The Revolution was conservative. There was always a strong desire in
the American mind to preserve, perpetuate, and improve existing
institutions. Our fathers were not the enemies of government. They
were ready at all times to sustain a government founded upon and
recognizing the principles of equality and justice. Nor did they
imagine that society could exist without the agency of a government in
which force should be an element. In the early part of the struggle,
while they denounced the policy of the British Ministry, they gave to
the principles of the British system an unequivocal support. Many
looked only to a reproduction of the home government upon these shores,
but that was as impossible as the continuance of English authority.
It is vain to search for the particular cause, or even occasion, of the
Revolution. It is not contained in any act of Parliament, or
declaration of rights, or assertion of authority. The truth is, the
colonies had reached that point of conscious strength when they must
become an integral part of the British Empire, or be separated entirely
from it. If there ever had been, there was no longer a feeling of
dependence: they were capable of self-support and protection. There
could be no allegiance except upon principles of equality--and this
England refused. The connection was unnatural and burdensome--the
separation was natural and beneficial.
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