America's Eventual Sovereignty Over Great Britain

In the modern age, the United States of America is arguably one of the most powerful nation-states in the world and one of the most influential in the international arena. The U.S. seems to often hold influence militarily, politically, and economically, in many different major situations and conflicts around the world as they arise. The United States however, is a generally new nation, and rose from humble beginnings.

The U.S. began its life as thirteen different colonies, all slowly established between 1607 and 1733. They were located on the North American east coast and all under British rule. However, these colonies were largely allowed to develop and govern themselves freely, with little interference from the government of their mother country for some time. Britain kept the thirteen American Colonies solely as a means to promote their economic policy of Mercantilism, and bring certain natural resources to Britain. Thus Britain did not need to exercise much power over the colonies through policy, only holding a few requirements of them, such as maintaining a royal post office (Gavin).

When established, the people of the thirteen colonies strongly identified with English culture and saw themselves as part of the British nation-state. British Parliament and the British Royalty held much legitimacy in their eyes as the strongest and morally superior government of the world(Gavin). However, years of little government intervention and the passing of generations created differences in way of life, thought, and interests between the people of the American colonies and the English culture. As well, local political institutions and practice diverged from the traditional British methods significantly. The different environment between British mainland and the colonies forged differences in social customs, religious beliefs, and most importantly, economic interests. Although technically under the political power of Great Britain, the people of the colonies slowly formed a new nation, different from the British nation-state.

These differences imposed little to no problems to Britain's legitimacy to its colonies and sovereignty over its colonies, until the British Parliament decided to take a more active role in the mercantilist relationship between Britain and its North American Colonies. The first policies Parliament enacted were the Iron Act of 1750 and the Currency Act of 1751(Gavin). Respectively, the acts put controls on the colonial iron industry, to keep the English iron industry superior, and prohibited the printing of paper money by the colonists. Within two years, the freedoms to make policy and grow economically were encroached upon by British government. Although the effects of these policies were minimal, colonists reacted very negatively and resented Parliament's power over the American colonies. Following the passage of these acts, more are put into place, some attempting to bring funds for Great Britain and others attempting to reinstate the British Governments power over the colonies. Some of the new policies included the Sugar Act of 1764 which put taxes on many items such as sugar, wine, coffee and textiles, the Stamp Act of 1765which taxed all printed materials such as newspapers, bills, and legal documents, the Quartering Act of 1765 which required colonists to house and feed all British soldiers, the Declaratory Act of 1766 which simply stated that the British Government had complete control political power over the colonies and the authority to make and enforce laws, and the Townshend Revenue Acts of 1767 which taxed imports such as paper, tea, and glass(Gavin).

These acts by Parliament impinged on the Sovereignty the colonies once had economically and in policy making. In order to fight against what colonists saw as British trans-sovereignty into their territory, state as well as non-state actors developed in opposition to Britain. An underground group who call themselves the "Sons of Liberty" use intimidation and violence to force the resignation of all the British agents assigned to enforce the stamp act (Gavin).As well, a group of representatives from nine of the thirteen colonies called the "Stamp Act Congress" convened in New York City and sent a petition declaring the acts and taxes by parliament on the colonies an encroachment on the colonists civil rights. The Virginia House of Burgesses, the official colonial government for Virginia, accepts seven "Virginia Resolutions", presented by Patrick Henry, declaring that only the Virginia House of Burgesses has the power to tax the people of Virginia.

Eventually Britain declared the thirteen colonies as being in "a state of rebellion" in order to control them with the British military. As a rebuttal, the thirteen colonies create a coalition of representatives which they called the continental congress. The Continental Congress submitted to the King of Great Britain a declaration of independence on July 1776, declaring themselves a sovereign state. Afterwards, the British military attempted to occupy the thirteen colonies and war was declared between the colonies and Great Britain.

The Colonies wouldn't have stood a chance against all of Great Britain's military might but France had a steak in the outcome of the war between Britain and its colonies. France had just lost land they had in modern day Canada to Great Britain in the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Also, as other European powers were surging forward in colonizing vast amounts of land in North and South America, France was losing its prestige and position as one of the world's great powers. Britain losing its American colonies would be a great blow to its power and would open an opportunity for France to form an alliance with the new American country and forge trade routes and cheap natural resources. France, wishing to exercise more influence and power in the North American region, as well as increase its image to other European countries in the international arena, aided the colonies in their war. The French sent aide in the form of munitions and supplies as well as a large portion of their own troops. French aide eventually helped the American colonies win the war against their mother country, and the 1783 Treaty of Paris was signed between the colonies and Great Britain.

After a failed attempt at a system of government called the Articles of Confederation, The former colonies reorganized themselves into the United States of America, and hold the same government in the modern era. This system of government has used nationalism to exercise power over its people, and give itself legitimacy. American nationalism, or whats come to be known as patriotism, is centered on its unique form of government. As a representative democracy, America has emphasized that it is a government run by the people, and draws its authority from the fact that it was given power directly from the common man, and thus works in the best interest of the common man. From this quality the government draws much of its legitimacy in the eyes of the people.

Also, as the first successful democracy of its time, America insists on its form of government as being morally superior to any other government or nation-state. This gave it authority in the eyes of its people to conquer all of the Native American tribes and other nations inhabiting North America in order to claim ownership all the way to the west coast of the continent. This was known as "Manifest Destiny" to fulfill America's destiny of ruling over all of its section of North America all the way to the west coast. The ethics in this logic have been called into question, as well as America's more modern attempts to "spread" democracy to other nation-states outside its borders through military and diplomatic means. However, the strong patriotism in America has allowed it to function through all of its foreign policy fairly smoothly, without compromising the strength of its infrastructure from unrest of its people.

Conquering North America all the way to the west coast has given America an abundance of natural resources and land space. Over time, the capitalist economic system has allowed the U.S. to expand rapidly and grow into the economic super power it is today. The United States has used this monetary power to influence many foreign affairs. In the modern age, America's power stretches across the globe. This entanglement in foreign affairs often causes America to partially lose its sovereignty. For example, as a western and democratic power under strife, America chooses to financially and militarily support the nation-state of Israel. This garners a lot of hatred from many Middle Eastern nations and even whole nation-states towards America. This hatred causes a lot of violence and violent threats towards the United States that recently has affected the United State's foreign and domestic policy very significantly. The U.S.'s entanglement in Israel's conflicts impinges on America's sovereignty in the foreign and domestic arenas.

The United States of America, although a relatively young nation-state has made a large impact in international politics and presented a unique case study of a colony gaining independence. Today America influences the world militarily, economically, politically, and diplomatically quite significantly. However, America never would have existed if not for a few minor policy decisions by Great Britain to provoke America into full scale rebellion.

WorksCited "Conflict and Revolution." The History Place. Ed. Phillip Gavin. 4 July 1996. 9 Mar. 2009.

"The complete history- American Revolution." American Revolution. 2006. 8 Mar. 2009.