Essay Two Voices of the American Revolution   In the years preceding the Declaration of Independence on July 4,

Essay Two

Voices of the
American Revolution

In the years preceding the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, many American colonists expressed
opposition to Great Britain’s policies toward the colonies, but few thought
seriously about establishing an independent nation until late in the imperial
crisis. Throughout the years of controversy beginning in the 1760s, Americans
expressed a variety of opinions about the legitimacy of open acts of resistance
and rebellion, which intensified as armed resistance began in April 1775. On
both sides of the issue, perspectives and motivations were diverse. Among those
who favored resistance, for example, not all would go so far as to advocate
full-scale rebellion against Great Britain or national independence for the
United States. The debate, moreover, was not a static one, and its terms
shifted over time; by 1776 many colonists found themselves advocating positions
undreamed of a decade earlier.

In this lesson, you will work
to make informed analyses of primary documents illustrating the diversity of
religious, political, social, and economic motives behind competing
perspectives on questions of independence and rebellion. Making use of a
variety of primary texts, the activities will help you to “hear” some
of the colonial voices that, in the course of time and under the pressure of
novel ideas and events, contributed to the American Revolution.

Your assignment will be to
read ten documents from the lists below. 
Each document must come from a different perspective. You should use two
documents from each group to write your essay. 
You will then write a three to five page essay in which you compare and
contrast what the Revolution meant to different groups in society.

Feel free to include any
other sources, but the majority of your paper must be based on primary sources
from the time period.

You will also need to
footnote what documents you are using in Chicago Manuel style.  Any word processor should help you make
footnotes.  Please use the following link
to complete your footnotes in the correct style.

 http://history.hanover.edu/courses/handouts/footnotes.htm

Your paper should be double
spaced and in 12 point font.

A.  Religious Perspective

Jonathan Mayhew –https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/discourse-concerning-unlimited-submission-and-non-resistance-to-the-higher-powers/

·        
Jacob Cushing — http://www.consource.org/document/divine-judgments-upon-tyrants-by-jacob-cushing-1778-4-20/

·        
John Wesley — http://www.consource.org/document/a-calm-address-to-our-american-colonies-by-john-wesley-1775/

·        
Samuel Sherwood — http://www.consource.org/document/scriptural-instructions-to-civil-rulers-by-samuel-sherwood-1774-8-31/

·        
Samuel Sherwood — http://www.consource.org/document/the-churchs-flight-into-the-wilderness-an-address-on-the-times-by-samuel-sherwood-1776-1-17/

B. 
Loyalist Perspective

James Chalmers, Plain
Truth — https://www.varsitytutors.com/earlyamerica/early-america-review/volume-1/james-chalmers-plain-truth

·        
Poem — http://www.historywiz.com/primarysources/pausingamericanloyalist.htm

Charles Inglis — http://web.archive.org/web/20171016003850/http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1776-1785/charles-inglis-the-true-interest-of-america-impartially-stated-1776.php

·        
Songs — http://www3.sympatico.ca/goweezer/theshack/songs.htm

·        
Song — http://www.royalprovincial.com/history/music/voasong.shtml

C.  Rebel Perspective

·        
Patrick Henry — http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/patrick.asp

George Washington — http://web.archive.org/web/20080316224647/http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/revolution/letters/gfairfax2.html

Thomas Paine http://www.historyhome.co.uk/c-eight/america/c-sense.htm

D.  African American Perspectives

·        
Felix’s Petition — http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h22t.html

·        
Boston King’s Memoir
— http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h1584t.html

·        
James Ottis — http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h18t.html

E.  Official and Legal Perspectives

George Mason — https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/virginia.asp

·        
Declaration of the Causes
and Necessity of taking Up arms — https://blackboard.ualr.edu/ultra/courses/_121541_1/cl/outline

·        
 

·        
Declaration of Independence
— https://www.constitutionfacts.com/content/declaration/files/Declaration_ReadTheDeclaration.pdf

·        
Charlotte Town Resolves — http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1751-1775/the-charlotte-town-resolves-1775.php