Causes Of American Rebellion in 1776

Following the long and harrowing French and Indian War, Britain was deep in debt and George Grenville was appointed British Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was determined to pay off the debt by taxing the colonies. He not only reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts, but he placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act which put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies, but this Act would be enforced. Needless to say, the colonists were not used to this intrusion of Parliament and felt that it was wrong because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. They felt it was a direct violation of their civil liberties and resentment was beginning to spawn.

This limited the colonists’ freedom and only spread more anger throughout the colonies. The laws were so regulated it was hard not to make an error. The one that brought out the most public opposition was the Stamp Act in 1765. The Sugar Act wasn’t covering the debt, and Parliament was forced to pass the Stamp Act. The Act stated they must use stamped paper for printing bills, legal documents, and playing cards.

Britain’s tactics to control the Americas had been causing various troubles and irritations to the colonists. The colonists had to deal with taxation without representation, also known as virtual representation such as the Stamp Act or Tea Act and also other unpleasant laws passed by the British such as the Quartering Acts. A significant event that is notable for altering the political, economic and ideological relations between the colonies and Britain is the French and Indian War. This was fundamentally the cause of the American Revolution. The relationship between the colonists and the British was already weak but after this war the ties became even weaker than imaginable.

The colonists of America slowly came to realize that they must break from Britain due to the growing feeling of being considered unequal to the British. They realized they had no say in government, and under the rule of Britain, they would never be able to prosper. The conditions of their rights slowly disintegrated, as the construction of parliament becomes more and more powerful and intolerable. The language used to protest british, throughout the time, leading up to the revolutionary war, were legal, and political, but the primary cause would have been economics. In the beginning, the colonist were proud to be part of the British empire.

Between 1763 and 1775, the British attempted to exert control over the colonies. Since they had become accustomed to their mother country’s salutary neglect, Britain trying to prevent them from flourishing angered the colonists. Although the colonists were determined to separate from Britain, the American Revolution was mainly caused by British “missteps” including taxation, troop placement, and Mercantilism. The colonists did want to separate from Britain because of how unfairly they were being treated, but at heart most of them still felt a strong bond to their home land. Therefore, their resistance was a direct result of Britain’s errors.

The colonist did not really care about most of the British rules, and they again were able to overturn the rules once again. In France, the bourgeoisie and the peasants totally disliked the tax system. Both revolutions were started mainly because of taxation. Due to the Seven Year War and American Revolution, the government of the French was in a huge debt. The French rebels looked on to the American Revolution, and copied the idea of "taxation without representation".

Then they passed the Townshend accts which placed tax on imports to the U.S and then the Coercive acts after the Boston tea party happened, which enraged the British. With the absence of representation in the British Parliament of Britain being able to tax colonists, which is where “no taxation without representation” came from, they‘d had enough. Troops from England became coming over to America to enforce the taxes more and the colonists became very offended in their way of physically enforcing. Colonists began opposing the British government and were known as patriots, fighting for their freedom from Britain. The Colonists wanted their own country at this point and that is when they decided to fight for it.

In the event of America’s victory in the American Revolution lead to the birth of a new nation. However, before the American Revolution the original colonies of America were already becoming impatient with British rule. This was mostly a result of a foreign country trying to rule people an ocean apart, and by rule this meant collecting taxes Americans found unfair. This rebellion against British rule became more prevalent from the passing of the Stamp Act of 1765 created mostly by George Greenville. The passing of this tax was Britain’s way of reinforcing their authority in the colonies and lessening their financial burden.

Not being able to trade with any outside sources other than Great Britain limited the colonists on their amount of imports and exports, which severely damaged the economy. The New England Restraining Act had a great impact on starting the American Revolutionary War. One reason the New England Restraining Act was created was because of the Tea Act in 1773. “The Tea Act of 1773 brought things to a head with a small tax placed on imported tea” (The New England Restraining Act is made law 1). The New England colonies had fought against these taxes because they believed it wasn’t fair.

For example, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, states, “He [king of Britain] has imposed taxes on us without our consent” (DOI), which is substantial evidence to prove that the colonists were taxed unfairly. Furthermore, governments were created to act out against imperial taxation. For example, when George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act, which was developed “to generate revenue; required printed documents to bear revenue stamps purchased from royal stamp distributors” (59), colonists were outraged by Grenville... ... middle of paper ... ...ch was ultimately ineffective and “greatly taken out of context by the media; made Virginians seem like radicals”(59). Through these two powerful individuals, this gave Americans a reason to fight for the interests of their land in America. Overall, the colonists strongly disapproved of the various taxes implemented by Great Britain.