Causes of the American Revolution
1763-1776
Summary to the American Revolution
The American Revolution was he take in independence that the 13 colonies had after they had suffered many unfair taxes from the British Parliament. The colonist had good reason to want to be separate from Britain. Soldiers would take home in the colonists houses. They would take food from colonists. Colonist social lives were abolished. Because the British lost so much money from the French and Indian War, they had to put heavy taxes on the colonists. Taxes were put on paper, tea and many more items. The colonist had every reason to want to declare independence from Britain. Living under the order of soldier is complete burden and shouldn't be tolerated.
The Navigation Acts
The purpose of the Navigation Acts was to put the theory of mercantilism into actual practice. Britain did this by restricting trade in the colonies. They could only use English Colonial ships. If any country wanted to trade with the colonies it had to go through England first. The navigation acts was the start of tension between the colonies and Britain.
The Proclamation of 1763
After the French and Indian War, King George lll issued the Proclamation Line. This prohibited the colonies to explore further west. The King didn't want the colonist to move west because they didn't want to spend more money on Native American wars. This made the colonist very angry. They wanted to move and settle there own land so they didn't have to live among soldier.
The Stamp Act
The Stamp Act taxed everything on paper. Once again the British Parliament made these taxes to pay off the debts from the French and Indian War. Samuel Adams, who led the Committees of Correspondence, led boycotts to stop the act. They refused to buy good from Britain so they would not make any money. Samuel Adams also start another group called the Sons of Liberty. This group was made to protest against the British acts. Sometimes they would also use violence. 9 of the 13 colonies discussed the Act. They called this the Stamp Act congress. Finally King George lll repealed the act.
The Quartering Act
In response of the Stamp Act, Britain sent even more British soldiers to keep the colonies in order. This turned into the Quartering Act. This act said that the colonist had to house and feed the British soldiers. The colonist had two major problems with the quartering act. It was expensive to keep the soldiers in the house, and because they didn't want soldier in their home without a search warrant.
The Townshend Acts
The Townshend Act taxed items such as tea, glass, paper, clothes, and man other goods. Another group of patriots called the Daughters of Liberty. This group protested against the act by making their own clothes to wear instead of buying them from the British and giving them money. Britain repealed the act in 1770 but continued to tax tea. The Sons of Liberty began to use violence in their protests. The attacked British officials and tax collector.
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre was a shooting in which 5 colonist died from British soldiers. The colonist were bickering with the soldiers and were throwing snow balls at them. One shot from the British soldier was shot and then the chaos unfolded from there. This event definitely set of anger in the colonists to Britain.
The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act said that only the British East India Company could sell tea to the colonies. The price of the tea was lower but the colonist were still furious that they had to pay import taxes. The Sons of Liberty were ready to rebel. They pulled off one of the most notorious protest act in the history of America. They disguised themselves as Native American and got on board a ship with a large shipment of tea. They dumped a total of 342 crates of British tea onto the Boston Harbor.
Coercive Act (Intolerable Acts)
These acts were made to end all rebellion of the colonies. It prohibited any type of trade between Boston and Britain. It also stopped town meeting and gave Britain control of the colony and strengthen the Quartering Act. These acts only fuel the rebellion and all the colonies gave support to Boston. This was the start of the American revolution.