One cannot say there is one cause to the American Revolution because there were many contributing factors. Historians argue that the revolution was political and the colonists were just trying to preserve their rights. Another view is that the colonists were concerned with economic issues. Others argue that distance and Great Britain's “benign neglect” made revolution inevitable. All are correct but some played greater roles than others.
The period known as “benign neglect” took place in the early 1700s before the thirteen colonies were prosperous. England neglected the colonies because it was in their best interest not to interfere. For example, a Roman Catholic man named Lord Baltimore founded Maryland in 1634. Townspeople soon established a proprietary system of self- government. This is just one example of what was achieved without the help of Great Britain. Similar advances happened throughout all the colonies. When New England along with the rest of the colonies began to prosper and set up more proprietary systems of self-government England began to take notice that the colonies could be used as a source of profit.
“Benign neglect” was an important aspect of the revolution. Without having been left alone for
Early America's economic situation with Britain was perhaps the leading cause of the revolution. The colonists generally prospered financially up to about the year 1660. Quality of life declines when you have less money. Colonists would have stayed on good terms with the British as long as they had money in their pockets and a healthy lifestyle.
This powerful difference between the views of the mother country and the views of the colonists, who in affect had no real political representation, further contributed to the unrest and angst stirring in colonial blood. Colonists were being suffocated by a political tyranny imposed on them for arbitrary rationales designed to control their behavior and crush the political spirit of freedom and self-government.
For example, the colonies were forbidden to produce for export woolen cloth and beaver hats, because the colonies were supposed to “compliment and not compete with British industry.” Later in 1660 Charles II approved a stronger version of the previous Navigation Act. This new act required colonists to sell certain goods only to England, such as sugar, tobacco, and cotton so a British middleman could get a cut of the profit. This created a huge disadvantage because colonial merchantmen now had to go hundreds of miles out of their way just to sell to another country. This forbade the colonists to import or export to other countries; thus colonists lost profit. Everyday
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