Causes Of The American Revolution

The American Revolution was not just a spontaneous revolt over taxes some may think . There were many things that led up to the outbreak of the American Revolution, such as the Navigation Act, the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening, the French and Indian War, the Boston Massacre, and the Coercive Acts. It took many years for it to take place. This all started previously before 1775 with the first major event being the Navigation Acts of 1651.

In the 1760s and 1770s, Britain, in order to gain revenue from the colonies, passed acts that would later lead to the American desire for independence. These included the Sugar Act, which taxed imported sugar, and the Stamp Act, which required the purchase of specific paper for the use of legal documents. The colonists were outraged, and fought for representation in Britain, but the British argued that they had virtual representation, meaning there were British men supposedly representing the Americans from abroad. In Boston, there was an outbreak of violence as well as the formation of the moderate protest group, the Sons of Liberty. These disliked acts were later repealed and reduced due to fear of the colonists’ movement towards non-importation from Britain,

The causes of the American Revolution go back to the beginning of salutary neglect and the French and Indian War, as well as changes in the thinking of society. The effects of these events and other factors led to pressure within the colonies, ultimately resulting in rebellion.

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea that was imported to New England. The colonist began to boycott these goods which angered English authorities. They placed military officials so that they could force the colonists to pay the much needed taxes. Tensions between British soldiers and colonists escalated. This lead to the Boston Massacre; it was propagandized and impassioned many settlers to rebel. In response for the unfair taxes on tea, the colonists dumped the imported tea into the harbor. People became much more ardent to their side after the incident. You were either for the revolution; a patriot, or you sided with England; a loyalist.

Following the Boston Massacre, which was initially an act of anger towards Great Britain, the Boston Tea party took place. The Boston Tea party occurred for the same reason as the Boston Massacre. This reason was again, taxation without representation. The colonists were fed up with all of the taxes and acted out. On December 16, 1773, the colonists boarded British ships and dumped all of the tea and other goods into the ocean. This outraged the King of Great Britain. The port that the tea  and goods were dumped at out of Boston was shut down by the King until it was cleaned up by the colonists. The King also put complete rule over Massachusetts, and sent troops into the colonies to take them over. These punishments that the King set for the colonists are an example of the Intolerable Acts.

The American Revolution took place from 1775 to 1783. This war happened because of the tension that began between the colonist and the British government. As the British government increased the colonist taxes, tension started to build. The colonist dislikes the idea of taxes because the government saw it as an opportunity to regain debt created by wars. Taxation without the representation was the major issue the colonist had with the British government.

In 1775, the American Revolution begins with fighting at Lexington and Concord. The American Revolution was a conflict between Great Britain and volunteers of thirteen colonies who broke away from the Britain Empire. These thirteen colonies will be the first colonies in North America. The conflict between the colonists and the British started as a disagreement as to how the colonists were being treated by the British and how the colonists felt that they deserved to be treated, which were with equal rights, but the British did not feel so.

How far do you agree that the cause of the American Revolution was the introduction of the Tea Act in 1773?

In 1773 Britain tried to save the financially troubled British East India Company by passing the Tea Act, which lowered the tax on tea shipped by the company to the colonies, giving the company an edge over tea smugglers. The colonists responded by refusing to buy English tea and refusing to allow it to be unloaded from British ships. In Boston protesters dressed as American Indians dumped crates of tea into the water, and the event came to be known as the Boston Tea Party. Parliament retaliated in 1774 by passing the Coercive Acts, which were labeled the "Intolerable Acts" by the colonists (American Revolutionary War). These laws closed the port of Boston until the East India Company was repaid for the dumped tea, restricted the powers of the Massachusetts colonial legislature, and permitted British soldiers and officials accused of capital crimes to be tried in England rather than in the hostile colony. In addition, Parliament appointed General Thomas Gage, commander of the British Army in North America, as the governor of Massachusetts. Gage was to enforce the Coercive Acts (American Revolutionary War).

Revolutionary war in America led to the birth of a new nation-the United States. The war, which is also called the American Revolution, was fought between Great Britain and its 13 colonies that lay along the Atlantic Ocean in North America. The war began on April 19, 1775, when British soldiers and American patriots clashed at Lexington, Mass., and at nearby Concord. The war lasted eight years. Tension had been building between Great Britain and the American colonies for more than 10 years before the British government passed a series of laws to increase its control over the colonies. Americans had grown used to a large measure of self-government. They strongly resisted the new laws, especially tax laws. Fierce debate developed over the British Parliament’s right to tax the colonies without their consent.

During the period between the French and Indian war and the American Revolution, there were many events that eventually lead to the American Revolution. Most of these events had good intentions but in the end, they ended up causing drama and uneasiness between the colonies and the British. It can be proved that the American revolution could have been avoided.

SUMMARY: The Revolutionary War, also known as the “War of American Independence” went on for eight long years, from 1775 to 1783. The war is identified by Battles that were fought, starting with the first two battles of Concord and Lexington. By comparison, these battles would be consider a street fight in our view of war today, but are marked in History as the beginning of American freedom.

There were two major economic factors that help propel the colonist to declare independence the first taxes and the second being unfair trade policy. Following the War of 1763 Britain obtained new tracts of land from the French; this war had been costly to England. Now that the war was over England namely the parliament was looking for a way to payback some of the war expenses by taxing the colonists trading goods. The colonist looked at this as a lack of representation in Parliament and rested these taxes. They first protested then they boycotted the taxes, and finally in a bold act of defiance through tea into Boston harbor now known as the Boston Tea party. This in turn forced Britain to impose a naval blocked of the harbor causing more

In the 1760’s, British Parliament passed multiple laws and taxes on American colonists such as the Townshend Act and Intolerable Acts. American colonists believed these laws to be unfair and they disagreed, which led to conflict between the British and the Americans. Americans were shocked by what they claimed to be violations of their liberties and over time, their shock grew into a rebellion. Later on, American colonists declared their independence from Britain and their unfair laws. Eventually these rebellions against British Parliament led up to the American Revolution.

However, with the growth of the British monarchy and its attempts to fund wars in Europe, representative government of the colonies was limited and taxes and tariffs were introduced. As a result, people got angry with the actions of the British government and decided to take critical steps. “Religion played a major role in the American Revolution by offering a moral sanction for opposition to the British--an assurance to the average American that revolution was justified in the sight of God. As a recent scholar has observed, "by turning colonial resistance into a righteous cause, and by crying the message to all ranks in all parts of the colonies, ministers did the work of secular radicalism and did it better” (Republic Religion).