Throughout the decades, a long debate has taken place over what really caused the American Revolutionary War: a war fought for colonial independence from Great Britain. Historians claim single events such as the Boston Tea Party or the British declination of the Olive Branch Petition. But what these historians fail to include is the long standing oppression that slowly accrued until the colonists cracked. It was invoked by a series of events rather than one pivotal change. The Revolutionary War was caused by colonial displeasure with the acts imposed by Britain, improved self government, and ultimately the Declaration of Independence. The first set of acts and the trigger of all the events present hereafter were the Writs of Assistance: which …show more content…
They only hurt merchants and Ohio Territory Pioneers. But that was quick to change. Britain began passing acts that directly affected the colonists. The first of which being the Stamp Act of 1765, which required a stamp be placed on all legal documents and paper. (Faragher, 3: 143). It was the first act that affected all colonists and was considered especially onerous. This was met with considerable outrage. Later came the Townshend, Tea, Boston Port, Massachusetts Government, Murder, and Quartering Acts. With each decree colonists became more irate and their rebellions grew larger and more violent. Rebellions such as the Boston Tea Party came in response to the aforementioned …show more content…
They created “colonial laws” in regards to the conduct Toward Britain such as a non importation and non-consumption agreements. Those stated that British goods would not be imported or consumed by colonists, and those who disobey were also tarred and feathered or hung colonists were becoming more unified in their desires to deter British control. The colonists were becoming more and more unified in their resentment of Britain. Patrick Henry demonstrates this, “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I Am Not A Virginian, But An American!” (“Quotes about American Revolution”). They pursued self-government and formal organizations such as the First and Second Continental Congresses and the Virginia Resolves the govern affairs of the colonies discuss the route with which to go with the British they decided upon the Olive Branch Petition which was the last opportunity for Britain to regain favor with the
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Show MoreThe British were facing economic difficulties after the French and Indian war; therefore, they passed taxes on the colonies to help repay the debt. Initially, the British introduced the Sugar Act in 1764. The colonists did not approve of the British taking control over them. The colonists opposed the Sugar Act because they had to pay three cent tax on sugar. In addition, the Sugar Act increased the taxes on coffee, indigo, and wine. This act was the start of colonist frustration. Subsequently came the Stamp Act the following year in 1765. The Stamp Act was the mind changer for many colonists known as the Patriots. The Patriots started forming as a result of England enforcing acts. The patriots believed the colonies should go to war and separate
After fighting in the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), Britain was left with an immense debt on its shoulders (Chapter 4). It was up to George Grenville to help reduce this debt and save England from a disastrous future (Chapter 4). His plans were set into motion when parliament passed different acts that they hoped would raise money to pay off the debt (Chapter 4). However, they did not foresee that these actions would lead to the American Revolution. Although the change in British imperial policy involved taxing and placing acts on the colonists to raise debt money, these actions displeased the people and caused them to revolt creating events like the Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party. These factors were of many that brought about the
One of the greatest political and power shifts of the second century happened in North America in the middle 1700’s. Spawned out of the American Revolution’s ideals, the world’s idea of political leadership began to shift from monarchies to democracies and republics. Although the war in it of itself and the political ramifications of it have been studied extensively. Like many topics, the causes and reasons for the war and the ideas born from it are not always as examined. This essay will scratch the surface of some of the more important causes leading up to the war. But first a little background, in the 1750’s the British government took on a lot of debt to fight the French/Indian War in the Americas and believed the colonists should help
the colonies was removed and Andros with his councils took charge of all the power. Andros’ actions drove the colonists to become angry pushed them the edge of going against their power. They had already gotten used to the neglect and being governed by themselves. The revolution of 1688 allowed an opportunity for the colonist to do away with the Dominion. When they heard that the crown had been offered to William and Mary, they put Andros and his people in jail. It ended up being a revolution with more than 1,000 colonist fighting to get rid of the Dominion. The overthrow of the Dominion happened because it was thought to be tyranny by the king. If the Dominion had not been overthrown, there would be no self government and maybe even no Revolution.
All that is required for evil to Triumph, is for good men to do nothing. This essay will show you what events and causes led up to the Revolutionary War. The colonists were antagonized by the fact that the British were not including the colonists and any law making decisions. Eventually they had, had enough and the war broke out. historians often point out that there are many causes to the Revolutionary War. The three main causes of the Revolutionary War that the historians agree on are the Prevention of colonial Westward settlement, taxation without representation and British violence towards the colonists.
While the Stamp Act was probably more vital to the colonists’ every-day lives, the Sons of Liberty orchestrated yet another embargo on a taxed item that would force England’s hand to withdraw the tax. England would later create an act called the Townshend Act which taxed a plethora of goods, but the attempt once again seemed futile, as colonists simply refused to buy the goods that were taxed. The final straw for Great Britain was the disobedient act colonists coined “The Boston Tea Party.” This act entailed the colonists discarding all the tea on an English merchant ship following England’s ambitions to bail a company out by lowering the tax exclusively for this company. The repercussions for this was known as the Coercive Acts,” stating that colonists must pay off the debts for this act of rebellion before docks were to be
The American Revolution was worth the wage of are independence. Which was fought between the American colonies and the British. Which ended with a massive amount of war and deaths. In addition to that a lot of political ideas happen. Not to mention revolts and military forces that was trained and assembled at this time to fight for freedom and independence around the world. The American Revolution had multiple amounts of political, diplomatic, and military reasons for why the U.S, won the war. As well as the intolerable act, The Treaty of Paris, and Marquis De La Fayette ideas which impact the war as well as Georgia Washington.
“Colonial leaders agreed to send representatives to Philadelphia in September to discuss and adopt just such a unified response. The 1st Continental Congress formally convened on September 5th” (allthingsliberty.com). The purpose of the group was not to get independence from Britain, though. They wanted to fight for their rights with the British government. After discussing things, the Congress created a Declaration of Rights, stating its loyalty to the British Crown but challenging the British Parliament’s right to tax it. They also passed the Articles of Association, which had the colonies stop bringing in goods from the British starting on December 1,
The Revolutionary war was the Defining point in American history, Primarily because it was the beginning of American history. This is the story of how America came to be. It all started because a few British people decided they wanted Freedom of Religion and wanted just wanted freedom from tyranny. One of the first game changing events was the French and Indian War. “the French and Indian War took place (1754 – 1763), King George III lost a great deal of money due to buying expensive supplies for his army and the colonies. In order to pay off his debt, he imposed taxes on the colonies without their consent.
By the start of the American Revolution, over half a million African Americans, mostly enslaved, made up the American population. Some may say that America won their freedom from Great Britain through the efforts of supreme and elite white male leaders, but as Gary Nash argued, the true radicalism of the American Revolution was advocated by those who felt the most dissatisfied with their living conditions. This sheds light on the important issue of whether or not the American Revolution benefited those who were the most discontented in their situation. Some may argue that the American Revolution changed the lives of many citizens, such as the higher class citizens and the middle class citizens, but those who were oppressed did not socially
represented in Britain, and yet they were being taxed on things that those living in Britain
The conclusion of the American Revolution caused social and political change for America, but varied little change for economics. When the revolution ended, America wanted to change the political aspects and make them different than Britain's old government system. Because Americans were full of poor people and slaves, it was very difficult for them to construct a government. One of the reasons is lack of education. Social changes took a long time to occur, but women started to gain independence, which leads to gender equality. Slaves were set free but still experienced racism. Due to the war, there was a lot of debt, which took a tremendous amount of
There were monumental problems that occurred between American colonist and British government that led to the Revolutionary War. Colonist were convinced they were just in their cause for independence from England. The American colonist who were once lightly governed resented the more forceful colonial administration (paraphrase pg. 119). The French and Indian War, also known as The Seven Years War, lasted from 1754-1763. The war was fought largely in North America and was very expensive to Britain therefore they raised taxes on American colonies. This was not well-received by colonists which led to political disagreements and the Revolutionary War.
A new era was dawning on the American colonies and its mother country Britain, an era of revolution. The American colonists were subjected to many cruel acts of the British Parliament in order to benefit England itself. These British policies were forcing the Americans to rebellious feelings as their rights were constantly being violated by the British Crown. The colonies wanted to have an independent government and economy so they could create their own laws and stipulations. The British imperial policies affected the colonies economic, political, and geographic situation which intensified colonists’ resistance to British rule and intensified commitment to their republican values.
Initially, they tried to have the Acts reversed by lobbying and petitioning Parliament. Later, they resorted to boycotts. In 1765, for instance, representatives of nine colonies met in New York and agreed to boycott imported English commodities. Though the boycott and subsequent political pressure succeeded in forcing Parliament into repealing the Townshend Acts, Stamp Act, and the Sugar Act, Britain enacted the Declaratory Act. The Act affirmed Britain's full authority to enact laws to govern the colonies. By repealing the Acts, the Declaratory Act maintained, Britain had merely overturned the policies and not the principles. Thus, it was just a matter of time before Britain enacted new laws, the most significant of which was the 1773 Tea Act. The Act allowed the British East India Company to directly transport tea to America. In reaction, several colonists, in December, threw overboard chests of tea owned by the company. In response, Britain enacted a series of laws, collectively known as the Intolerable Acts. Among the effects of the Acts were the restriction of town meetings in Massachusetts and closure of the Boston port. These actions gradually fanned the embers of the revolution. Massachusetts patriots reacted by creating an alternative shadow regime and started training militia (Alexander, 2011, p. 187-94). By the time Britain was enacting the 1774 Quebec Act, the colonists had no much regard for new laws enacted