American Revolution Social Factors

The British had sent more than 10,000 troops to North America by the end of the French and Indian War. The British felt like they had spent a great deal of money in protecting the American colonists. They were in debt around 140 million pounds. To pay off all of their debt the British decided to increase the enforcement of existing taxes on the Colonists and impose additional taxes. The British issued The Proclamation of 1763 which meant the colonists couldn’t cheat the Indians out of land. They also establish a border in where they could not buy land. This made the colonist mad because it made them feel like the British were interfering and trying to limit their economic growth.

At the time tea was the most popular non-alcoholic drink in the world, and consequently, was highly taxed. All tea which was being sent to America was first shipped through England. By the time the tea made it to America, the price was through the roof. In response to the high price of tea, many merchants began smuggling the tea into America and selling it at a discounted price to the colonists. This system worked well until the Tea Act was passed. The Tea Act lowered the import tax on tea, and imposed a small tax on the tea itself. Unfortunately, the colonists did not react as well as the English hoped. Merchants felt threatened by the tax as many of their businesses relied on smuggled tea to turn a profit. The colonists also reacted negatively, believing that Britain was unfairly imposing a tax which they had to right to impose. In retaliation, American colonists dressed as Indians and dumped 342 chests of tea from British merchant ships into Boston Harbour, and again, nine days later in Delaware, colonists dumped over 700 chests. The British, rightly outraged by the actions of the colonists, imposed the Coercive Acts: 1) the King closed Boston Harbour until all the dumped tea was payed for, 2) the Massachusetts charter was annulled, and the governor council was reappointed by the King, 3) the Quartering Act required homeowners

The British thought a seemingly reasonable way to avoid war with the Indians was the Proclamation of 1763. Britain felt it was necessary as the Native Americans had made it clear they knew their land was valuable (Document B) and were threatening action should American encroachments continue. The Proclamation denied Americans the ability to settle on most of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, land they felt they had fought for and gained from the French (Document A). By denying Americans land they felt was their right, the British made Americans feel as though they were not being respected. Another inflammatory subject were the acts the British passed regarding to taxes.

Britain noticed the problems that would face with the Natives so they made the Proclamation of 1763. It was then made to further prevent anymore future conflicts with the Natives because of Britain’s huge debt. This angered and confused the colonists, they had just fought two wars for land and they couldn’t even move into it. The colonists complained that they had the right to reside wherever they wanted. This was the beginning of many unfair and unjust laws and acts Britain

The tax on molasses imported into North America from the French West Indies, was reduced from 6 - 3 pence per gallon due to The Sugar Act in 1764. The colonists did not see this as a welcoming reduction of taxation, they saw it as an attempt to get them to pay a levy they would otherwise have evaded. The Stamp Act in 1765 was an effort to strengthen the long-established Navigation Act. The Parliament rose money through direct taxes in the colonies, rather than through the regulation of trade. The colonies must stamp all the printed material with a stamp purchased from authorities.

Parliament decided that the colonies should help pay towards the cost of the recent war debt and for future defense. The first step towards this was the Revenue Act of 1764, generally referred to as the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act was also known as “an Act with Teeth,”(Mass Historical Society) symbolizing that it was an act with depth or of importance. The Act itself was divided into two sections. First, it was intended to raise money from trade between the British colonies in America. It levied import duties on a list of raw materials including: sugar, coffee, indigo, wine, rum, lumber, and various cloths. The Sugar Act made the Molasses Act of 1733 perpetual. Although it cut the tax on molasses in half, from sixpence to threepence per gallon, to discourage smuggling and to make the tax attractive. Second, the Act revamped and reinvigorated the customs service, which managed the collection of these import duties. For the first time, colonists argued that Parliament was depriving them of a fundamental constitutional right to have these goods duty free.

The first cause of the American Revolution was the French and Indian War and the distance between Britain and the colonists.

On April 5, 1764, the Sugar Act was the first of many taxes to be placed upon the American colonies to help pay off Britain’s debt from the American Revolution. In the Sugar Act, products imported into the colonies were being taxed, such as coffee, textiles, and, of course, sugar. The colonists did not take too kindly to this, as the number of places that they could sell to was lowered, which led to the amount of money for them to buy things was decreasing, so their economy became weaker. And as they had less money to support themselves, the taxes were affecting them more than ever. In this way, the colonists became much more aware about how the British were treating them.

After nearly a year of protests, the Sons of Liberty were finally victorious in March of 1766 when Parliament decided to repeal the Stamp Act,but later the British put a tax on tea.The controversy over the tea tax was made worse by the passing of the Tea Act of 1773, which allowed for tea sold by British companies to be shipped directly to the colonies and sold at a discount. As the tax on tea was still in place, this act was a subtle way to persuade colonists to comply with the tax.The colonists were not pleased.

While the British leaders tried to increase control over their empire, laws concerning imperial trade were on the books for many generations. American colonists had been known to evade any such regulation and even traded with the French. Britain was unfair in many trade policies and began to reform the imperial system. They enforced higher taxes and costs for their own protection from the American colonists. They created additional revenue by realizing stricter control in navigation and trade. The Sugar Act of 1764 passed by the parliament attempted to increase the revenue of the colonies by incurring a tax on molasses. While this tax was in the books since 1730, smuggling and carelessness in enforcement couldn’t let the law win. As the tax was supposed to be enforced, it created a big uproar among those who were affected and therefore the American colonists created a large scale of boycotts of many British goods for the same reason. The parliament enacted stiff measures that were known as

The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war between England and the colonies which were settled earlier by the English. There were many factors and events that led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was mainly an economic rebellion that was fueled by taxation without representation following the French and Indian War. The English Parliament was more often than not considered cruel and unfair by the colonists. With conflicts over trade, taxes and government representation, the colonies were at a starting line of a revolution that would later transform into the basis of the United States of America.

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.

The economic and social causes for the American Revolution were based off of the imposement of British taxes in the colonies. The colonists found the British taxes to be extremely unfair and uncalled for. The British claimed

The 1773 Tea Act did cause the American Revolution in that it sparked huge opposition amongst the colonists. It was the third time that the British had tried to tax the Americans — both the 1765 Stamp Act and the 1767 Townshend Duties had been repealed due to such opposition. The Tea Act was the final straw for many colonists — the Sons of Liberty organised a huge protest in which they boarded the ships carrying the East India Company’s tea, and threw £10,000 worth of tea into the sea in defiance. This was known as the Boston Tea Party and demonstrated to the British that the Americans were not willing to accept British taxation. The slogan ‘no taxation without representation’ was frequently used, showing how the Americans felt the British, in trying to tax them, were attempting to impose a tyrannical rule. The Boston Tea Party provoked outrage in Britain, with many of the politically conscious calling for the Americans to be punished. This then led to the Coercive Acts in 1774, which aimed at isolating Boston — although it only resulted in increasing the tension between the

These acts had been around for a long time and caused little problems. They often benefited from these acts because although they had to buy from England, it was the most advanced industrial country and could often offer the best prices. The first tax to cause trouble in the colonies was the Sugar Act followed closely by the Stamp Act. The Sugar Act was truly just a restatement of old customs laws in an effort to raise money. The Stamp Act was a tax in which anything formally written or printed would have to be on specially stamped paper which was shipped from London. The colonists would soon pay taxes "at every stage of a lawsuit, that diplomas and deeds, almanacs and advertisements, bills and bonds, customs papers and newspapers, even dice and cards, would all be charged," (Morgan 19). The colonists reacted very violently to these taxes. They protested and boycotted throughout the nation and the British Parliament soon repealed the tax. Radicals began to proclaim the fact that there should be no taxation without representation. This meant that colonists should be represented in Parliament if they were going to be taxed by them. The British stated that every member of the Parliament was there to represent the whole Empire, not just the electors he represented. Therefore, the Americans would have no representation in Parliament. In 1773 the British decided to tax tea. They granted the British East India Company to ship their goods