Causes of the American Revolution Essay

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 French and Indian War was a war, for the most part, between France and England. It lasted from 1754 to 1763, and brought about large changes to the New World. England won the war, so France ceded all of its land to England and Spain. Britain gained power as a result of its victory, and those results were felt by the American colonists. The aftermath of the war was shown in the effects it had on political, economic, and ideological relations between Great Britain and the American colonies.

The French and Indian War, was a war fought between France and Britain. The war was the product of an imperial struggle, a clash between the French and English over colonial territory and wealth. Great Britain claimed that the French provoked war by building forts along the Ohio River Valley. Virginia’s governor sent a militia to the French and Native American allies. The war started out badly for Great Britain, about 2,000 British and colonial troops were defeated by the French and Native Americans. For the first three years of the war, the outnumbered French dominated the battlefield, soundly defeating the English in battles at Fort Oswego and Ticonderoga. The British then began to make peace with important Indian allies, and under the

This resource loss had a massive impact on Britain. The outcome of the war never truly made up for the resources the British had to use to win, so they had to find another way to make up for the lost funds. This was achieved by taxing the colonies on many types of goods. The first thing Britain wanted to do was stop illegal smuggling. They attempted to do this through the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act, created by George Grenville, actually lowered the tax on

The French and Indian war was fought between Great Britain and France from 1754 to 1763. Also known as the Seven Year’s War, this confrontation eventually erupted into an all out worldwide conflict. Its effects were not only immediate but long term. Although the colonies were not directly tied to the war, it greatly impacted them as well as modern America.

The American Revolutionary War was caused by the political disagreements between Great Britain and the American colonies. Most of the Americans initially didn’t want to completely separate from England but wanted to regain the rights that Parliament had taken away from them. England made war unavoidable with its unwillingness to negotiate, heavy taxation of the colonists that violated their rights, and strict trading policies.

After the war finished in 1763, the british government tightened its reins on the colonies politically. One political way they changed the relationship between colonies and the british government, was by enforcing the Proclamation of 1763 in order to prevent any further conflict between the Native Americans and the colonists. In Document B, the purpose of this document is meant to be viewed by the british government in order to see the chief of the Onondaga Nation expresses his frustration towards the settlers taking over their land and being able to know his point of view on the topic. Even though the king was probably only trying to settle this feud, the colonists didn’t see it this way. They believed that the government was trying to restrict their use on the land in order to better control the colonists. For example, in Document A, the purpose of this document is to show us the land owned by Britain, and if Britain owns all this land, it is easy to understand where the colonists are coming from. However, by Britain imposing this constant on the colonies, it began to shift the relationship between the colonists and the british government. It didn’t help that Britain was suddenly enforcing laws such as the navigation law that was created years before it was enforced. The british government didn’t enforce the navigation law in 1763 even though it was created in 1651.

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.

There were many events that took place in the 1760’s and 1770’s that led to the Revolutionary war. During these years the British did many things that upset the colonists. These upset colonists would eventually get sick of all the British ways and fight for their freedom.

On July 4th 1776, a committee, formed to draft a letter to the King of England, formally signed a document containing a list of demands and statements of position that ultimately started the Revolutionary War. This action was not popular with all the citizens of the colonies but the majority of the people were in favor of it and the cause prevailed. This declaration was a poke in the eye of England and forced them to try to put the colonies in their place and reestablish the Empire.

The French and Indian War, also called Seven Years War, was a massive conflict involving Austria, England, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Sweden. The war took place in Europe, India and North America. The English and French fought for the total control of the colonies in North America, the Caribbean, and in India. While the English ended up winning the war, they were left with a debt so enormous it almost destroyed the British government. One of the ways the British government tried to shrink their debt was by collecting taxes from the colonies in America. One of the first taxes was the Sugar Act, which imposed taxes on sugar. Although resented, the Sugar Act tax was hidden in the cost of import duties, and most colonist accepted it. However, England was just getting started with colonial taxes.

The British had control of the thirteen colonies for many years prior to the French and Indian War. After the war Britain took sole possession of the thirteen colonies. The French and Indian War had put Britain in debt so they began taxing the colonists. Britain also began to enforce laws made by the King of England. This led to the phrase "no taxation without representation". The colonists had no other choices but to try and settle their differences with Britain or attempt to break away.

The irregular and disorganized British rule of the American colonies in the previous years led to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Most Americans did not originally want to separate from mother England. They wanted to stay loyal to the crown. England’s unwillingness to compromise, mismanagement of the colonies, heavy taxation of the colonists that violated their rights, the distractions of foreign affairs and politics in England and the strict trading policies that England tried to enforce together made the revolution inevitable. The British were definitely expected to win the dispute because they significantly over powered the Colonists in most areas. They had more money, weapons, people, etc. However the American’s prevailed with

The taxes that followed this Proclamation are: (1) 1764 the “Sugar Act” was passed which was an attempt from the British to actually collect the tax on molasses. Originally it was a tax of 6 pence per gallon that was impossible to collect. By the British reducing this to 3 pence per gallon they thought this tax would be easier to collect. (2) 1765 “Quartering Act” This act stated that during

The American Revolution was a conflict between 13 British colonies on the eastern seaboard of North America and their parent country, Great Britain. The war resulted in the colonies becoming a separate nation, the United Stated of America. It is also known as the American War of Independence.