Artifact 4, Student B

1. Red = Intro
Orange = Claim
Green = Evidence
Blue = Reasoning
Purple = Conclusion
The American Revolution was caused by the British taxing the American colonies
because they had used up their money and were broke from the French-Indian war.
Not willing to tax their elite, they decided to abuse the colonies for money.
But....they got greedy, and the colonists got so mad, they decided to make a new
country instead of paying the taxes. This started a war, called the American
Revolution. Thought to be revolutionary, which means “Of or bringing about a
major or fundamental change”, the American Revolution was revolutionary
because it created a new political environment with the guise of being helpful to
everybody, but it only helped the elites’ status.
The American Revolution was revolutionary becausethe Declaration of
Independence made a new country in which the loopholes created could be
exploited to help the elitists. In the second paragraph, it says “Prudence, indeed,
will dictate that Governments long establishedshould not be changedfor light
and transient causes ;and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind
are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by

2. abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”What it’s saying is that some
suffering is normal, because it’s part of the battle for political power, but when it
gets to a point where it is overwhelming, that means it is time for a new political
environment. This connects to the claim because it states that they needed a fresh
battleground for political fights, and the British one was not working. Second, in
the list of causes to leave Great Britain, it lists causes that affect “us”, not being
very specific, and those were moral issues, such as the prevention of “Fair Justice”,
which is vague about the actual issue. In the section of crimes committed, the
phrase “Forcutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:” is talking about King
George stopping trade. Another crime, “He has made Judges dependent on his Will
alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.”
is talking about him influencing the judges to they rulein his favor if they want to
keep their jobs, or be paid. This “us” is not clear, and because of this, half of the
causes of the revolution actually only applied to the elite whites at the time. The
other half of the causes were vague moral causes, that were not specific to any
political group. Forexample, there was nothing that referred to farmers, and how
their trade may have been impacted by the British. This proves that the Declaration
had the guise of helping everyone because it gave them false hope for something
they did not fully understand because the majority of the population was illiterate,
or not educated. The elitists exploited the mob mentality of the colonists, and riled

3. them up. This shows that the Declaration only helped elites becausethe Revolution
let them create a brand new place with the laws the elitists wanted.
Overall, the Revolution was revolutionary; though, in the end, the entire purposeof
a revolution is pointless. Revolutions are started by someone greedy for power, and
result in a simple power shift. Nothing is really revolutionary because the power
just moves from one group to another.
Written by: Elyo Marques, 703