Causes of the American revolution
1763-1776
Introduction
The American Revolution is a war between the 13 colonies and Great Britain. This war was mainly socially caused by all the acts and laws that England put down on the 13 colonies. some of these policies were the navigation act, the quartering act, and many more that I will be talking about in this flyer. I do believe that the colonist were justified by declaring war against England because of how controlling England was to the 13 colonies. These are all great subjects that I will be showing you today in this Flyer. Enjoy!
Navigation Acts - (1650-1700s)
The Navigation Acts was the law that really put mercantilism into action. This means that Great Britain restricted trade from nobody but Britain to ensure that England got all the money. Another rule was that the money had to go to Great Britain. The significance of the Navigation act was that it grew a lot if tension between the colonist and England.
Proclamation Line of 1763
In 1763 after the French and Indian war, King George 3rd set a proclamation line that prohibited further westward expansion. This line was set along the Appalachian Mountains. The main reason King George the 3rd made this law was to avoid a war with the Indians because he was already in debt. The response to this act from the colonist were riots, boycotts, and violence.
Stamp Act-1765
The stamp act taxed all paper goods, this is so it would help pay off the war debt. This angered the colonist majorly. the sons of liberty protested with boycotts and sometimes violence. The sons of liberty was a group put together by Samuel Adams, mainly to take KIng George 3rd out of power. Another thing that happened during this time was the discussion with congress. And because of this King George responded by repealing the law.
Quartering Act-1765
Ever since the Stamp act, Britian have sent more soldiers down to Boston. And acquired the Quartering act. The quartering act was the law that British soldiers could raid your house at any time. They can also sleep at your house and eat. the main two problems there were to this law was the blank search warrants or Writs of assistance. Another problem was that they had to feed them which came in very costly. This law angered the colonist very much, so more of the boycotts and violence occurred in the 13 colonies.
Townshed Acts-1767
The Townshed act put taxes on everyday goods such as paper, tea, oil, cloth etc. Many of these colonist by now had a huge hatred towards Great Britain. Although many just made their own goods so they weren't taxed such as the Daughters made their own cloth so they weren't taxed. However the Townshed act was repealed in 1770, but the only thing that was still taxed was tea. The sons of liberty responded to this whole act with violence, boycotts and riots.
The Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770
On March 5,1770, an angry mob of colonist started to argue with a group of soldiers, eventually the mob go bigger and angrier. They then started to throw snowballs at the soldiers and started to insult them. Then came more soldiers to help. Finally a soldier fired shots at the angry mob which killed 5 men in the end. Samuel Adams used this event to get all the colonist on his side by using propaganda to make it seem like the colonist that died were innocent. After this event the soldiers went to court where Samuel Adams cousin John Adams represented the soldiers and defended them.
Tea Act and Boston Tea party-1773
The Tea act was a law that untaxed tea and made it so that you could only get it from one resource which made it actually cheaper. Although this was good it still made the colonist mad that they had to pay import taxes to Great Britian because at this time everybody hated Great Britain and there was noting England could do. Then on December 16, 1773, the Sons of liberty had there last straw with England and dressed up like indians then dumped 342 crates of tea into the Boston Harbor. This act was named as the Boston Tea Party.
Coercive Acts (Intolerable Acts)-1774
The colonist called this act the Intolerable Act because of punishment for the Boston Tea party. Great Britain shut down the Boston Harbor, increased the law of the Quartering Act, allowed no congressional meetings, and brought even more soldiers to take control of the 13 Colonies. In response of this act the congress held a meeting to discuss the issues and options they have for approaching this problem.