What Were the Causes of the American Revolution?

Today, the United States is one of the greatest powers of the world, but less than three

hundred years ago, it wasn’t even a country. Instead, there were thirteen colonies loyal to

the king of Great Britain. Then, many, but not all, citizens of the colonies decided they

wanted to be their own independent country. The American Revolution was fought, and the

rest is history. What caused the colonies to declare their independence? The answer is… a

lot of things.

Causes of the American Revolution

The greatest factor in the start of the American Revolution was the large distance between

the colonies and Great Britain. It could take months to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This meant

that Great Britain mostly ignored the colonies. Over many decades of neglect, the colonists

had gotten a taste of freedom, and they liked it.

This all ended after the French and Indian War. The war left Britain in serious debt, and

they turned to the colonists to pay more taxes to service this debt. The colonists, who paid

the lowest taxes in the kingdom, did not like the idea of sending any more money to

Britain.

The British further enraged the colonists with the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that

colonists could not settle any farther west than the Appalachian Mountains. The British

intended to keep the land west of the Appalachian Mountains for the Native American

tribes that were currently occupying the land. It was an effort to prevent further bloodshed

over boundary disputes, but the colonists saw it as a way for Great Britain to control them.

Great Britain also passed several acts that angered the colonists. Most of these were

designed to raise taxes to pay the debts from the French and Indian War. The Sugar Act

put a tax on all sugar imported from the West Indies. The Stamp Act put a tax on a variety

of paper products including playing cards and newspapers. The Townshend Acts put taxes

on glass, paper, and tea. Other acts limited the colonists’ freedom. The Quartering Act

required colonists to house and feed British soldiers without payment. The Currency Act

prevented colonies from issuing their own paper money. Finally, the Intolerable Acts

banned town meetings and even closed Boston Harbor.

While Great Britain was putting more controls on the colonists, the colonists were planning

for freedom. Committees of Correspondence, run by men such as Samuel Adams, spread

propaganda urging the colonies to revolt against Great Britain. Later, the First and Second

Continental Congresses laid out further goals for the angry colonists.

In 1770, tensions came to a head when British troops fired into an unruly crowd and killed

five civilians. This event outraged the colonists. It became known as the Boston Massacre.

The Boston Massacre clearly divided the colonists against the British troops occupying the

colonies.

Three years later, in response to the 1773 Tea Act, Samuel Adams led a group of colonists

as they boarded a ship in Boston Harbor and dumped 342 chests of tea into the water. It

became known as the Boston Tea Party. The British closed Boston Harbor in response to the

Boston Tea Party.

Over time, the conflict between the British and the colonists escalated, leading King

George III to declare the colonies in rebellion and Thomas Jefferson to write the

Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution had begun. Eight years later, in

1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed to end the war, and the United States of America was

born.

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