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What is the " American Revolution " ?

...1775 - Massachusetts Governor Gage is secretly ordered by the British to enforce the Coercive Acts and suppress "open rebellion" among colonists by using all necessary force....

1776 .. British & German Hessians surrender after an hour with nearly 1000 taken prisoner by Washington who suffers only six wounded (including future president Lt. James Monroe). Washington reoccupies Trenton. The victory provides a much needed boost to the morale of all American Patriots.

American Revolution succeed with Independence!
http://www.americanrevolution.org/ofpa.h...


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: It seems you have a good start on the history side of the question. You have all the dates, people and places. Since you have all that, I am going to assume your question is more philosophical. I will also note that your question is in the present tense, not past tense. That may be accident, but I will assume it not to be a typo as you seem to be looking for a deeper, philosophical answer.

The "American Revolution" is an idea of a Federal Republic, not a straight up democracy. True democracies have been tried in the past and have failed. They tend to degrade into mob rule and they also tend to swing from radical left politics to radical right politics; back and forth, back and forth, depending on what is fashionable at the time. There needs to be a way to dampen the populace's political mood swings, while still having the power invested in said people. That is what the forefathers came up with.

It is a union of independent states that mutually trust each other. Eash state can handle thier own internal affairs, but they rely on each other for mutual defense. Those states share power. A large state cannot lord its power over smaller ones.

It is an idea that we are all created equal. We are all born naked, wet and crying. It is what we do after that point that seperates us. It is equal opportunity, not equality of results, that is important. The King was so concerned with trying to have all of his subjects equally happy, that he forgot that it is unfair to do so since some of the subjects didn't earn thier keep. Everyone has the same starting point. That is what makes it fair.

It is an idea of small government. the government that governs best, governs least. Even back then politicians were corrupt. But, they are a necessary evil. So, it is best to give them as little power as possible. The government should only do for the people what they cannot do for themselves. "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a life time." The government should teach us how to fish, not continually feed us fish. If you do not pay attention when the government teaches you how to fish, it is not the government's fault.

The American Revolution is about personal responsibility! We are accountable for our own actions. We wanted to be accountable for our own actions. If we are accountable for what we do, that means we are in control of our destiny. We had no representation in British Parliament. We had no accountability in London, and therefore we could not even remotely control what happened to us. That is what our founding fathers wanted. We wanted responsibility for our own destiny.

In many ways the American Revolution is still being fought. It is not yet complete. There are many out there who want to increase the size of government and reduce personal accountablity. We must fight against that. Remember these principals when you vote. The American Revolution is still going on. And we must fight for these values at the polls.