The Historical Context of the Declaration of Independence and Thomas Jefferson

Scholars strenuously debate the exact nature of eighteenth century (1700s) America. Though some still consider the war against the British (1775-1783) as a mere struggle for independence against colonial rule that left the underlying society more or less unchanged, recent treatments have stressed the deeply radical nature of the Revolution. These scholars argue the Revolution caused significant ideological transformations (new ways of thinking about problems), as well as important cultural and socioeconomic changes. One thing is certain -- by 1776 America was already a very diverse and complex place.

Large numbers of persons not of British stock inhabited the original Thirteen Colonies. Though often only seen on the frontier, some Native Americans already lived under the protection of various colonial governments. African-Americans, both slave and free, lived in each of the colonies. Within both racial groups, considerable ethnic and tribal differences further added to the cultural complexity of British North America. Swedes, Dutch, German ("Pennsylvania Dutch"), and other non-British Europeans composed significant portions of the populations of Middle Atlantic states like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Catholics concentrated in Maryland, while Jews and French Protestants preferred the major seaport cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston. Within the British population, important cultural differences existed. At least four groups, each with a distinctive "folkway," thrived in America. Roughly centered around one of four major Protestant denominations, Congregationalism, Anglicanism, Quakerism, and Presbyterianism, each group had its own dialect, architecture, family system, marriage customs, sexual mores, child naming conventions, child care beliefs, educational institutions, dress, favorite foods, attitudes towards aging and death, sports and leisure activities, and socioeconomic practices.

Scholars also like to debate the causes of the Revolution. At first glance, the long list of grievances Jefferson described in the Summary View of the Rights of British America and Declaration of Independence led to the Revolution. What Jefferson alluded to in the long middle section of the Declaration were the train of events usually discussed in American History surveys -- the navigation acts, the Stamp Act, the Currency Act, the Townshend duties, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Port or Coercive Act, the Quebec Act, and the first battles of the war. Though most scholars understand how these confrontations could lead to war and independence, many wonder why other British colonies, especially Canada and the British West Indies, did not join the fray. They also note that the British responses were understandable reactions to the unruliness of some of their subjects.

To put the issue another way, then, why were colonial Americans so ardently defend their rights? Why did they not join the millions of other British subjects who consented to legislation like the Stamp Act? In other words, what were the root causes of American dissatisfaction with British rule? Questions like these probably never will be entirely resolved. However, demographic change, economic growth, and a tradition of self-rule will always be considered important parts of the answer. At first a society of immigrants clinging precariously to life and remaining close to transportation routes to the Old World, reliant on Britain for all the necessities of life except local governance, over the eighteenth century America grew larger and increasingly economically independent. Over the decades, increasing portions of the population were either born in the New World and knew little or nothing of life across the sea, or came from non-British areas and owed little allegiance to England or its King. After a resounding Anglo-American victory in the French and Indian (or Seven Year's) War (1756-1763), which ejected the French from Canada, the colonies no longer faced any serious foreign threats. Like brash teenagers sensing their own strength for the first time, the colonists began to question the authority of King and Parliament. Perceiving that they paid more in taxes than they received in benefits, many colonists, bolstered by a long tradition of self-rule, sought a greater voice in Parliament. When that effort failed, they rejected Parliament, and, eventually, the King himself.

In one sense, the American Revolution was what Karl Marx would call a bourgeois or middle-class rebellion. With its cheap land, abundant resources, and free market ideology, feudal or aristocratic institutions did not thrive in colonial America. Bolstered by a thriving commercial system and a growing manufacturing sector, the great bulk of Americans were "yeomen," independent farmers who owned land in fee simple. As exporters of foodstuffs or other natural resources, and importers of a variety of manufactured goods, these men had a large stake in imperial economic regulations. Though older notions of community, society, and "fair price" could still find expression, most late colonial Americans, whether they realized it or not, were part of an rapidly emerging capitalist economy closely tied to world markets. It was no accident why in the Declaration Jefferson listed the ability to "establish commerce" as one of the new nation's leading goals. Like the British bourgeois in 1688, and the French in 1789, the leaders of 1776 summoned the rule of a new class.