Well-thought out responses will note that American political thought emerged on the North American continent much earlier than the Revolutionary period.
From the earliest contact period, English colonists noted the democratic forms of government practiced by Native Americans. They were also governed loosely by the English government. They were used to trading with whomever they pleased, they appointed their own political representatives who passed laws/policies independent of the English government, and they began to separate themselves culturally as time passed (certainly the case with respect to religiosity).
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By the time of the Revolutionary period, American colonists had a firm understanding of themselves politically and resented the interference in American life by the King and Parliament. In essence, the enforcement of British law in the 1760s prompted a violent response from the American colonists and ultimately lead to the American Revolution. In the aftermath of the Revolution, the new republic established a series of laws/policies to ensure a large, centralized government could not abuse American “rights.”
Please see below for a series of important terms/events/issues inherent in this question.
* Early colonial period (Jamestown, Maryland, Massachusetts Bay Colony, etc.)
* The Enlightenment period
* Deism/Pietism/the Great Awakening
* The French-Indian War
* The Revolutionary period
* Articles of Confederation vs. the Constitution
* Federalist party vs. Democratic-Republicans
* Jeffersonian democracy
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