{"id":560,"date":"2015-06-10T16:47:32","date_gmt":"2015-06-10T16:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/americanyawp\/?post_type=chapter&p=560"},"modified":"2015-06-22T17:45:57","modified_gmt":"2015-06-22T17:45:57","slug":"conclusion-4","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ushistory1ay\/chapter\/conclusion-4\/","title":{"raw":"Conclusion","rendered":"Conclusion"},"content":{"raw":"

The American Revolution freed colonists from British rule and\u00a0offered the first blow in what historians have called \u201cthe age of democratic revolutions.\u201d The American Revolution was a global event. Revolutions followed\u00a0in France, then Haiti, and then South America. The American Revolution meanwhile\u00a0wrought significant changes to the British Empire. Many British historians even use the Revolution as a dividing point between a \u201cfirst British Empire\u201d and a \u201csecond British Empire.\u201d But at home, the Revolution\u00a0created the United States of America.<\/p>\r\nHistorians have long argued over\u00a0the causes and character of the American Revolution. Was the Revolution caused by British imperial policy or by internal tensions within the colonies? Were colonists primarily motivated by ideals or by economic self-interest? Was the Revolution radical or conservative? But such questions are hardly limited to historians. From Abraham Lincoln quoting the Declaration of Independence in his \u201cGettysburg Address\u201d to modern-day \u201cTea Party\u201d members wearing\u00a0knee breeches, the Revolution has remained at the center of American political culture. How one understands the Revolution often dictates\u00a0how one defines what it means to be \u201cAmerican.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Revolution hardly ended\u00a0all social and civic inequalities in the new nation, but the rhetoric of equality encapsulated in the Declaration of Independence has spanned American history. The rhetoric was used to highlight inequalities, eventually aiding the abolitionist movement of the early nineteenth century and the women\u2019s rights movements of the 1840s and 1910s. And yet it was also used to justify secession and oppose civil rights movements. American revolutionaries broke new ground. They had to make it up as they went along. And in many ways, Americans have been doing the same ever since.\r\n\r\nThis chapter was edited by Michael Hattem, with content contributions by James Ambuske, Alexander Burns, Joshua Beatty, Christina Carrick, Christopher Consolino, Timothy C. Hemmis, Joseph Moore, Emily Romeo, and Christopher Sparshott.<\/em>","rendered":"

The American Revolution freed colonists from British rule and\u00a0offered the first blow in what historians have called \u201cthe age of democratic revolutions.\u201d The American Revolution was a global event. Revolutions followed\u00a0in France, then Haiti, and then South America. The American Revolution meanwhile\u00a0wrought significant changes to the British Empire. Many British historians even use the Revolution as a dividing point between a \u201cfirst British Empire\u201d and a \u201csecond British Empire.\u201d But at home, the Revolution\u00a0created the United States of America.<\/p>\n

Historians have long argued over\u00a0the causes and character of the American Revolution. Was the Revolution caused by British imperial policy or by internal tensions within the colonies? Were colonists primarily motivated by ideals or by economic self-interest? Was the Revolution radical or conservative? But such questions are hardly limited to historians. From Abraham Lincoln quoting the Declaration of Independence in his \u201cGettysburg Address\u201d to modern-day \u201cTea Party\u201d members wearing\u00a0knee breeches, the Revolution has remained at the center of American political culture. How one understands the Revolution often dictates\u00a0how one defines what it means to be \u201cAmerican.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Revolution hardly ended\u00a0all social and civic inequalities in the new nation, but the rhetoric of equality encapsulated in the Declaration of Independence has spanned American history. The rhetoric was used to highlight inequalities, eventually aiding the abolitionist movement of the early nineteenth century and the women\u2019s rights movements of the 1840s and 1910s. And yet it was also used to justify secession and oppose civil rights movements. American revolutionaries broke new ground. They had to make it up as they went along. And in many ways, Americans have been doing the same ever since.<\/p>\n

This chapter was edited by Michael Hattem, with content contributions by James Ambuske, Alexander Burns, Joshua Beatty, Christina Carrick, Christopher Consolino, Timothy C. Hemmis, Joseph Moore, Emily Romeo, and Christopher Sparshott.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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