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Contributing Factors to The American Revolution

 

            Many factors contributed to the eventual rebellion of Americans against British rule in 1776. The most important cause for rebellion was the restriction of civil liberties on the colonists. The British government enforced acts such as the Writs of Assistance and the Quartering Act. Both of these were highly criticized and colonists challenged the constitutionality of these acts. The fact that colonists believed their civil rights were being violated, their arguments not being heard, and that their efforts to have their own privacy honored were ignored all lead to a rebellion. The second most influential cause of the revolution was the taxation by Parliament. Taxes such as the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act of 1765 angered the colonists because they believed they were being unfairly taxed for no reason. Usually, the purpose for the tax was to raise the British revenue. The colonists felt that they should not be obligated to pay taxes to Britain because they had no representation in Parliament, hence the phrase, "Taxation without representation." The violence and political storm generated by these taxes would greatly contribute to the revolutionary cause. The measures taken by the British military would be the third reason for rebellion. These included the Proclamation of 1763 and the Intolerable Acts. The fact that the British attempted to prohibit anyone from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains outraged the colonists. They had fought for that land against the French and believed that they had a right to settle on it if they wished to do so. As a result of lack of enough enforcement, the colonists ignored the orders, moved west, and often ended up trespassing on Indian land, which would cause even more problems. The Intolerable Acts were an impossible attempt by the British to force the colonists to pay for the tea that was lost during the Boston Tea Party. This resulted in serious economic distress for the colonies, and lead to desperate measures by the colonists, such as the Continental Congress.


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