The Pursuit of Free

The Pursuit of Freedom Essay The exploration of the world has always been interesting to the human mind. During the 1700s, many discoveries were made of new land including North America. The exploration of the western hemisphere was a great feat for the Europeans. The Europeans were the first explorers that colonized in what is known as The United States of America today. Ever since people set foot on American soil, people went through several movements that often changed many aspects of America and the daily lives of the citizens that colonized the states. One of the main movements that greatly influenced America as a whole was the Enlightenment period. The American Revolution looked at through European Movement Europe, mainly Great Britain, played a large role in shaping the states and furthering their progress in becoming an independent nation. However, Great Britain did not want America to become independent because they had full control over all of the colonies. Great Britain made a hefty profit off of America when they had control. After the Seven Year War, Great Britain placed extra taxes on the colonies to make them pay off the expenses that Great Britain had after protecting the colonies for those years. This along with Enlightenment pushed America to further their quest for independence. The ideas that brought about the enlightenment movement were actually brought to America by the Europeans. Enlightenment showed Americans that independence was possible to achieve and started the progression of the American Revolution. The people that supported the Enlightenment movement focused on the â€Å"pursuit of happiness†, and they believed that every person obtained the right to be a free citizen and have the same rights no matter what their wealth or popularity was. They also believed in every citizen’s right to free speech and their right to practice whatever religion they chose. These laws and beliefs still govern our nation today so the idea introduced by Europeans actually helped the United States separate from Europe and form their own nation. During the American Revolution, politics were still developing and many new parties sprung up in the running for office. A rise in Nationalism brought together the nation and made them want to have their nation under their control even more than ever. Nationalism influenced the colonist to revolt against Britain and seek their right to own the land they live on. Many nationalists wanted their territory that they cultivate to be theirs and not be able to be taken due to the excessive taxes that they could not afford to pay. The nation sought out together to take their land and this greatly affected the outcome of the American Revolution.