Question
Many students think they know about the American War for Independence, but few understand how complex the arguments were and how long the war lasted. In your studies this module/week, what impressed you about the formation of the American nation? Was there anything presented in the material that you had not thought about before?
American War for Independence Personal Reflections Journal
After successfully completing this week’s module, I learned plenty of things such that the American Revolution and the war for independence. It was interesting and fascinating to learn how some of the states in the U.S. achieved their independence from the colonialist after years and years of war and resistance. Moreover, it was interesting to know that the colonial government introduced the stamp act that was focused on taxing the Native Americans for playing cards during their leisure time (“Nation Building and National Identity Formation,” n.d). Moreover, it is quite clear from the readings that there are many events and activities that led to war for independence that got the British colonialist thinking of the best way to suppress their resistance. In retaliation, the British legislature passed a series of punishing laws which to Americans were intolerable and was meant to discourage them from fighting for their rights.
Additionally, I detected a similarity between the protests that was used in the early days to fight for freedom with some that are used in different parts of the universe today. Most of the Native Americans were against the fact that they were not afforded the same rights and freedom of most British citizens in the country. But the colonialist ignored their protests by passing laws demanding more and more tax such as the Tea Tas. As a result, the Americans were ready to fight and sacrifice their lives for the future of their country and siblings (Lecker, 2013). The war was fought for months claiming a large number of American lives. By the time the declaration of independence was announced on 4th July 1776, both parties had endured a great amount of loss regarding human resources, time and resources. The surrender at Saratoga ended the war for good.
References
Lecker, R. (2013). Keepers of the code: English-Canadian literary anthologies and the representation of nation. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Nation Building and National Identity Formation. (n.d.). History Education in the Formation of Social Identity. doi:10.1057/9781137374769.0009
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