Causes of the American Revolution
By: Kaitlyn Zellner 1763-1776
Navigation Acts
The Navigation Acts were actually put into effect in October of 1651, the English parliament finally passed the law. The law was a way England could put mercantilism into effect. Two rules colonists had to follow were using England ships, and only giving England their goods. The Navigation Act stifled colonial manufacturing and increased resentment against England.
The Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was created after the Fench and Indian War. King George issued the proclamation to avoid money loss with the Native Americans. The colonists felt upset because they fought for that land and now they couldn't settle there.
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act taxed all paper products. The Stamp Act was created to pay debt from the previous French and Indian War. Samuel Adams and the Committees of Correspondence protested the Stamp Act by refusing to buy certain goods.
The Quartering Act
In response to the Stamp Act protests Britain sends more troops to the colonies. The Quartering Act was forcing colonists to house and feed soldiers. The main issue that colonists had with the Quartering Act allowed soldiers to go through colonists things. The writs of assistance was a blank search warrant.
Townsend Acts
Some items that were taxed with the Townshend Acts were tea, glass, paper, and many other products. The daughters of liberty responded by rebelling by making their own cloth rather then pay the British. The British government continued taxing tea as a way to show they still had power. The Sons of Liberty led by Samuel Adams, continued violently harassing British tax collectors and official.
Boston Massacre
The colonists resisted taxes causing more British soldiers to arrive. Angry, a colonist started to argue with a soldier. Fighting broke out, and soldiers started shooting. Five were killed, Samuel Adams and others used the incident as propaganda. John Adams, Samuel Adams brother, chose the Britishs' side thinking he was making the right choice. Word spread upsetting many other colonies.
Tea Act & Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act was Britain attempting to form a monopoly overseas. The colonists were unhappy with the Tea Act even though the prices were lowered because they were forced to pay import taxes. The Sons of Liberty took action, deciding to dress up as Indians and pour 342 cartons of tea into the water.
Coercive Act (Intolerable Acts)
The colonists called the Coercive Act the Intolerable Acts. Four laws that were enforced as a result of the Intolerable Acts were stopping all trade, they didn't allow town meetings, they gave Britain trade, had control of the colonies, and lastly strengthening the Quartering Act. The other colonies stopped trading goods when the Boston port closed, this greatly impacted the other colonies economy. After the dropped economy led support to Boston as goods were bought in from other colonies.
American Revolution
The American Revolution had a series of events that caused many colonists to fight back.The American Revolution was the government struggling, and later colonists protested, but the fighting continued to increase. The American revolution happened between 1765 and 1783 when colonists rejected the British monarchy and overthrew the authority of Britain.