Who to Blame for the American Revolution.

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

After the victory towards French in the Seven Years War, the political and social relationship of the colonists and Great Britain had shifted to a different direction. The colonists began to think of themselves as Americans. At that time, The British government felt that the colonies had become quite independence, and they wanted their colonies to start paying tax in order to help England pay the national debt. Not only were Americans forced to pay direct taxes, but they were also obliged to involve in strict regulatory acts such as Sugar Act and Currency Act. Sugar Act (1764) strongly affected American’s trading in which their oceanic vessels and cargos could be inspected by the British Navy and might be confiscated if the paper and the goods that being transported were in disagreement. Currency Act (1764) restricted colonial governments to print their own paper money. These two acts put some colonists in anger but they were not enough to result in civil disorder until the Stamp Act was passed. The reason that the colonists resisted government authority with the passage of the Stamp Act (1765) was because the Stamp Act collected taxes in all type of papers including newspapers, playing cards, licenses, and stamps. This outraged many colonists especially the educated and

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

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

In an excerpt from the Second Continental Congress, the colonists questioned, “What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power?” (Document 5). They felt as though they were unprotected under British rule. King George of England acted as a tyrant, freely taxing the colonies for no good reason. John Dickinson, a leader who served in the Stamp Act Congress, stated, “Never did the British parliament, (until the passage of the Stamp Act) think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising revenue” (Document 2). After the Stamp Act, none of the taxes were justified; the colonies were being taxed simply to create income for Britain. With the unlimited control and absurd taxes, the colonists were bound to start a

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

The American colonies had good reason to suspect some other motives were at play in Britain and with their fears came more taxes. With their ever-growing belief that in some way Britain was devising a plan to seize their liberties, colonists started to boycott British luxury goods so Britain would have to stop the taxes since they would not be making revenue. However, this did not stop Parliament from adding new taxes to the list. In 1767, the Townshend Revenue Acts were imposed and set a new series of taxes on the colonists to offset the costs of administering and protecting the American colonies. Items taxed include imports such as paper, tea, glass, lead and paints. The restrictions Britain

The Boston Tea party helped repeal tax on tea and made a stand on the British. But was it necessary? When thinking of the Boston Tea party, tea being dumped into a river or an ocean comes to mind. But there is so much more than that. The questions that should come to mind are; was it necessary, who and how it was organized, what effects did it have on the British East India Company and on the United States.

The French and Indian War resulted in a number of acts which angered the colonists. A couple of the major acts used as payment for the war debt were the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.t The Sugar Act was not as heavily enforced and had a three pence tax it did not affect the occupational life aspect of the colonists as much as the Stamp Act. The Teapot was produced in England between the time of 1766 and 1770 during the time of the Declaratory Acts and the Boston Massacre (Doc 1). Based by the writing inscribed on the teapot it responded to the repeal of the Stamp Act. In addition to the wish for less taxes and British personnel dispatched on the colonies. For many of the colonists the Stamp Act was an annoyance for the basic tools of the paper editors, lawyers, printers and other occupants that relied on documentation for a living to have them taxed. Many acts and tariffs were placed repealed after the repeal of the Stamp Act. Due to the perseverance of the colonists desire for no more taxes, the bond between the

The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.

When war began in 1775, it seemed clear that Britain would win. It had a large, well-organized land army, and the Royal Navy was unmatched on the sea. The Revolutionary War is a big thing and has significant potential. North American had bigger reasons to fight for their independence. North America had an advantage for being the home field because the British had to come overseas to fight us and they had to bring all their supply with them. The Patriots wanted to defend their homeland including their families and their property. In addition, the patriots were more prepared for the war. War was unpopular in England-wasn’t at risk, recently involved in a war with France. England was overseas and it took longer to ship supplies over England had

As the colonies and England grew further apart the resentment of additional taxes and tariffs increased the distance between the two. England came up with the Tea Act, Sugar Act, and Stamp Act, all of which were designed to regain the money England felt was due. All tea imported to the colonies was hit with an additional tax covered by the Tea Act. The Sugar Act allowed British troops to enter, search, and seize any items that they desired without probably cause, this supposedly allowed them to control the flow of illegal and untaxed goods. The Stamp Act was a tax placed on all paper goods including those materials that could possibly be made into paper. These three taxes were collectively known as the Intolerable or Coercive Acts. Probably the tax that hit

The British were responsible for causing the American Revolution because they put unfair limitations on the colonies. One of Great Britain’s limits on the colonies was the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 states that the colonies can not expand their reign west of the Appalachian Mountain and the Indians could not move east towards the East Cost (Hakim 36). Britain was scared that as the colonies grew in population and in power, along with the Indians and French that were in the New World, that they would not be able to contain all of them (Hakim 36). Britain was scared that the Colonies would continue to grow in power and the risk of overthrowing Britain was an immanent threat (Class notes). Britain thought it was best to put these limitations on the colonies to prevent that from happening. The people in the colonies were forced to stay east of the Appalachians without a say from their Colonial Assemblies. This upset the colonies and they sent letter after letter to Great Britain to try to break this law but Britain would not give the colonies any say. Britain was not the only person to blame. The colonies acted immaturely to this proclamation. The colonists thought that land was perfectly fine and did not care much about the British demand. When the colonies did not follow Britain rules, Britain was upset and created taxes on the colonies. This downward spiral continued until the colonies and Great Britain were at each others throats. They kept going back and

When examining the cause or causes of the American Revolution, it doesn’t take long to get a significant list assembled. The list would certainly include any number of grievances many individuals would have with the ‘mother country’ Great Britain. These grievances can all be boiled down to a couple deep seeded causes, trade regulation and the levying of taxation Acts on the colonies.