Causes of the American Revolution
By: Robert Agnew 1763-1779
The navigation acts of 1650
The navigation acts was the restrictions of trade in the 13 colonys. The rules that the colonists had to follow are, one British ships had to be used to trade with other colonies and two the colonist could only trade raw materials wit Britain. The most significant affect of the navigation act was, the increase of resentment against the mother country.
The proclamation of 1763
The proclamation of 1763 prohibited any colonist or colony's to settle west of the appalachian mountains. The French and Indian war caused the proclamation of 1763. This is because Great Britain thought that if colonist started to settle west of the 13 colonies the Indians would started attacking the new colonies and the original 13 colonies. The colonist were not pleased by this because, they had fought for that land during the French and Indian war and they wanted the soldiers from Britain to stop living in there houses.
The Stamp act of 1765
The stamp act of 1765 put taxes on all items that were made with paper like card and news paper. The reason for the stamp act for being created was to fund and pay for the French and Indian war. The Committes of Correspondence responded to the act by boycotting all paper goods taxed by Britain. During this act a group called the Sons of Liberty was formed by Samuel Addams to protest against British police and tax collectors. The stamp act congress was formed to send a letter to the king and to ask him to repeal the stamp act. The Kings response to all of the boycotting and the protest was to repeal the stamp act but gave British parliament control over the colonies.
The Quartering Act of 1765
The Quartering Act of 1765 said that colonist had to house British soldiers and also feed and clothe them. There were two main issues with the Quartering Act, 1st the colonist did not like having tne soldiers having blank search warents and number 2 was housing the soldiers cost a lot of money science they had to feed there family and the soldiers. The Wits of Assistance was another word for the British soldiers blank search warents.
The Townshed acts of 1767
The Townshed act put taxes on tea, glass, paper, and other items in the colonies. During the Townsged acts of 1767 a group like the sons of Liberty were formed called the daughters of Liberty. The daughters of Liberty protested against the Townshed act by making there own cloth and clothes. However in 1770 the Townshed Act was repealed and all the taxed goods were stopped except for the tea in the colonies. The Sons of Liberty however continued to protest and do violent acts against British tax collectors.
The Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre started out as a protest against a single British solider, when more British soldiers came the crowd grew bigger and started throwing rocks at the Brittish soldiers. The Brittish soldiers soon fired on the crowed and killed 5 colonist. Samuel Adams used the Massacre as American propaganda against Brittian so he could get more colonist to revolt. For the 1st solider who shot someone he was going to trial however he didn't have any lawyer so John Adams represented him in the trial.
Tea Act & Boston Tea Party of 1773
The tea act made the British East Indian Company (BEIC) the only company allowed to sell tea to the colonies, because Britain had the monopoly on the tea. The colonist were angry at the new tea act because they had pay inport taxes for all the tea the came from BEIC. The Sons of Liberty were the 1st ones to act against the tea act. The dressed up as Indians and went to the Boston Harbor and dumped over 300 boxes of Brittish tea.
The Coerive Act (Intolerable Act) of 1774
The Coerive act was the punishment on Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The people in Boston called it the Intolerable Act because it was so harsh on the colony. There were 4 laws placed in Boston, 1 stopped trade from Boston to Britian, 2 did no allow town meetings, 3 gave Brittian control over the colony, and 4 made the Quarting act more harsh in Boston. Colonist responded to the act by strengthening the revolution spirt.