What Caused The Revolutionary War – History Essay
One of the most important facts of any revolution is violence. This is often a response to the heightened repression or other intolerable demands from the government against its people. The American Revolution
is no exception. Following the Seven Years War, England need to recover some of their finances which were lost due to the war.
England passed many Acts that were ill conceived and had long term effects on the relationship between England and the colonies. The most controversial of these were direct taxes. The last time Parliament had tried a direct tax was as recent as 1765, when Lord Greenville enacted the Stamp Act which forced the colonists to pay for stamps on printed documents, the Stamp Act. The Stamp was passed in November of 1765. This taxed all paper documents It also stated that all legal documents had to be stamped or contained a British seal. The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money. The Stamp Act, however, was viewed as a direct attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. If this new tax were allowed to pass without resistance, the colonists reasoned, the door would be open for far more troublesome taxation in the future. This help lead to the war because the colonists finally realized the intent of the British Royalties.
In 1773 the Tea Act was passed. The Tea Act not only put a three penny per pound tax on tea but it also gave the British East India Company a near monopoly because it allowed the company to sell directly to the colonial agents avoiding any middlemen. In Boston the colonists held a town meeting to try to get their Tea Agents to resign. The Tea Agents would not resign and a few months later angered Bostonians dressed as Indians boarded three tea ships and dumped it all into Boston Harbor. This was also a leading cause in the war for independence because the colonists first acted out against the Crown. This infuriated the crown because one of its biggest money makers were going down hill and this was the only source of income.
The Stamp was passed in November of 1765. This taxed all paper documents It also stated that all legal documents had to be stamped or contained a British seal. The actual cost of the Stamp Act was relatively small. What made the law so offensive to the colonists was not so much its immediate cost but the standard it seemed to set. In the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measures to regulate commerce, not to raise money. The Stamp Act, however, was viewed as a direct attempt by England to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. If this new tax were allowed to pass without resistance, the colonists reasoned, the door would be open for far more troublesome taxation in the future. This help lead to the war because the colonists finally realized the intent of the British Royalties.
The Americans had felt the taxes of Lord Greenville were a deliberate aim to disinherit the colonists by denying them the rights of the English. The first of these acts were the Townshend Acts. The Townshend Acts were passed in 1767 and placed new taxes on paper, paints, tea, lead and, glass. The new taxes would be used to pay for British officials in the American service. These acts infuriated the colonists because they believed that Parliament had the right to put taxes on the trade of the colonies but could not place taxes directly on the colonists to raise revenue. This help cause the war because the colonist were tired of paying those over them who did nothing to help them.
Then in 1764 the British parliament passed the Colonial Currency Act. This act took away the right of any colony to issue its own paper money. This lead to increased poverty and hardship after the French and Indian war. The people opposed it because if more money was in circulation the economy would of been better. This help lead to the Revolutionary war because it caused the colonist to become impoverished which made them fight against everything said and done by the English Crown.
The Sugar act passed in 1764 was also a cause in the revolutionary war. It put a three cent tax on all refined sugar and indigo, coffee, and etc. This caused local production to go up in the colonies. This was a cause in the war only because it caused the British to become upset that the English Colonies were gaining more money than the Country itself.