The Revolutionary War Of 1775

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.

Both the British and the American colonists contributed to causing the American Revolution. The war grew out of contempt: England’s contempt for the colonies and colonial contempt for British policies. A series of actions by the British eventually pushed the colonists over the edge and towards independence. The results of the war gave many citizens a new role in society while others, like slaves, felt no change at all. This paper will examine the specific causes and effects of the American Revolution.

Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.

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

The topic of revolution is extremely subjective. What may appear as an insurrection to some might not be as extreme to others. When talking about the American Revolutionary War, however, the answer is clear. While the War certainly brought about change within the United States, it wasn’t necessarily very revolutionary. The most important aspects of the colonies, such as ideas about government, various types of societal equality, slavery and freed blacks, and the rights of women remained for the most part, unaffected.

The American Revolution. An ongoing controversial topic that is the subject of many debates and historians’ studies. A war that some say was all to blame on the colonists. On the contrary to this belief, this war was to blame on the British. This is because of their irrational acts, laws, and taxes passed. These enacted rules angered many colonists as the acts, in turn, caused bankruptcy for many citizens. These unfair ordinances resulted in a series of bloodshed battles, beginning in 1765 and ending in 1783. Many of these laws provoked angry colonists leading to the war declaration. Three specific events in which the British are contributing to tensions that led to the revolution were, the Proclamation of 1763 and the stationing of British troops, the Sugar act, as well as the Stamp act.

The American Revolution was undeniably the most pivotal time period in respect to United States History, but who was really to blame for initiating the conflict? While both the British politicians and American colonists shared the blame for the kindling of the revolution, one party was certainly more at fault than the other: the British. Through short-term causes of taxation and incommodious trade acts, and long-term causes of salutary neglect and involvement in the burdensome French & Indian War, the British politicians proved to ultimately be the most responsible for igniting the Revolutionary War.

The American Revolutionary War was a long hard fought war that lasted about 8 years. Many Countries were involved in the war, such as The United States, France, Great Britain, Spain, and The Dutch Republic. Not all countries actually fought but they provided either side with weapons and supplies to help them have a greater chance of winning the war. More than 70,000 people were killed during the great American Revolutionary War. The Americans were tired of the loyalist British taking advantage of them. They were tired of the new taxes that kept being created by the British. The Americans were tired of being pushed around, so they decided to do something about it. High Tensions eventually got between the two countries and they began to start a war, which was known as The American Revolutionary War. Before the war began, a great man implied, “One of the most essential branches of English liberty is the freedoms of one’s house, a man’s house is his castle”, informing everyone that the colonies should be freed from British control (Otis). The American Revolutionary war was a war started, so the 13 colonies of America could gain there independence from Great Britain. Thousands of soldiers were killed while many others were severely wounded. The American Revolutionary war was one of the greatest wars in American history, because it had many great battles, was led by some of the greatest leaders, and got the 13 colonies independence from Great Britain.

The American Revolution, one of the most significant events in our world’s history, has established a huge impact on not only life back in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but our society today. The Acts of Parliament highly benefited the British but did not afford those same rights to the colonists until the formal issuing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, in which colonial freedom was granted. The most controversial issue is which group caused it; a result of propaganda by the colonists. Multiple acts and protests contributed to this war, three influential ones being the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

When the British fought in the French and Indian War it put them in great debt. In order to get out of the enormous debt they taxed the colonies. The reactions of the colonists were sometimes harsh. They argued they had no representation in Parliament so they tarred and feathered, burned effigies, raided tax collectors, and boycotted British goods. Some of the acts they passed were the Sugar and Coercive Acts. They both angered the colonists tremendously. The Acts passed by the British caused tensions and many reactions from the colonists.

After the French and Indian War, Britain had a huge war debt needing to be paid off. The British decided to tax the colonists. The Stamp Act was a tax on the legal acclaim of documents; while the sugar act imposed heavy taxes on the sugar the colonists were trading. These acts and others were imposed onto the colonists with reasoning that the colonists were a part of their domain and English soldiers protected the colonists during the War. The colonists were enraged and did not agree with these new taxes, which they believed instilled a depiction of tyranny.

Rage from taxes leads many citizens to act out on tax workers with public humiliation. According to Document 5, most of the chaos came from the colonists from protesting and bring violence to the streets. Many protesters released their anger on tax workers by tarring and feathering them and destroy and burning British property. With this type of behavior, the king had his duty to enforce rules. Also in Document 3, it shows the little effects that tax has on these colonies. Most of the taxed good was useless because no one buys them anymore and the small tax acts should not have lead to immense protest by these colonists. Another example where the Americans were not justified was their resistance to their benefits. The colonists say that the taxes were unconstitutional because it was for revenue but the taxes were to pay off the debt of the French Indian War, a war that was for the colonist's defense. Britain had some right to tax them for their contribution to the protection. But even though it was for the colonist's protection, they did not ask for it. Therefore they didn't have to pay for a non-request

The American Revolution, which occurred approximately from 1765 to 1786, is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, for good reason. The conflict rose from rising tensions amid the people of Great Britain’s thirteen American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Clashes between Britain’s troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. The American Revolution had tremendous consequences, and was not simply a victory of arms on the battlefield, but also a feat of economic and political ideals, and vital societal changes. This huge period of history set into motion greater changes in American life and created a country, demonstrating just how this revolutionary age in time more than earned its name. This battle of independence waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a young, largely divided nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.

Leading up to the American Revolution, were a chain of events that created a spark in the colonists to obtain independence from Great Britain. The American Revolution could not be tied to one single event but instead by the feelings and determination brought on by this chain of disgraceful actions. Gordon S. Wood explains what he believes caused the rebellion of the American colonists from Great Britain and how those causes help explain the outcomes of the revolution in his essay, “Radical Possibilities of the American Revolution.” Wood argues that the colonists were motivated to rebel against the British monarchy due to their need to preserve their liberties and through this revolution a radical change in government and American life occurred.

A motivating force behind the revolution was the American embrace of a political ideology called "republicanism", which was dominant in the colonies by 1775. The "country party" in Britain, whose critique of British government emphasized that corruption was to be feared, influenced American politicians. The commitment of most Americans to republican values and to their rights, helped bring about the American Revolution, as Britain was increasingly seen as hopelessly corrupt and hostile to American interests; it seemed to threaten to the established liberties that Americans enjoyed. The greatest threat to liberty was depicted as corruption. The colonists associated it with luxury and, especially, inherited aristocracy, which they condemned.