American Revolution "Revolution or Evolution?"

Olivia. The American Revolution was definately more of an evolution than it was a revolution. Even though the Amercian Revolution was a reblellion against Great Britain, a series of events had to take place in order for the rebellion to take place, which would suggest that the Patriotic way of thinking developed, or evolved, slowly. An evolution is a change, and takes place at a slower pace than a revolution, which is a rebellion that happens over a short period of time. If it weren't for the specific events that took place prior to the Declaration of Independence, such as the Boston Massacre, and the decline of the Olive Branch Petition by King George III, many colonists would have remained loyalists and the Revolution would have never taken place. Since many colonists believed themselves to be Englishmen, whose rights were protected under the English Bill of Rights, the idea of seperating from England would have been absurd in the earlier half of the 18th century. It was the buildup of injustices that were done unto the colonies that sparked the idea of separation. The chain of events began with the taxes implemented on the colonies by George Grenville. Since the colonists didnt have representatives in Parlaiment, they also had no say in how, or why they would be taxed. Grenville's taxes led to the Stamp Act Crisis, which led to the formation of the Stamp Act Congress, which was a group of colonial delegates that spoke out against the unjust taxation, and also to the formation of theSons of Liberty who took a more radical approach to boycotting the taxes. Colonial protests resulted in the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party. Great Britian's punitive action for the Tea Party was the Intorlerable Acts, which were so unjust that it spurred the formation of the First Continental Congress, a group of patriots who warned colonies that they should start building up their militias. The creation of militias was an indirect cuase of the Battle at Lexington and Concord wich marked the start of the Revolutionary War. So, becuase the events leading up to the revolution were drawn out and gradual, it is more likely that the American Revolution was in fact an American Evolution.