Causes Of The American Revolution: Unfairly Taxed To Revolt Against Great Britain

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

Colonists sought independence from British government for a multitude of reasons. Tension quickly rose between England and the thirteen colonies due to the unjust taxing without fair representation in Parliament, the colonist’s rights to assemble were taken away by the British, and there were many unreasonable Acts and laws put into place in attempt to have complete control over the colonists as well as intimidate them. For these reasons and the suffering that the colonists endured at the hands of the British government, I feel that the colonists had plenty just causes to separate themselves from England.

There were several acts that were passed without the consideration of the colonists that would force them to pay a ridiculous amount of taxes to the British mainland. One of these acts was named the Stamp Act, which was enacted in 1765, forced the colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper that they used. This would include legal documents, license, commercial contracts and newspapers in the tax. This tax mostly effected the wealthier and influential of the colonists and would force them to unite in opposition. There were several other acts that would be passed that would force the colonists to pay undue taxes to the British, such as the Quartering Act and the Tea

“Join or die” was once the slogan of the colonists during the French and Indian War. However, it changed to “liberty and justice for all” or “No taxation without representation” during the American Revolution. The British and the colonies had just won the French and Indian War, one would have thought that they would grow closer, however, they did not. England was in great debt from the war, and they made the colonies pay for it, Bypassing multiple acts and taxes. Factors such as harsh taxation without representation, unacceptable mandates, and oppression against colonists lead to the American Revolution April, 1775 as shown in Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The French and Indian war caused debts among the British. The British realized that during the war the income from the colonies was insufficient (document F). After the war, the British needed certain ways in which to gain revenue. They imposed taxes on the Colonists. These taxes, in turn, caused a stir among Americans. The Stamp Act was a tax imposed on the colonists without representation (document H). Their liberties as English citizens were being denied. Radical Whigs would go as far to say it

During the 7 Years War, the British were spending a lot of money to support their military, and they looked to fix this by adding more taxes for the colonists to pay. The colonists were already angry about their taxation situation, already dealing with the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Quartering Act of 1765. Then, Prime Minister George Grenville proposed the Stamp Tax in 1765 in order to raise revenue to support the military in their battle against the French. The Stamp Act mandated the use of stamped paper or the affixing of stamps certifying payment of tax. The majority of Americans became extremely agitated with this act as well as many others before and after the Stamp Act because they felt that their individual rights were being infringed

After the French and Indian War, the government was millions of pounds in debt and Parliament needed a way to pay back the debt without taxing the already heavily taxed British citizens. So, naturally they turned to the colonies, who were already unhappy with their mother country, and imposed many unwarranted taxes on the colonists. According to Mary Beth Norton, Carol Sheriff, et al. A People & A Nation 9th ed. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning, 2012, 2008 print, Parliament passed the first tax in the colonies, the Sugar and Currency Acts, in 1764; these two acts were used to discourage colonists from smuggling molasses from a French company and to outlaw the inflated colonial money that the Americans were paying their debts with, respectively. These two acts were placed on an economy that was already in the midst of a depression, therefore angering the colonists even more than before. Despite the colonists attempts to repeal the Sugar Act, George Grenville, the acting prime minister, kept the act and continued on with even more hazardous

The enforcement of the British Tax Policies to the Americans greatly impacted the American Revolution. The constant enforcement of the policies stirred the emotions and brought out the hunger for freedom in the hearts of the Americans.

Britain imposed many laws on the colonists after the Seven Years War. Most of these laws were taxes to help Britain pay for the war effort. Some objected that everyone had to pay taxes in order to help recover Britain’s debt, but the people in the colonies had to pay more and different taxes, than their counterparts. One of the acts called the Sugar Act imposed taxes on sugar, wine and other foreign products. There was also the Stamp Act which required a stamp on legal papers, newspapers, and pamphlets. The tax that created the most problems was the Townshend Act, which put a tax on imported goods. Many of the taxes were repealed, but they were then replaced by new taxes. The Parliament also tried to hide

After the French and Indian War between France and Great Britain, Britain was left in debt. To help pay it off, the British decided to place taxes on the colonies because they felt that it was fair since the British were in debt due to them paying for protection towards the colonies. They created the Stamp Act, which placed taxes on any paper that was printed or stamped. They created other acts called the townshend revenue act, declaratory act, quartering acts, and the intolerable acts. These acts and laws were rejected by the colonists to the extent where it led to multiple rebellions and revolts from the colonies towards the British. Although the British government placed all these acts upon the colonies, they were weakly enforced which gave

Countless taxes and acts were placed on the colonies during this time period. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, placed a tax on any printed good, including newspapers, marriage licences, and even playing cards. The colonists felt that this unnecessarily burdened

Many colonists were being taxed unfairly by the king. In the 18th century, Britain began to tax the American colonies to pay for debt caused by the French and Indian war. Although these taxes were not severe, they were unjust, because the American colonies had no representation in parliament. One instance was when the British Parliament passed the Sugar Act. It placed taxes on sugar and strictly enforced laws.

The American Revolution cost Britain a lot of money to fight the war. So Britain taxed the colonies so they could pay the British soldiers for protection. Because of this, the Stamp Act and Intolerance Act were issued.

Many of the taxes were being avoided in the colonies. The British need to combat the inefficient collection of taxes. In order minimize smuggling and collect more taxes, Britain had done some imperial reform. This reform first started with the Sugar Act in 1764. The Sugar Act was a modified form of the Molasses Act. The Molasses Act was unsuccessful do to evasion of taxes. The Sugar Act taxed products with sugar in them. This had outraged the colonist. The sugar act was eventually repealed. The Sugar Act led to the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was a tax on material goods like licenses, paper, stamp and many other materials. This had impacted nearly everyone. Colonists were frustrated because the taxes did not seem to be for regulating commerce.

The War for American Independence in 1775 grew out of American colonists feeling they deserved all the rights of Englishmen, while Great Britain viewed the colonies as an unequal part of their empire. These clashing views led to anger and conflict as Great Britain tried to demonstrate its power through a series of acts and taxes, which colonists felt were jeopardizing their liberty. The Briton mentality that American colonists should be grateful for anything they were given heightened the division between the colonists and the British.