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Cause Of The Revolutionary War

Decent Essays

“ The British are coming, the British are coming!” This is a quote often attributed to Paul Revere and his ride through Lexington and Concord, when in reality it was more so the work of Samuel Prescott and William Dawes. This is just one of the many events leading up to the Revolutionary War. The major causes of the Revolutionary War include the Acts passed by Parliament, the colonists responses and actions to the acts, and the battles and skirmishes between the British and the colonies.

One of the first events in colonial history to spark the idea of separation from England was the passing of the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was the first direct tax on the colonists. It required all written documents to have a stamp. Colonists would have to buy …show more content…

This was a direct tax on glass, lead, paper, paint and most importantly tea. Colonists were anything but willing to pay a tax on British tea, instead they just bought tea elsewhere. Warehouses in Britain started filling up again, this time with tea. Instead of repealing the Townshend acts, the King ordered for the Tea Act. This Act gave the British East India tea company a monopoly for the sale of tea in the colonies. This had two major effects on the colonists,one being that they could only get tea from the East India company, and the other being that local tea merchants got cut out of the business and lost their jobs. Colonists were fed up with Britain's taxations, especially on tea, so a group of colonists dressed up as Native Americans and dumped 1800 pounds of British Tea into the Boston harbor. This is known as the Boston Tea Party. The king is infuriated by the tea party, and he wanted punishment for the colonists. Thus Parliament passes the Intolerable Acts.

The Intolerable Acts consisted of four laws. They closed down the Boston Harbor, imposed the Quartering Act which allowed British soldiers to stay in vacant homes and buildings, allowed the King to choose a colonial governor of Massachusetts, and put Boston under Martial Law, or military control. The colonists react by assembling the First Continental …show more content…

The Second Continental Congress did many things. It named the Militia At Boston the Continental Army, and declared George Washington Commander-in-Chief. The second Continental Congress also printed money and named a committee to deal with foreign nations. The second continental congress also sent the Olive branch petition to England. The second Continental Congress played a significant role before and during the revolution. The colonies were acting together and working like they were their own nation. This showed that separation was to come and the colonies would be ready for

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