American Revolution?

Every child in America learns about the American Revolution in which the first 13 colonies of our nation fought for, and won, independence from British rule.  Of course this was a big step in the progression of the United States to becoming what it is today, but the reading this week left me wondering if calling it a "revolution" is somewhat of a misnomer.

For most of the 17th and 18th centuries, the British colonies in North America were technically ruled by Britain, but were fortunate enough to have a certain amount of freedom from it's ruling country as Britain was in the middle of dealing with it's own internal conflicts and conflicts with France.  The colonists became a kind of self governing body, but continued to remain a part of the British Empire because it granted them protection in war and access to British markets.  

As the conflicts with France drained the British treasury, Britain began imposing new taxes and tariffs on the colonies in order to make some of this money back.  This challenged the colonies' economic interests and the autonomy that they had once had.  The colonist had based much of their self governing tactics on ideas from the Enlightenment; "popular sovereignty, natural rights, and consent of the governed" (p.786-787) and Britain's attempt at being an imperial power over the colonies was in opposition to these ideas, so the colonist went to war, and by 1781 the succeeded in becoming independent from Britain.  

The problem I find in calling this a "revolution" is that nothing very revolutionary happened after this war was over.  The point of gaining independence from Britain was that the colonies would be able to continue to govern themselves as they had before Britain began imposing new taxes and tariffs, which they did.  Even before the revolution, the colonies held that, "No legal distinctions differentiated clergy, aristocracy, and commoners...All free men enjoyed the same status before the law...These conditions made for less poverty, more economic opportunity, fewer social differences, and easier relationships among the classes than in Europe." (p.786)  These ideas were certainly new for the time, but they did not arise out of the war and/or independence from Britain.  The ideas and values held by the colonists were already in place. 

So, is it correct to say that this war and independence from Britain was actually a revolution? 

According to www.merriam-webster.com, a revolution is;

"a :  a sudden, radical, or complete change

b :  a fundamental change in political organization; especially :  the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed

c :  activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation

d :  a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something :  a change of paradigm <the Copernican revolution>

e :  a changeover in use or preference especially in technology <the computer revolution> <the foreign car revolution>"

From this definition of the word, we can (kind of) say that the American Revolution of the 18th century was a revolution based on point b.  The colonist did renounce Britain and their ruling body, but they had already been governing themselves for some time.  The only thing that changed was that after 1781, it was then official that Britain was no longer in charge of the colonies.  

But, if we look to point a from the definition, the American Revolution does not meet this requirement.  There were no sudden, radical, or complete changes in the ways the people of the colonies lived their lives.  The American Revolution made it possible for these people to continue to govern themselves as they had been doing for some time.  So, it seems that nothing really revolutionary happened within the colonies.

It is my opinion that the American Revolution was not so much of a revolution as it was a complete liberation from British rule, especially in comparison to some of the other revolutions we have studied.  The true revolutionary aspects of colonial life happened well before 1781.  But I may be in the minority here because other countries at this time felt that the (now) United States were the, "hope and model of the human race" (p.787).

Either way, this revolution/liberation/emancipation of the United States from Britain used insight gained from the Enlightenment to inspire future revolutions and also began the breakdown of Europe's New World Empire.  Even today it represents the  idea that people could can successfully rise up against an oppressive ruling body.