The American Revolution did not truly end until John Adams took office as the second President of the United States of America. While that work was undertaken by all colonists (in one way or another), the articulation and structuring of resentment against the British Empire, and the construction of a new nation afterwards, was largely completed by a relatively small number of men.
We will study the time period leading up to the American Revolution, the War for Independence itself, and the immediate aftermath. Again, while these events reflect wide participation by many colonials, their direction and ultimate resolution result largely from the fact that a group of individuals balanced personal ambition, ideology, regional materialism, and personality quirks in such a way as to achieve consensus as to how a government should be formed. In consideration of all the facts, what was required of leadership to guide the colonies through a revolution, war, and into a working constitution of laws? Certainly, significant events will provide some of the details to support your thesis, but primary emphasis should be given to the information and insights derived from Joseph Ellis’ Founding Brothers. Consider how men of such intense intelligence, bias, contradiction, and ego were able to collaborate.
Abstract:
This piece will answer many questions about the American Revolution. I will focus primarily on the question, what was required of leadership to guide the colonies through a revolution, war, and into a working constitution of laws? I will use many different sources in order to answers these vital questions. I will use Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis and Classroom discussions. I will also use a slew of other Internet websites to gain evidence of my thoughts. Among these websites are http://library.thinkquest.org/,
The American Revolution was not a subtle one. It was a long time coming in the eyes of not only the colonists but also the British. The British were more ignorant at the time because they are what you would call "British". Britain during this time focused on money and power. Having been wealthy and ruling much of the known world, Britain only wanted more. They started to put more and more taxes on the American colonists. The colonists knew that there would be taxes because Britain needed money to protect the colonists. What the colonists did not know was at what extent would Britain increase their taxes. The actual war might not have started until the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775, but the Revolution was burning inside the hearts of the true patriots. One of these patriots was quoted as saying, "Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people . . . . This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution." This was said by John Adams. The colonists wanted change and that is what they would get. The colonists were fighting for so much more than the British. They were fighting for their homes and their own country. This is where they have brought up their children. They have their pride and dignity to worry about. They also did not have a reputation as of now so they were not as narcissistic as the British. The British wee only fighting for land thousands of mile away from them. Since they were Britain they had a pretty high self esteem of themselves. This was bad in this particular war.
The whole Revolution took a lot of people doing many significant things in order for the revolution to start. Even the little guys such as Samuel Adams had a lot to do with it. Him and other people like him spread the word of the Revolution and got people riled up. Without people like him the war would not have been accepted by as many people. What would life be like if the congress never voted to go to war because some people like Sam Adams did not get people fired up. The revolution also could not have been accomplished without the leaders of the revolution. Without Adams or Jefferson the war might have not been a success. This goes to show you that with one piece of the puzzle is missing, then the whole system does not work.
The word leader can have a lot of different meaning and connotations. A leader could only be a leader in a simple high school group or it could be one of the most influential leaders we will have in the history of the United States. During the time of the American Revolution it was a pivotal moment in our country's history. Without strong leaders to serve as the backbone of our country there would not have been a U.S.A, it might have been called the Unites States of Britain. It took the true meaning of the word leader to push our country through this time of peril and uncertainty. Many people come to mind if you talk about the leaders of the American Revolution. A few stand out among the rest. These special group of leaders did the most to shape our American way of life. There might have been these leaders but without the secondary leaders there might have not been such a success. The first leader was none other than George Washington. Whenever someone needed a military commander they turned to George Washington himself. Washington was in the general in charge of the whole continental army during the Lexington and Concord battles. George Washington's famous picture of him crossing the Delaware shows how commanding he was and how he had that attitude and characteristics of a born leader. Washington is such a great leader because he follows this quote by Aristotle, "He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander". He has shown this trait many times. When he was under the command of General Braddock. He was a great soldier. Even if one man does not take all of the actions people and soldiers will follow by example. To go back to the original question. Much was expected from George Washington. He had many responsibilities as a man of such rank. Not only did the country ask him to be a General in the Army but later they asked him to lead the country becoming the first U.S. president. Joseph Ellis puts it perfect as how important George Washington was to the colonists. This quote comes from the chapter "Generation". "but far from least, an early unanimous consensus that the first chief executive would be George Washington, only one man, to be sure but an incalculable asset." This just goes to show you that even if you are one man you can do anything if you have the motivation that Washington most likely had. George Washington had the right amount of motivation and confidence. He had enough confidence but had self control. That was indeed the downfall of Britain in the revolutionary war. They were to conceded and thought that the small colonists could not possibly win over them.
The next thing that you need is collaboration. This is explained deeply in the appropriately named chapter called the collaborators in Joseph Ellis' book, Founding Brothers. Benjamin Franklin put it simply, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately". He knew that collaboration was the key to overcoming the British. Even though the colonists were from different countries they still hung together to form one power. Joseph Ellis refers to the John Adams and Thomas Jefferson as the two collaborators.
Many things are required of leadership. There are many personality traits that each of these aforementioned people had. Washington was kind, confident and decisive. He could also sway an audience. Adams and Jefferson shared a lot of the same traits. Both were intelligent and hard working. The next thing you need is vast collaboration. Nothing can get done when people are not working together. The Declaration would have not been as structurally sound as it is if Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin did not collaborate. What do you think our country would be without collaboration within the government.
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