Many people have the misconception that the American Revolution occurred because British colonists did not want to be British citizens any longer. This may have been the case for a select few, but many British colonists desired to maintain their status as British colonists and citizens. The foremost reason that the colonists began protests, boycotts, and petitions against the British was because they believed their innate rights as British citizens were being violated. The American Revolution occurred due to a chain of events and a complex set of intertwined reasons. One of the reasons that the colonists wanted to separate from Britain was that people in the colonies had begun to see themselves as small separate nations such as North …show more content…
The governor rarely intervened with political affairs that would incense the colonists, because the legislature controlled when and how the governor would be paid. These reasons all supplied the fuel to start the American Revolution, but the spark that began it was the taxation of the colonies. The biggest reason that colonists were becoming disgruntled with their mother country, Britain, was Britain’s heavy debts that Britain had accumulated while fighting wars with France which needed to be alleviated. As with all governments, Britain had to tax its people to procure the funds needed to pay these debts. Britain saw their colonies as thousands of British citizens that they had not taxed satisfactorily. After realizing this, Britain imposed several new taxes on goods imported and exported to and from the colonies. The colonists were livid over the new taxes. After all, Britain had practiced salutary neglect for almost 100 years. Salutary neglect is the practice of leaving one’s foreign acquisitions to their own devices with little to no interference of their government, social, or economic aspects. The colonists immediately began to petition these new taxes. Their logic: “No taxation without representation.” In contrast to Britain, the colonists believed in direct representation which is representation in government by having someone from a certain region represent that area. British government or Parliament believed in virtual representation
The economic and social causes for the American Revolution were based off of the imposement of British taxes in the colonies. The colonists found the British taxes to be extremely unfair and uncalled for. The British claimed
Leading up to the American revolution, there were many events which lead the colonist to justifiably rebel against King George. These oppressive acts by the crown lead the colonies to protest. Because of British tyranny, and unfair taxation, the colonies were justified in separating themselves from the British government.
The main reason the American Revolution was caused was because the tax of the colonists by the British, in which led the end of the seven-year war of the French and Indian. This issue was more engaged in the North more than the South because of their politician differences. The people that were business leaders, politicians, etc, did not like the situation that was going on they had their particular economy and political interests in enlightenment just to get people the big masses, the war was freedom and release from tyranny. The British people were looking at it as the colonies were not paying what they were suppose to, also maintain the empire. They were treating the American to control them not as partners in their
From the 1650s to the 1750s, the British colonies in America economically thrived under salutary neglect. The British crown would turn a “blind-eye” to merchants and sailors trading with foreign nations– outlawed by Parliament. During this period, the colonists felt as if they had control over the respective state governments and the taxes they paid. However, in the mid-1700s, the period of salutary neglect by the British ended, resulting in greater Parliamentary control and the imposition of many direct taxes, such as the Sugar act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765. These direct taxes angered many colonists, as previously they had been paying indirect taxes, but these direct taxes where place without any direct representation in Parliament.
One of the things they did was tax the colonists on things they didn't get to vote on in parliament. NC Pedia states, "Parliament did not have the right to take their money by imposing taxes. "No taxation without representation" became their rallying cry." This means that colonists didn't want to get taxed for something they didn't have a say in. They know that taxes are needed to help run the country but, they didn't get to help decide what should be taxed. Great Britain also made some unfair laws. For example, they decided to make it legal that a British soldier come and sleep in your home and you would have to feed them. So, as you can tell, the British did some pretty unfair and cruel things so, who would want to be a part of
After a long, bloody, and expensive war the Americans were finally recognized as an independent country from Britain. Because of the long war the Americans had developed an even stronger hatred towards the British and wanted them to leave not only remove all the British from North America, but
“No taxation without representation” was a slogan that the colonists used to oppress the British because they were not allowed to be represented. Evidence in the textbook states “Many believed that Great Britain had no right to tax the colonies at all without their consent.” and also “take from any man any part of his property, without his consent in person or by representation.” This means that colonists
By the eve of the revolution, the colonists developed a strong identity and a unity as americans by british representation, boycotting british law and fighting for their rights.
After the colonies won their independence from Great Britain, they had to figure out how to run their government. Colonists were wary of a strong national government following their negative experience with the out-of-touch British ruling. After having little influence over the manner in which they were governed, colonists were opposed
The American Revolution was caused by many built up issues between the British and their colonists in America. Two of the main issues were that the colonists wanted independence from Britain and when the British kept taxing the colonists without consent from them, they got even more fed up.
Some of the main causes of the American Revolution are British import taxes, tea act, Boston massacre, and no taxation without representation. The American colonist thought it was unfair for them to be taxed by the British if they did not have a role in parliament. Through many acts and taxed the colonist got more and more angry with the tyrant of a king. A tyrant is similar to a dictator which is unfair and cruel to their people. This all led up to the American Revolution and the colonists freedom from the British king.
The American Revolution began because of the resistance of many Americans to pay taxes to the British government. Many Americans felt these taxes were unjust. This led to eventual boycotts and conflicts with the British government in December 1773. The British closed the port of Boston in retaliation to the Boston Tea Party and took
Salutary neglect refers to the unofficial and long-lasting 17th- & 18th-century British policy of avoiding strict enforcement of parliamentary laws, meant to keep the American colonies obedient to England (Wikipedia). It allowed both Great Britain and the colonies to benefit under loosely enforced mercantilist rules. The need for revenue after the French and Indian War (aka Seven Year’s War) caused a major shift in British policies toward the colonies. Salutary neglect was no longer in effect; the British thought it was fair for the colonists to take up some of the costs of the war. They began to strictly enforce new policies such as the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765. These two acts represented a departure from previous British colonial policy. Previously, tax acts imposed by the British were only to regulate trade; these two acts were directly aimed at the colonists to raise revenue. These two policies both imposed an unfair direct tax to the colonists, who weren’t able to voice their opinions about the policies. This was against their republican beliefs, as the British were being unjust. The colonists felt that the British were violating their rights as Englishmen. This eventually gave way to the revival of the saying, “No taxation without
Many events led up to the split between the colonies and England. When England claimed a portion of the new world for its own they had to inhabit it to enforce its claim. The easies way to do so was to allow groups searching for
The Americans in the colonies decided to break away from Great Britain for many reasons. One reason was the taxes being put on items. This made the colonists come up with the phrase "no taxation without representation". (Doc #1)