 2001,
http://www.religion-online.org/cgi-bin/relsearchd.dll/showchapter?chapter_id=1653
American Revolution: a revolution? November 18, 2001,
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/revolution/revoxx.htm
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