Causes of the American Revolution
1763-1776
Navigation Act
The navigation act was made in 1650 by Parliament . This made it to where the colonists could only trade with England and couldn't trade with other colonies. This also enforced that the colonists could only buy manufactured goods from England. This was the first Act by England and it made the colonists angry.
The Proclamation of 1763
The proclamation of 1763 came right after the French and Indian war. The Proclamtion of 1763 was created by King George III and it said that colonists couldn't move west of the Appalachian mountains. King George III made this law because he was fearful of Native attacks. The colonists responded by showing that they didn't want to oblige.
The Stamp Act
King George III created the stamp act in 1765. He created this law to make more money from the colonists. The stamp act enforced tax on all paper products. In order to receive paper you would need to pay tax then if you paid your tax you would get a stamp showing that you paid for tax. Samuel Adams then created the Sons of Liberty and boycotted the Stamp Act. Benjamin Franklin and the Stamp Act Congress sent s letter to King George saying how they felt. King George responded by sending over more British troops.
Quartering Act
In response to the protests of the stamp act, Britain created the quartering act. The quartering act said that British troops were allowed to enter the homes of colonists, and they had to oblige. The colonists were responsible for providing a comfy bed and necessities to the troops. This made the colonists spend more money. The troops had things called Writs of Assistance, a blank search warrant, to search the homes of colonists for contraband.
Townshend acts
Starting in 1767 parliament made the townshend acts. This act put tax on common household items so they could pay for the rising military costs. They put tax on things like paper, imported tea, and glass. A group of colonists started a group called the Daughters of Liberty. The Daughters of Liberty boycotted this act by making their own cloth, instead of buying from the British. Parliament repealed some of the taxes but kept tax on tea to show power.
The Boston Massascre
On March 5th, 1770, a group of British soldiers were being cornered by an angry mob of colonists. The troops unloaded on the crowd of people, resulting in the death of 5 colonists. John Adams, the cousin of Samuel Adams, chose to represent the troops in court. Samuel Adams used this tragedy as propaganda.
Tea act and Boston Tea Party
The tea act reinforced tax on tea by the British. The colonists were unhappy about the tea act, even though it made the price of tea go down, because it made the life of the tea merchants harder. On December 16th 1773 the sons of Liberty dressed as Native Americans and threw 342 crates of tea into the Boston harbor. This is known as the Boston Tea Party.
Intolerable Acts
After the Boston tea part, England was very unhappy. They passed the Intolerable acts, also known as the coercive acts, to make the lives of the colonists miserable. This act made them pay for tea, stopped riots and attacks, stopped trade between Boston and Britain, and strengthened the quartering act. This impacted the economy of the colony greatly. Other colonies would bring in goods to Boston to help them. This stirred revolutionary spirit in the colonies.
American Revolution
The American Revolution was when the colonies overthrew the authority of Britain and created the United States if America. Some of the social causes of the American Revolution were things like; the Boston massacre and the Boston tea party. Some of the economic policies that led to the American Revolution were things like; tax on tea, sugar, paper, glass and also the fact that Boston couldn't trade with other colonies and Britain. I think that the colonists were more than justified to declare independence from England. The colonists lives were practically hell for the years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.