American Revolutionary War and The Changes It Caused on Political, Social and Cultural Levels

The American Revolution was a defining time for the United States. The Revolution resulted in a split from England, making the United States its own country. Like any war, the Revolutionary War changed many aspects of American life, especially from 1775-1800. The major changes occured in the political, economic, and social aspects of society in the United States.

Politically, the American government changed drastically. They went from being colonized to controlling their own government. Before declaring independence though, there were multiple political issues that the colonies had to deal with. The main issue was lack of representation. They were being taxed by people who were not there. The people of the colonies didn't have a chance to represent themselves either. Throughout the war, the rebels thought of different ways to run the government. There were different committees held for those reasons. The Committee of Correspondence was the first one. That was the beginning of unification, it was a way to communicate between the colonies about their ideas for the future. Next, was the 1st Continental Congress. That was a congress held for fighting for the rights of the colonies. Then the 2nd Continental Congress was held, there, they nominated George Washington to be their leader, and they wrote the Declaration of Independence. After the United States declared independence, they went to a different form of government. The Articles of Confederation was the United States' first formal government. Because they wanted to keep everything calm after the war, they set up a government with little power. There were many weaknesses to this government, which was proved after Shays Rebellion. This rebellion showed that the United States government was too weak to enforce the law, so the country was in need of a new one.

The States then held a Constitutional Convention. They decided on a two house legislature to satisfy both the big and small states. It was also decided that there would be a president. The choice whether to have a president was highly debated because they feared that the president would gain too much power. At the convention, they talked through all of the government; the three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive, and the checks and balances system. Then, the constitution was written, including the Bill of Rights, which was included for the anti-federalists, or those who were against the constitution. Since the Bill of Rights was included, the states ratified the Constitution and it went into effect.

Like most wars, the Revolutionary war really affected the American economy. Before the war even started, there were many acts that the British put into effect against the colonies. These included the Sugar act, Stamp act, Declaratory act, the Townshend acts, and the Coercive acts. These acts took away rights from the colonies and charged them for everyday things that they used. Soldiers were paid to fight in the war, creating debt for the government to pay off. After the war, the states were left to deal with the debts. The bigger states paid off the debts right away, because they had more people to tax. But the smaller states struggled with finding payments for the debts and with the Articles of Confederation, the government couldn't directly tax citizens, only the states could. This made paying off debts tough.

Socially, the American Revolution changed society in many ways. Secret rebellion groups were started, such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. After the Tea Act was passed, the colonies were outraged. They planned the Boston Tea Party and dumped all of the tea into the Boston Harbor. It was a good act of defiance, but in retaliation, the British enforced the Coercive Acts, which along with doing other things, closed the Boston harbor. During the war, blacks were offered freedom for fighting for the British. The Natives fought with both sides, but mostly stayed out of it, and kept neutrality. Meanwhile, women were left to take care of the homefront. Wives of some soldiers traveled with the camp. They fed, cleaned, sewed, and nursed the soldiers back to health. Women were considered perfect spies and they often passed messeges among soldiers. There were also women who disguised as men so they could fight, but they faced the grave consequence of being hung if they were caught. After independence was declared, social reforms came about because of the treatment of the King and England. Women were also supposed to play a big role after the Revolution. They were meant to live out the Republican Motherhood. They were to raise their children with the idea of Republicanism and the values of the Republic. They also belonged to the Cult of Domesticity, which meant they were stuck in a position at home, doing housework, which was normal for women at the time.

The time of 1775-1800 was a big time in American history. There were many changes going on which resulted in the shaping of the United States. Through all of these ways, the American Revolution changed American society politically, economically, and socially.