Good Example Of How Revolutionary Was The American Revolution? Research Proposal

The American Revolution is a monumental landmark of the American history. The British had begun colonizing the Americas in early 1600s and by the eighteenth century had gained control in most parts of this region. The British reign was brought to an end by a confluence of multiple factors like transformations in thought and collective consciousness regarding politics and rights. The culminating point of these transformations was a war known as the American Revolutionary War which ultimately resulted in the formation of United States of America and the ousting of British monarchy. Despite the overarching impact of the Revolution some segments of the American society benefit little if at all. Groups like women and African Americans had to bring about their own revolutions later on to claim their rights and elevate the discrimination against them. This paper will aim to establish that the impact of American Revolution was limited to certain groups and other groups, particularly the African Americans were largely excluded from reaping the benefits of the Revolution. Possible reasons of this inequitable impact will also be researched to bolster the claim that the American Revolution was not equally revolutionary for all social groups and classes.

Why research this topic?

The election of Barack Obama as the first African American President of the United State is considered a glorious achievement of the African American community and American society in general. The election of this one person is like a revolution in itself. But it is question worthy that the African American community had to struggle for two hundred more years after the American Revolution to achieve their current status in the larger American context. During this period many major incidents occurred that had a bearing on the prevalence of racism in America. People like Martin Luther King and Claudette Colvin, groups like the KKK and events like the Montgomery Bus Movement and the African-American Civil Rights Movement went down in history. Had the American Revolution been as effective as it ought to have been considering its philosophical basis of social contract, natural rights and equality this struggle should not have occurred. It will be interesting to analyze the American Revolution from this perspective and see how and why it lacked in producing the ideal results.

Potential Problems

The main problem with this topic as it is with most of the research in history will be to sort through the available material. It is difficult to imagine African American scholars from the late eighteenth century who could have objectively documented the progression of American Revolution and its effect on the Afro-American community. The issue of objectivity will also persist with the Caucasian scholarship as any such inquiry will have seemed accusatory, prompting them to be defensive or dismissive about this topic.
Apart from objective firsthand accounts the sheer volume of the available material on the American Revolution will also be hard to deal with. More than two hundred years have passed allowing enough time for a myriad of research to accumulate on this topic. Finding the most appropriate material and going through it in detail so as not to miss out on some crucial insight will be another potential problem.