American Revolution was an significant phase in the history of America that led to the independence of the country and the end of colonial rule over the then thirteen colonies. Prior to the American Revolution, several key events catalyzed colonists’ rebellion that eventually led to the revolution. However, the causes of the American Revolution and why colonists fought the British have been put to the test following the development and publishing of the initial 1619 project. The central idea argued in the 1619 project is that the colonists fought the British to preserve the institution of slavery.[1] However, a key event leading to the American Revolution was the violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord. The British marched to Concord and Lexington, hoping to capture and seize arms among the colonists. Tension had been rising in the Concord and Lexington, prompting the British to find a method to disarm colonists, who they viewed as potential threats to them. The battle in Concord and Lexington did not happen overnight, but several key events contributed to the violence that marked the start of the American Revolution.
One of the main causes of violence in Concord and Lexington was the rising unrest due to British restrictive policies.[2] The colonists viewed the British policies as exploitive, hence unjustifiable and inapplicable. Consequently, tensions erupted between the British and the colonists in Concord and Lexington. The British enacted harsh policies that sought to make the colonies pay a lot of money to the British Crown. The laws demanded substantial taxes from the colonists, who rebelled against them because they were enacted in England. The rebellion against the British punitive policies did not start overnight but rather was a culmination of boycotts, protests, and avoidance of British goods. The colonists considered themselves British citizens; hence such laws were seen as a violation of their rights. Therefore, one of the main motivators and causes of the violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord was the rising tensions between the colonists and the British due to punitive and exploitive policies passed and implemented in England. The colonists viewed themselves as rightful citizens deserving protection from exploitive and punitive policies. The failure of the British to heed to their grievances catalyzed the tension between them that eventually culminated in the violence witnessed and experienced at Lexington and Concord.
The other main motivator of the violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord was the British act of marching to Lexington, aiming to suppress and seize weapons from colonists.[3] As noted earlier, tensions between the British and colonists were already high due to harsh and restrictive British policies. As a result, any attempt to suppress colonists would have escalated the tensions between the British and colonists. Thus, when the British marched in 1775 to suppress the possible rebellion and seize weapons from colonists, the tension escalated into the violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord.[4] The British actions sparked an instant response by the colonists, who were already preparing to confront the British. Thus, the harsh policies passed by the British caused tensions between them and the colonists, which escalated when the British marched to suppress a possible rebellion and disarm the colonists.
Initial 1619 Project Assertion That Slavery Was the Cause of The Revolution War
In 2019, Nikole Hannah-Jones, created the 1619 project to reframe American history, especially concerning slavery and the cause of the Revolution War.[5] One of the main issues raised in the initial 1619 project was that the colonists fought the British to protect the institution of slavery, thus centralizing it as one of the causes of the Revolution War.[6] Project 1619 was created to address issues that affected Black people in the United States since the first slaves arrived in the country in 1619. The co-objective of the project was to reinterpret the history of America as it is known by centralizing the issue of slavery and Black people.
The main argument in the initial 1619 project was that American history cannot be separated from slavery and White supremacy. Even though historians agree on the birth of the USA as 1776, after the declaration of independence, the initial 1619 project points to 1619 as the birth date of the United States, linking it to slavery.[7] According to the initial 1619 project, American politics, economics, and cultures started in 1619, when the first African slaves arrived in Britain’s North American colonies.[8][9] As a result, any American activities and key events, including the American Revolution War, were fought with the interest of the slavery institution at heart. However, reframing the history of America around the issue of slavery has caused widespread criticism, primarily due to inaccuracies of the narrative.
Even though slavery was an issue in the United States before, during, and after the Revolution War, centralizing it as the cause of the Revolution War is problematic and historically wrong. The initial 1619 project’s claim that colonists fought the British to protect the institution of slavery rewrites American history and liquefies the factual context of the war. Colonists did not care about slavery, and the institution was not an item of the tension between the British and them. In addition, the institution of slavery was not a threat to the British, which sheds light on why the British could not have wasted resources to fight for something with no impact on their rule in the colonies. The Revolution War was fought for other fundamental reasons other than the institution of slavery. Therefore, the argument emphasized by the initial 1619 project that the Revolution War was fought to defend the institution of slavery is historically and factually wrong.
Even though the issue of slavery has been in American history, centralizing it as the cause Revolution War overlooks the factors that had led to tension between colonists and the British. Historical evidence points out other factors that slowly created the foundation for the Revolution War, which eventually led to the independence of the United States in 1776. Before the Revolution War, the British engaged in war with France. The war caused huge financial losses, and the British badly needed funds to continue running colonies without challenges. The British felt that they had spent a lot of resources defending the colonists; hence they were supposed to get taxed. As a result, policies were made in England on how to tax colonists in the thirteen colonies. Subsequently, the tension between the British and the colonists rose due to what colonists termed as harsh and punitive policies. Also, before the Revolution War, the Boston Massacre, which was executed by the British, further escalated tension between them and the colonists.[10] The highlighted build-up of events is historically accurate and can be sourced from historical data to show the culmination of the events that led to the eventual Revolution War. Thus, the initial 1619 project narrative that colonists fought the British to protect the institution of slavery overlooks the real causes of the Revolution War. Some slavery even fought in the Revolution War with a promise they would be freed, indicating that the war had other fundamental motivators, far from protecting the institution of slavery.
Conclusion
The violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord marked the start of the Revolution War in the United States. Before the violence, the British had passed harsh policies that aimed to collect more taxes from the colonies. The policies created tension between the colonists and the British, which escalated after the British marched to suppress possible rebellions and seize weapons in Lexington and Concord. The motivators and causes of the violence that erupted at Lexington and Concord show that the colonists fought the Revolution War to protect their interests and attain sovereignty, rather than protecting the institution of slavery as alleged by the initial 1619 project.
Bibliography
American Battlefield Trust. “Boston Massacre: Animated Graphic Novel.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed April 3, 2022. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/videos/boston-massacre-animated-graphic-novel.
American Battlefield Trust. “Lexington and Concord.” American Battlefield Trust. Accessed April 3, 2022. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/lexington-and-concord.
Anderson, James. “U. Professors Send Letter Requesting Corrections to 1619 Project.” The Princetonian. Last modified 2020. https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/02/u-professors-send-letter-requesting-corrections-to-1619-project.
The New York Times. “Listen to ‘1619,’ a Podcast From The New York Times.” The New York Times. Last modified June 10, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/podcasts/1619-podcast.html.
Torres-Spelliscy, Ciara. “Everyone is talking about 1619. But that’s not actually when slavery in America started.” The Washington Post. Last modified August 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/08/23/everyone-is-talking-about-thats-not-actually-when-slavery-america-started/.
Wilentz, Sean. “A Matter of Facts.” The Atlantic. Last modified January 22, 2020. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/1619-project-new-york-times-wilentz/605152/.
[1] The New York Times. “Listen to ‘1619,’ a Podcast From The New York Times.”
[2] American Battlefield Trust. “Lexington and Concord.”
[3] American Battlefield Trust. “Lexington and Concord.”
[4] American Battlefield Trust. “Lexington and Concord.”
[5] Sean Wilentz. “A Matter of Facts.” The Atlantic.
[6] The New York Times. “Listen to ‘1619,’ a Podcast From The New York Times.”
[7] James Anderson. “U. Professors Send Letter Requesting Corrections to 1619 Project.”
[8] Sean Wilentz. “A Matter of Facts.” The Atlantic
[9] Ciara Torres-Spelliscy. “Everyone is talking about 1619. But that’s not actually when slavery in America started.”
[10] American Battlefield Trust. “Boston Massacre: Animated Graphic Novel.”
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