The road to the American Revolution was long and complex, with no single cause. Instead, it was the result of a long series of events that built upon each other, resulting in the belief that the colonies did not belong with Great Britain. The Revolution was caused by the impacts of the French and Indian war, Parliament’s continuous taxation without representation, the events that occurred as a result of the acts, Parliament’s retaliation to the colonists’ protests, and most importantly, the development of a sense of independence by the colonists.
The French and Indian War was a major cause of the American Revolution with several factors stemming from it. The war was fought between the French and British over land in North America and spread
…show more content…
Aiming to stop the violence, King George III issued the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting colonists from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains. This was viewed as a violation of the colonists’ basic rights by many who had fought for the very land that was being banned. Furthermore, British forts were placed along the frontier to protect against Indian aggression as well as to enforce the proclamation. To pay for these soldiers, George III followed the proclamation with the Revenue Act of 1764. Also known as the Sugar Act, it essentially made it more difficult to avoid customs laws and angered many American merchants.
Another major cause of the revolution was the taxation of the colonies by Parliament. Soon after the Sugar Act, Parliament passed the Quartering Act in 1765, intending to get colonists to bear more of the cost of keeping soldiers in America. This act required the colonies to provide shelter, food, and drink to the soldiers. This often was the colonists’ own homes and supplies that the soldiers used. While the act did not affect a large portion of the population, it was extremely unpopular and was viewed as another violation of the colonies’
…show more content…
These arguments helped others to understand the situation and take a stand. Some were not so peaceful in their protest of the act including the Sons of Liberty. These radical patriots led by Samuel Adams destroyed the special paper, attacked tax collectors until they resigned, and enforced a boycott on British trade. Any who attempted to trade with the British were beaten, had their property destroyed, and were tarred and feathered: a medieval form of torture. Realizing the Stamp Act could not be enforced, Parliament repealed the act on March 18, 1766 and the boycott was lifted. Not to be beaten, they also passed the Declaratory Act at the same time which stated that Parliament had the right to impose laws on the colonies.
The following year, Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, placing a duty on British imports of glass, lead, paint, tea, and paper. Knowing the taxes would be even more difficult to enforce, Parliament hired Royal Customs Commissioners to collect the taxes and gave them the power to search homes for smuggled goods as well as seize any goods assumed to be
to the Indians. The Sugar Act OF 1764 was a British law passed by the parliament of Great Britain on April 5, 1764 , that was designed to raise revenue from the American colonists in the 13 colonies. This act set a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies which impacted the manufactured was mainly about the manufacture of rum which was a highly lacerative product, that favored England by controlling trade epically in respect of the import of sugarcane from the west Indians constitution issue impact as well as the American revenue act or the American duties act. The English policies of the salutary neglect that was in effect from 1607-1763 encouraged the colonists to violate the law by bribing customs officials and smuggling.
These beliefs led to the enactment Navigation laws, which restricted the colonies to trade solely England. Following the French and Indian war, the British Parliament passed a series of acts that were designed to make the colonies pay off one-third of the costs of the war with France. Some of these acts included the Sugar Act of 1764, which added a tax to sugar imports, the Stamp Act of 1765, which added a tax to many printed materials, and the Townshend Act of 1767, which were designed to pay the salaries of the royal governors. Later when the colonies started to become increasingly defiant, parliament passed the Repressive Acts of 1774, which were designed to punish the colonist for their rebelious behavior. These various acts demonstrated how the British Parliament exercised their control over the colonies.
This resulted in larger taxes on the colonists, as well as laws to force them to pay the new taxes. One of the first laws was the Currency Act of 1764 to make sure colonists would not pay in paper money, as it was not actual currency to them. The Sugar Act renewed an old law that states that sugar and rum from anyone except Britain would have a tax. The difference between the old law and the new one was that the new one was reinforced, and the tax on the sugar was lower. This tax was fueled by the Sugar Interest.
The act, which imposed a tax on all paper documents in the colonies, came at a time when the British Empire was deep in debt from the Seven Years’ War (1756-63) and looking to its North American colonies as a revenue source. Arguing that only their own representative assemblies could tax them, the colonists insisted that the act was unconstitutional, and they resorted to mob violence to intimidate stamp collectors into resigning. The Boston Massacre occurred on March 5, 1770. A squad of British soldiers, come to support a sentry who was being pressed by a heckling, snowballing crowd, let loose a volley of shots.
“A little rebellion now and then is a good thing” is an important quote from Thomas Jefferson about the American Revolution. From the Townshend and Stamp acts to the Battle of Bunker Hill, there were three main causes of the American Revolution: The Proclamation of 1763, Townshend and Stamp Acts, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. The first main cause of the American Revolution was the Proclamation of 1763. It created a line that kept the colonist east of the Appalachian Mountains.
This fact shows how the colonists were on a revolutionary path, but still denied the revolution and were not yet at the point of no return. Both the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, along with other patriots, took money from and ransacked the homes of unpopular officials. As a result, the officials who were supposed to sell the stamps resigned. America had bought 25% of British exports and 50% of British shipping was bringing goods to America, and Britain suffered severely. Merchants and laborers in Britain were out of work and demanded the Stamp Act be repealed.
In 1763, Britain started to force the colonies to pay taxes even though they greatly opposed. The French and Indian War debt, although Britain won, was one of the first reasons taxes were increased. Secondly in 1764, the Sugar Act was passed. Unalike Walpole’s salutary neglect policy, these new taxation on sugar and molasses was enforced, upsetting the colonials. And in 1765 the Stamp Act put taxes on paper goods which upsetted the colonials more.
The American Revolution was an ongoing controversial topic that is the subject of many debates and historians’ studies. A war that some say was all to blame on the colonists. On the contrary to this belief, this war was to blame on the British due to their irrational acts, laws, and taxes passed. These enacted rules angered many colonists as the acts, in turn, caused bankruptcy for many citizens. The unfair ordinances resulted in a series of bloodshed battles, beginning in 1775 and ending in 1783.
The American Revolution in 1776 was ultimately the birth of a new nation that would become a major influence in the world. Several factors combined to create an atmosphere conducive for revolution. First, the colonists felt that England restricted their trade and waterways. Second, the colonists were burdened by over-taxation. The colonists further felt these taxes were imposed without fair representation in Parliament.
The American Revolution is now justified for the American colonists because of the unjust acts and unfair power the British had over the colonist’s prior. One of the biggest issues that caused tension between the American colonies and Great Britain was the taxes that Parliament made the colonists pay to help pay off the debt and expenses of the French and Indian War. From 1756 to 1763, the British was involved in the French and Indian war or also known as the Seven Years War. Before the war started, there were wars in Europe between France and Britain. The war began to spread to North America because the British wanted to take over the land that the French had owned in the country.
The causes of the revolutionary war were more economical than political mainly, because of one factor which was taxes. The British imposed a number of taxes on the American colonists to pay off their war debts and also for the cost of protecting the colonists from the local Native Americans. By imposing these taxes, this caused great tension between the British and the colonists and eventually led to war.
The colonists were justified declaring independence. Ignoring their every plead, speech, letter, King George III didn’t always treat the colonists fair, thus forcing them to live in absolute tyranny. The colonists dealt with numerous hardships accompanied by Great Britain. They decided to turn the other cheek, to walk the dirt path into a new future of independence and liberty. To begin with a vital event with King George III and patriots, taxation without representation.
Oftentimes, when the topic of the American Revolution is brought up, taxation without representation is automatically deemed the cause. This common thought, however, is incorrect as taxation without representation did not top the list of grievances. The specific cause of the American Revolution cannot be attributed to one event alone, but multiple afflictions including the French and Indian War, the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, and the Boston Tea Party.
Britain needed a way to fix this. They came up with the Sugar Act, a set of taxes to help Britain raise money. Taxes were not a new thing for the colonists, but these new taxes caused big issues. The Sugar Act was suggested by Prime Minister George Greenville.
The French and Indian war, also known as the Seven Years’ war, was fought between France and Great Britain. It started because of French expansion into the Ohio Valley. This expansion created conflict