Causes of the American Revolution
Alexandra Unda 1763-1776
The American Revolution was the rebellion of the colonies against England. It started in 1763 and ended in 1776. Some of the causes of the Revolution were the Proclamation of 1763 that prevented colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, the Navigation Acts which, put Mercantilism into action, and other policies that restricted the freedom of the colonies, like taxes on tea and other goods. The colonists were also forced to house British soldiers. I think the colonists did have a good reason to rebel against England. They wanted more freedom and they fought for it. This really paid off because America is a very powerful country now.
The Navigation Acts
England made The Navigation Acts were made to put Mercantilism into action. The 13 colonies were forced to only use English ships for trade and to only send raw materials to England. The Sugar Act was also part of the Navigation Acts. A tax was placed on sugar coming from the French indies, so colonies were forced to buy expensive sugar from the British indies. The Navigation Act ended manufacturing in the colonies and increased resentment against the Mother Country.
The Procalmation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was created after the French and Indian war. After the colonists fought for more land, King George the third issued this proclamation saying that the colonists were not allowed to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains. He did this to prevent more costly wars with the Native Americans that lived there. The colonists were really upset about this.
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act was a tax on anything printed on paper. This act was created to pay for the debt of the French and Indian war. The Committee of Correspondence protested by using boycott and refusing to buy certain goods. Samuel Adams created the Sons of Liberty, a group of people that used violence to protest against this. A Stamp Act congress was held, and representatives from the colonies decided that the colonies should only be taxed by colonial government. King George repealed the Stamp Act but created the Declaratory Act.
The Quartering Act
Th Quartering Act was issued to force the colonists to house, feed, and clothe the British soldiers. This was issued in order to try to save money and pay for debt from the war. The main issues the colonists had with this were that feeding the soldiers was really expansive and Thea the soldiers searched their properties whenever they felt like it with writs of assistance.
Townshend Act
This act taxed common household items like tea, glass, and paper. The Daughters of Liberty started making their own cloth instead of buying it from England to protest. After this act was repealed, British government kept taxing tea to show that they still had power. The Sons of Liberty attacked tax collectors and British soldiers to protest.
The Boston Massacre
In the Boston Massacre, a crowd gathered to protest. British soldiers started shooting at the crowd and five people died. Samuel Adams used this event as propaganda to influence the colonist's opinions. John Adams decided to defend the soldiers who shot the protesters to show that the colonists have a right to a trial.
Tea act & Boston Tea Party
The Tea act made the British East India company the only company that sells tea in the colonies. The colonists were unhappy because even though it made the price of tea lower, they had to pay import taxes to Britain. The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Indians in the Boston Tea Party and dumped British tea into the ocean. England was very mad about this.
Coercive act
The Coercive acts were called the Intolerable acts by the colonists because they were very harsh. This was England's response to the Boston Tea Party. There was to be no trade between Boston and England, no town meetings, Britain has control of the colonies, and the quartering act was strengthened. The other colonies helped Boston. By bringing goods to them.