Exercises on the Independence of the United States

(Fuvest-SP) "Puritanism was almost as much a theory as a religious doctrine. That's why they had barely landed on that inhospitable coast [...J the immigrants (Puritans) first care was to organize themselves into society."

This passage from A. de Tocqueville's Democracy in America concerns the attempt:

a) failure of the French Puritans to found a new society in Brazil, the so-called France Antarctica.

b) failure of the French Puritans to found a new society in Canada.

c) success of the English Puritans in founding a new society in the South of the United States.

d) success of the English Puritans in founding a new society in the North of the United States, in the so-called New England.

e) success of the English Puritans, responsible for the creation of all English colonies in America.

Describe England's attitude towards the colonies located in North America, giving special emphasis to the practice of “healthy neglect”.

Explain the situation that impelled England to extinguish the old liberties that mark its relationship with the Thirteen Colonies.

What is the historical significance of the so-called Boston Tea Party?

Why did the French support the Thirteen Colonies in the War of Independence? And how did that influence the course of the French Revolution?

Letter D. Analyzing Tocqueville's speech, we observe that the process of colonization of North America happened thanks to a group of British Protestants interested in establishing a new society in those lands. Struck by the storm of revolutions and religious conflicts, they were determined to undertake the construction of a “New England” free from the problems and strife that marked their native England.

Because of the time taken in internal conflicts and against other European nations, the British government did not undertake a colonial policy in which the settlers' activities were severely supervised. In this regard, the British stance became known as “healthy negligence” as it opened up an opportunity for North American settlers to develop their own political and economic organization.

Between the years 1756 and 1763, England was involved in the so-called Seven Years' War. In this conflict, fought against the French, the English government ended up defeating its enemies at the cost of an enormous debt. In such a way, seeking to repair its delicate financial situation, the government of England decided to undertake the collection of new taxes in the Thirteen Colonies.

The “Boston Tea Party” was one of the first situations of conflict in which the British showed their dissatisfaction with the new tax policy of the British Crown. After the conflict that took place in that event, the settlers were repressed by the British with the publication of the so-called “Intolerable Laws”. These, in turn, organized themselves to demand the end of these demands and, soon after, organize the declaration of their independence.

France decided to support the Thirteen Colonies as a form of retaliation for the defeat suffered by the British in the Seven Years' War. French participation in the American War of Independence ended up influencing the French through the ideals of equality and autonomy that inspired the American colonists against England. Similarly, this same discourse was taken up again when the French population questioned the monarchical authority in their country.