The American Revolution began on April 19, 1775. It was the war between Great Britain and its colonies located in the New World. The colonists, as many historians put it, were like children rebelling against the motherland; however, they had many valid reasons for this revolt, including their desire for freedom and independence. My World History textbook says freedom was falsely promised when the colonists had settled (Krull 868). The more direct causes of this widely known rebellion include taxes due to the French and Indian war, the Boston Massacre, the Intolerable Acts, and finally the formation of the First Continental Congress.
Initially, the British were still suffering debts from the previous French and Indian War. Therefore,
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As hostility developed between the Redcoats and the settlers, a massacre occurred in Boston. It killed five men, including Crispus Attucks, an African American sailor (history.com). This horrific accident, now called the Boston Massacre, was started when colonial protesters provocatively threw snowballs and stones at British troops. They later denied this in court. Though destructive, this situation proved useful to both Britain and the colonies, giving them a key piece of propaganda to kick-start the coming war.
Moreover, the next influential occurrence was an array of taxes and acts branded the “Intolerable Acts” by the outraged colonists. Their real name, however, was the Coercive Acts of 1774. This series of laws was passed in response to the Boston Tea Party along with other protests. It consisted of four measures: the Quebec Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Justice Act, and the Quartering Act. Most of these were directed towards Boston, where most of the havoc was taking place (britannica.com). These laws did five major things. The Bostonians were not allowed to use the harbour until the citizens paid the government for the wasted tea and repair of the harbour. Town meetings were forbidden without approval (britannica.com). British officials were now taken to England for a more lenient trail, and their troops were permitted sanction in abandoned houses and civilian quarters. Lastly, the
From 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War was in effect between the French and the British. The war resulted in ending French rule in North America and Britain got Canada and everything east of the Mississippi River. Although the British won the war, it caused the British to be heavily in debt. In order to pay off the debt, the British imposed imperial policies on the American colonies to raise their revenue. From 1763 to 1776, Britain implemented new imperial policies which increased the colonial hatred towards the British crown and made them more committed to their republican values.
The end of the French and Indian War brought debt to Great Britain. To pay for the costs of the war, British Parliament passed a series of laws taxing the American colonists. The colonies became upset with all of the new taxes and began to rebel. The colonists had no representation in British Parliament and felt that they should not pay for taxes without the ability to have a say. Their rebellions only made the British create more laws without them.
before the American Revolution, the French and Indian war from 1775-1783 was the essential controversy between the British and French. From the result of the war, the British slowly were embracing, because they knew that soon enough they would be in debt. The British were in debt because over the 7 year long war because they borrowed money, to support their needs in the French and Indian war. Eventually leading up to their fault with debt. The British were stubborn, however they managed to begone from the ironic debt.
This incident became known as the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party is considered the first act of rebellion for the colonists. As a result of the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, also known as the Coercive Acts were enforced upon the colonies (Davidson et al., 2015). The Intolerable Acts came into
The Intolerable Acts was a series of laws created to punish the colonists for their defiance against Great Britain (Ushistory.org.) In January of 1774, the Intolerable Acts were established. They were established as a punishment towards the colonists for their rebellious acts following the Boston Tea party. The colonists were forced to pay back the revenue lost from the Boston Tea party which is more than $70,000 in todays money (Ushistory.org.) This only made matters worse, and led into the first official battle of the American
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.
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.
To pay off their debt, Great Britain agreed that the colonies should help pay for it because it was a victory in their favor. Soon after in 1764, Great Britain made the colonists angry by taxing the colonies with the sugar act, quartering act, and currency act. The textbook states, “Compounding the problem of the soaring national debt, a postwar recession held both Britain and the colonies in its grip” (Goldfield 95). For example, when parliament passed the Quartering Act, a soldier had to stay in a person's home and they had to feed and support them. The acts did not affect everybody but in 1765, Britain imposed a tax that affected everyone in the colonies; the Stamp Act of 1766.
The American Revolution began in 1755 as an open conflict between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris had ended that war in 1783, giving the colonies their own independence. There are many factors contributing to the start of the Revolution, but the war began as the way The Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated. For example, the French and Indian War, Salutary Neglect, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, smuggling, etc. are some of the starters to the American Revolution. This problem is provided in one of the most rallying cries of the Revolution: No Taxation Without
There were multiple causes for the American Revolution, but the most important was the violation and deprivation of rights from the American People. The American people were faced with multiple acts and taxes that violated and took away their rights. Americans were continuously being taxed after the French and Indian War by acts like the sugar act, the stamp act, the Townshend acts,the tea act, and many more(Hedtke, et al., The American Saga). Despite all the taxes being placed on the Americans and the things they would buy, they still were not being represented in the British government. The British government claimed that the Americans had virtual representation, and that British parliament represents citizens of England anywhere they
The British were quite in debt after the French and Indian War over the land west of the Appalachian Mountains. In order to remedy this, the British decided to tax American Colonists over their own citizens. These taxes were decided on and put in place by the House of Commons, but did not allow for representatives from the colonies in the legislature. The different acts put in place were the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Tea Act. The Sugar Act required the colonies to but sugar, molasses, and rum from British colonies in the Caribbean only, even though it was much more expensive. The Stamp Act was applied to many items including newspaper, glass, paint, legal documents, and playing cards. With both of these acts, large amounts of smuggling and boycotting took place, but they were still hard to avoid. The Tea Act was different because it actually lowered the price of tea, but the colonists were not upset with it for the price rather the reason behind it. The British government decided to bail out the
During the 1760s, the French and Indian War had just ended and the British were stuck with tons of debt. The British Parliament decided to pass several new laws and raise the price of taxes that the colonists had to pay for. Before this time, the British Parliament was never involved in the Colonies way of life. When the British sprung back into the Colonies lives raising taxes with the Stamp Act and creating new laws like the Quartering Act, the Colonies were caught off guard and decided to fight back. The British had always owned them, but never played a big enough role as to control every aspect of their life, this was a new idea to the Colonies that they did not agree with. Lack of Representation in Parliament was the leading cause of the Colonists not paying the taxes and taking action to demand Independence from England. Thus, began the long journey of what came to be known as the American Revolution.
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
The creation of the United States resulted in a beautiful country that has long been the most prosperous the world has ever seen. The beginning of the American colonies was over 409 years ago, and there were many important obstacles that needed to be overcome and many critical events that helped form our country. The British leaders made many awful decisions when dealing with the thirteen colonies that inspired the colonists to break free from Britain, allowing the United States to be formed. The hardest part of the colonist’s journey to freedom was also their most motivational; it was the harsh and cruel taxation from the British Parliament.
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.