Causes Of The American Revolution
How England Instigated The American Revolution
Soon after England
established the colonies in the New World, it began a period of salutary
neglect. The English rarely intervened with colonial business. It was during
this time that the colonies began gradually to think and act independently of
England. This scared England, and initiated a period in which they became more
involved in the colony's growth. Parliament tried to establish power in the New
World by issuing a series of laws. The passage of these laws undermined the
Colonist’s loyalty to Britain and stirred the Americans to fight for their
freedom.
Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected the
colonists were the Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony’s trade so that
it traded solely with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the
colonists accepted it with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England’s
right to monitor trade. The change of course in 1767 was what really riled the
colonists. England began to slowly tighten its imperial grip to avoid a large
reaction from the colonists. Additional problems began when England passed the
Writs of Assistance, which gave British officials the right to seize illegal
goods, and to examine any building or ship without proof of cause. This was a
powerful weapon against smuggling, but most importantly to the Colonists; it
allowed the invasion of their privacy. This was crossing the line and violating
the rights of an English man. The Colonists even went so far as to hire a
lawyer, but the court ruled against him.
During the Seven Years War, the
British sent over ten thousand troops to America to deal with property problems
at the frontier. This cost a large amount of money, and Britain did not want to
see the sum come out of its own pocket. To pay for some of the expense, Britain
began to pass acts to tax the colonists and lighten the severe debt the empire
was in. The Sugar Act of 1764 was an example of a tax that had many affects on
the Colonial lifestyle. The act stated that any foreign exportation of lumber or
skin had to first land in Britain. It also raised the price of imported sugar
from the Indies. This act was accompanied by a strict enforcing of the former
Navigation Acts due to the sudden increase of smuggling. This enhanced the
tension between England and the New World. The law also changed trials for
offenders; they were held away from the place of the crime, and the judge was
awarded 5% of confiscated goods, increasing the number of guilty sentences
handed down. In reality, the laws were so regulated it was hard not to make an
error! The Quartering Act in 1765 was a burden to all the colonists; it required
certain colonies to provide food and housing to the British Troops on demand.
This was viewed by many as an indirect tax, though an inexpensive one. While the
previously passed laws caused some protest, the one which brought out the most
public opposition was the Stamp Act in 1765. The Sugar Act had failed to produce
enough money, and Parliament was forced to pass the Stamp Act. The Act stated
that all Americans must used specially stamped (watermarked) paper for printing
bills, legal documents, even playing cards!
England saw these taxes as
reasonable; after all, the Americans were merely paying for the soldiers in
their colonies, a measure for their safety. As Americans did not deem the
soldier’s presence as necessary in the New World, obviously they despised the
tax. And worst of all, these taxes were decreed without any word from an
American, as there was no representative for the New World in the British
parliament. Americans believed it was understandable for the British to
legislate when the subject involved the Empire as a whole, such as trade, but
only Colonists could tax colonists, not the British government, 3,000 miles away
and deaf to the American views. The Prime Minister claimed that the Colonists
were "virtually represented" in parliament: each member stood for the empire as
a whole. The Colonists disagreed because they believed that Parliament did not
care about or understand them and therefore did not have the American people’s
best interest at heart.
The acts imposed by England to try to control and
monitor America only succeeded in furthering its independence. The Colonists
were left with two options as a result of the Stamp Act, neither of which were
very appealing; either confront parliament, and risk a fight with the much
larger and more powerful mother land of England, or succumb to the act without
complaining and possibly give up the right to self govern for good. Many groups
were founded by the Colonists, among them, the Sons and Daughters of Liberty,
whose soul purpose was to intimidate the officials who mandated the Stamp Act in
America into quitting. They rightfully assumed that if the officials who issued
the act resigned the act would be stopped in its tracks. In 1765, the Stamp Act
Congress met and decided that Parliament can not tax the colonists or deny their
right to a trial by jury. This Congress was the first step towards colonial
unity.
The congress, led by the elite upper class, was careful to control
the rebellion to avoid having troops sent to put the people in check. Merchants
of the colonies began to boycott British goods, and as they constituted 45% of
Britains consumer population, this made a large impact in England. The business
community appealed to parliament to repeal the stamp act or have all the
merchants go bankrupt. In March of 1766, the Stamp Act was revoked, marking the
first victory in the long journey to America’s independence. But, it was a small
one and this was not to be the end of the struggle. In its place, the
declaratory act was placed. It was a subtly worded act, which confirmed
Parliament’s right to legislate over the colonies always and in all cases. The
Americans interpreted this in a positive way and did not rebel, viewing it as
unimportant. The British Parliament had meant it literally: the Colonists had no
more excuses and had to obey all laws passed by Parliament, including taxes. The
colonists wanted to forget about all the troubles from the past, and were
grateful for the repeal of the stamp act. They believed their rebellion had made
Britain realize their vitality to the empire and all the anti-act groups
disbanded. As time wore on the colonists gradually began to realize that the
purpose of the Acts was to undermine their right to self-govern.
In 1766,
a new Prime Minister, William Pitt, was appointed who opposed taxing the
colonies. His health was poor, and his duties were soon taken over by former
treasurer Charles Townshend. He had been a former follower of Pitt, but when he
controlled the power, he began to urge parliament to tax the colonies. Protest
to the quartering act caused much hostility in parliament, who believed the
repeal of the stamp act was gift enough to the Americans. Townshend was so angry
at the protest that he passed the Suspending act, which nullified all acts from
New York after October 1st if they refuse to pay their expenses for the
soldiers. The building tension would soon undermine the colony's loyalty to
England.
At this point, one of the most important weapons America held in
the Government was that it paid the salaries. Townshend proposed a series of
acts be passed, known as the Townshend acts. There was a light duty on glass,
paint, paper and tea and the revenue collected would pay the salary of the
governors in the colonies. The purpose of this was to switch the control of the
Colonial Government into the hands of England. The colonists abhorred the act,
as it was merely another effort to control them. The fact still remained they
were being taxed without representation. Despite their objections, there was
little objection at the time, for the tax was light and tea was easily smuggled.
In 1768, to control the outbreak against order, two regiments of troops were
landed in Boston. In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, in which a few
Colonists were killed after provoking a group of soldiers. This was arguably the
first blood spilled in the name of the American Revolution. More and more
British Soldiers were sent off America to enforce the Navigation act, to the
continued irritation of the Colonists. Committees were established to promote
opposition to England and its intolerable acts. A letter was written to rile the
colonies into shunning the acts, and Great Britain, seeing it as the beginnings
of a rebellion, ordered all colonies to disown the letters. When the colonies
refused, England insisted the Royal Governors disband the legislatures, which
they do. This spurred the Colonies to band together against this threat to
self-government and taxation without representation. The colonies also refused
to import British goods, urging the British merchants to place pressure on
parliament to repeal the Townshend acts. In 1770, a new Prime Minister, Lord
North, was elected and he disbanded the Townshend Acts but kept the tax on
tea.
In 1770 there was a drastic change in the arguments made by the
colonists. The cry of the colonists no longer sounded no taxation without
representation, but no legislation without representation. This change was a
result of some 1,700 troops being sent into Boston. Mere military presence
provoked the people. By 1773, almost all British loyalty had dwindled
dangerously low in the Colonies. The Americans were completely ignoring the tea
tax, merely smuggling in foreign tea. Despite the cancellation of many acts, in
reality no constitutional problems had been resolved.
The Colonies had
been collecting muskets and various weapons and storing them in Concord,
Massachusetts, awaiting the inevitable war between themselves and Britain. A
group of soldiers were disbanded to collect the arms, and were confronted by a
group of Colonial Minute Men. Eight Americans were killed and several wounded.
This is known as the Lexington massacre. In January of 1776, Thomas Payne
published Common Sense, a letter that stated that kingship is dangerous to
liberty and it is undemocratic. It basically stated that all Americans should
disown the king. At this point the Americans were ready for a full-fledged
revolution.
The road to revolution was irreversible when the Stamp Act
was passed. It was at this point that the different views of the Americans and
the British really began to show through. When this happened, the Americans had
already developed such a sense of independence that nothing the British could
have done could have destroyed it. Once this self-reliance was obtained there
was nothing the British could do to repress it.
The road to the American
Revolution was long and difficult. Britain insisted on passing act after act to
tax the colonies and ruin their devotion to the crown. Through all of the
trouble the acts caused it pushed the colonies into merging with each other.
Once together as a whole, the colonies were able to develop their own
individuality and defeat the British army for their independence.
Events
leading to the American Revolution
During the late seventeen hundreds,
many tumultuous events
resulted in Colonial opposition to Great Britain. The
conditions
of rights of the colonists will slowly be changed as
the
constriction of the parliament becomes more and more
intolerable.
During the Seven Years' War England was not only alarmed by
the
colonists' insistence on trading with the enemy, but also
with
Boston merchants hiring James Otis inorder to protest
the
legality of the writs of assistance (general search warrants)
used to
hunt out smuggled goods. "let the parliament lay what
burthens they please on
us, we must, it is our duty to submit and
patiently bear them, till they will
be pleased to relieve
us....". This is a very strong dictum, that in 1764,
the
colonists were of a submissive nature, and were weakly pleading
for
self-autonomy. This small fire of anger will become a huge
conflagration as
the rights are slowly rescinded.
On October 19, 1765 the Stamp Act
Congress and
Parliamentary Taxation committee's passed some laws
that
attempted to strengthen the grip of the English crown.
"I.That
his Majesty's subjects in these colonies, owe the same
allegiance to the
Crown of Great Britain that is owing from his
subjects born within the realm,
and all due subordination to
that august body, the Parliament of Great
Britain."
This statement can be used as a summation of the entire
document
that the Stamp Act Congress had initiated. The statement
depicts
the colonists has having to be submissive and servile in the
view
of Great Britain, this policy angered the colonists very much,
and
was another component of the transition of the colonists'
rights and
liberties.
When the Declatory Act was passed in March of 1766,
many
colonies were attempting to claim that they were "seceding"
from
England.
"Whereas several of the houses of representatives in
his
Majesty's colonies and plantations in America, have of
late,
against law, or to the general assemblies of the same, the sole
and
exclusive right of imposing duties and taxes upon his
Majesty's subjects
in the said colonies....be it declared ....,
that the said colonies and
plantations in America, have been,
are, and of right ought to be, subordinate
unto, and dependent
upon the imperial Crown and Parliament of Great
Britain;".
The Parliament of course denounced the attempt at
independance
and still dogmatilcally passed the following law to show that
the
colonists were still british subjects. Again, the colonists
were
infuriated and later will resist the british imperialism on
the
colonies.
"All before, are calculated to regulate trade, and
preserve
prpromote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the
several
constituent parts of the empite"", yet those duties were
always
imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one part".
This
statement by the colonist (John Dickinson), shows that th
sole rason for new
taxes is just for the British gov't to make
money, at the expense of the
economy of the colonies. Dickinson
makes a important distinction between the
rights of the colonies
and the authority of the parliament. Dickinson's
comments were
ubiquitous among the colonists, and thus infuriated them
to
rebellion, and the seizure of basic democratic rights.
"From
necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual
interest of both countries,
we cheerfully consent to the
operation of such acts of the British parliament
as are bona fide
restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for
the
purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire
to
the mother country , and the commercial benefits of it's
respective members
excluding every idea of taxation, internal or
external, for raising a revenue
on the subjects in America
without their consent ...."
The continental
congress had presented it's colonial rights.
These rights enable the
colonies to be more autonomous with
exception to those several states who are
under the british
control. One important element of the document, is the idea
of
taxation without representation; the said that raising taxes
without
consent was illegal and that the commercial benefits of
the colony should be
shared within the colonies, instead of
England becoming more and more
economically prosperous.
The whole idea of mercantilism was about to be
crushed, due to
this idea, of self-autonomy with respect to colonial
economics.
"Ye that oppose independence now, ye know not what ye do,
ye
are opening a door to eternal tyranny....". This statement made
by
Thomas Paine shows the foreshadowing, of what colonists would
do. The British
are trying to prevent independence, and from
doing so, they are being
tyrannical. Again, the rights of the
colonists are being questioned and
rebellion shortly will be
forthcoming.
"That whenever any form of
Government becomes destructive
of these ends, it is the right of the people
to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying
it's
foundations on such principles and organizing it's powers in
such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety
and
happiness.". What the declaration is really saying, is that a
society who has
no or little rights (such as the colonies) should
be destroyed, thus
separation from England. A new society would
follow, where the people of the
society would have these rights
necessary for self-autonomy. The Declaration
of Independence was
a strong justification for revolution. The Revolution
follows the
Declaration of Independence, where a transition occurs.
The
transition has to do with the rights of the colonists. The
colonists
acquire their rights through resistance to british
imperial conformity, by
resisting certain policies detrimental to
the inalienable rights of a
democracy. The transitional period
was from 1760's to 1770's. This is a
crucial period of time,
because this is where the center of power is
transferred from the
british government (Parliament) to the colonial
citizens. A major
component to this center of power was the rights of
the
colonists, the colonists gained their rights through resistence
to an
imperial power. This transition is depicted through the
progression of time
in the documents.
Instigations of the American Revolution
Soon
after England established the colonies in the New World, it began a period of
salutary neglect. The English rarely intervened with colonial business. It was
during this time that the colonies began gradually to think and act
independently of England. This scared England, and initiated a period in which
they became more involved in the colony's growth. Parliament tried to establish
power in the New World by issuing a series of laws. The passage of these laws
undermined the Colonist’s loyalty to Britain and stirred the Americans to fight
for their freedom.
Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected
the colonists were the Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony’s trade so
that it traded solely with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the
colonists accepted it with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England’s
right to monitor trade. The change of course in 1767 was what really riled the
colonists. England began to slowly tighten its imperial grip to avoid a large
reaction from the colonists. Additional problems began when England passed the
Writs of Assistance, which gave British officials the right to seize illegal
goods, and to examine any building or ship without proof of cause. This was a
powerful weapon against smuggling, but most importantly to the Colonists; it
allowed the invasion of their privacy. This was crossing the line and violating
the rights of an English man. The Colonists even went so far as to hire a
lawyer, but the court ruled against him.
During the Seven Years War, the
British sent over ten thousand troops to America to deal with property problems
at the frontier. This cost a large amount of money, and Britain did not want to
see the sum come out of its own pocket. To pay for some of the expense, Britain
began to pass acts to tax the colonists and lighten the severe debt the empire
was in. The Sugar Act of 1764 was an example of a tax that had many affects on
the Colonial lifestyle. The act stated that any foreign exportation of lumber or
skin had to first land in Britain. It also raised the price of imported sugar
from the Indies. This act was accompanied by a strict enforcing of the former
Navigation Acts due to the sudden increase of smuggling. This enhanced the
tension between England and the New World. The law also changed trials for
offenders; they were held away from the place of the crime, and the judge was
awarded 5% of confiscated goods, increasing the number of guilty sentences
handed down. In reality, the laws were so regulated it was hard not to make an
error! The Quartering Act in 1765 was a burden to all the colonists; it required
certain colonies to provide food and housing to the British Troops on demand.
This was viewed by many as an indirect tax, though an inexpensive one. While the
previously passed laws caused some protest, the one which brought out the most
public opposition was the Stamp Act in 1765. The Sugar Act had failed to produce
enough money, and Parliament was forced to pass the Stamp Act. The Act stated
that all Americans must used specially stamped (watermarked) paper for printing
bills, legal documents, even playing cards!
England saw these taxes as
reasonable; after all, the Americans were merely paying for the soldiers in
their colonies, a measure for their safety. As Americans did not deem the
soldier’s presence as necessary in the New World, obviously they despised the
tax. And worst of all, these taxes were decreed without any word from an
American, as there was no representative for the New World in the British
parliament. Americans believed it was understandable for the British to
legislate when the subject involved the Empire as a whole, such as trade, but
only Colonists could tax colonists, not the British government, 3,000 miles away
and deaf to the American views. The Prime Minister claimed that the Colonists
were "virtually represented" in parliament: each member stood for the empire as
a whole. The Colonists disagreed because they believed that Parliament did not
care about or understand them and therefore did not have the American people’s
best interest at heart.
The acts imposed by England to try to control and
monitor America only succeeded in furthering its independence. The Colonists
were left with two options as a result of the Stamp Act, neither of which were
very appealing; either confront parliament, and risk a fight with the much
larger and more powerful mother land of England, or succumb to the act without
complaining and possibly give up the right to self govern for good. Many groups
were founded by the Colonists, among them, the Sons and Daughters of Liberty,
whose soul purpose was to intimidate the officials who mandated the Stamp Act in
America into quitting. They rightfully assumed that if the officials who issued
the act resigned the act would be stopped in its tracks. In 1765, the Stamp Act
Congress met and decided that Parliament can not tax the colonists or deny their
right to a trial by jury. This Congress was the first step towards colonial
unity.
The congress, led by the elite upper class, was careful to control
the rebellion to avoid having troops sent to put the people in check. Merchants
of the colonies began to boycott British goods, and as they constituted 45% of
Britains consumer population, this made a large impact in England. The business
community appealed to parliament to repeal the stamp act or have all the
merchants go bankrupt. In March of 1766, the Stamp Act was revoked, marking the
first victory in the long journey to America’s independence. But, it was a small
one and this was not to be the end of the struggle. In its place, the
declaratory act was placed. It was a subtly worded act, which confirmed
Parliament’s right to legislate over the colonies always and in all cases. The
Americans interpreted this in a positive way and did not rebel, viewing it as
unimportant. The British Parliament had meant it literally: the Colonists had no
more excuses and had to obey all laws passed by Parliament, including taxes. The
colonists wanted to forget about all the troubles from the past, and were
grateful for the repeal of the stamp act. They believed their rebellion had made
Britain realize their vitality to the empire and all the anti-act groups
disbanded. As time wore on the colonists gradually began to realize that the
purpose of the Acts was to undermine their right to self-govern.
In 1766,
a new Prime Minister, William Pitt, was appointed who opposed taxing the
colonies. His health was poor, and his duties were soon taken over by former
treasurer Charles Townshend. He had been a former follower of Pitt, but when he
controlled the power, he began to urge parliament to tax the colonies. Protest
to the quartering act caused much hostility in parliament, who believed the
repeal of the stamp act was gift enough to the Americans. Townshend was so angry
at the protest that he passed the Suspending act, which nullified all acts from
New York after October 1st if they refuse to pay their expenses for the
soldiers. The building tension would soon undermine the colony's loyalty to
England.
At this point, one of the most important weapons America held in
the Government was that it paid the salaries. Townshend proposed a series of
acts be passed, known as the Townshend acts. There was a light duty on glass,
paint, paper and tea and the revenue collected would pay the salary of the
governors in the colonies. The purpose of this was to switch the control of the
Colonial Government into the hands of England. The colonists abhorred the act,
as it was merely another effort to control them. The fact still remained they
were being taxed without representation. Despite their objections, there was
little objection at the time, for the tax was light and tea was easily smuggled.
In 1768, to control the outbreak against order, two regiments of troops were
landed in Boston. In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, in which a few
Colonists were killed after provoking a group of soldiers. This was arguably the
first blood spilled in the name of the American Revolution. More and more
British Soldiers were sent off America to enforce the Navigation act, to the
continued irritation of the Colonists. Committees were established to promote
opposition to England and its intolerable acts. A letter was written to rile the
colonies into shunning the acts, and Great Britain, seeing it as the beginnings
of a rebellion, ordered all colonies to disown the letters. When the colonies
refused, England insisted the Royal Governors disband the legislatures, which
they do. This spurred the Colonies to band together against this threat to
self-government and taxation without representation. The colonies also refused
to import British goods, urging the British merchants to place pressure on
parliament to repeal the Townshend acts. In 1770, a new Prime Minister, Lord
North, was elected and he disbanded the Townshend Acts but kept the tax on
tea.
In 1770 there was a drastic change in the arguments made by the
colonists. The cry of the colonists no longer sounded no taxation without
representation, but no legislation without representation. This change was a
result of some 1,700 troops being sent into Boston. Mere military presence
provoked the people. By 1773, almost all British loyalty had dwindled
dangerously low in the Colonies. The Americans were completely ignoring the tea
tax, merely smuggling in foreign tea. Despite the cancellation of many acts, in
reality no constitutional problems had been resolved.
The Colonies had
been collecting muskets and various weapons and storing them in Concord,
Massachusetts, awaiting the inevitable war between themselves and Britain. A
group of soldiers were disbanded to collect the arms, and were confronted by a
group of Colonial Minute Men. Eight Americans were killed and several wounded.
This is known as the Lexington massacre. In January of 1776, Thomas Payne
published Common Sense, a letter that stated that kingship is dangerous to
liberty and it is undemocratic. It basically stated that all Americans should
disown the king. At this point the Americans were ready for a full-fledged
revolution.
The road to revolution was irreversible when the Stamp Act
was passed. It was at this point that the different views of the Americans and
the British really began to show through. When this happened, the Americans had
already developed such a sense of independence that nothing the British could
have done could have destroyed it. Once this self-reliance was obtained there
was nothing the British could do to repress it.
The road to the American
Revolution was long and difficult. Britain insisted on passing act after act to
tax the colonies and ruin their devotion to the crown. Through all of the
trouble the acts caused it pushed the colonies into merging with each other.
Once together as a whole, the colonies were able to develop their own
individuality and defeat the British army for their independence.