FREE ESSAY ON START OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION

START OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION

3 Causes of the final rupture between the 13 colonies and Great Britain between 1763 and
1775
There were many causes that brought on the start of the American Revolution. A great deal
of the civil unrest was brought on by the acts that followed the end of the French and
Indian War. At the end of the war, most of which was fought on American soil England had
incurred a dept almost double that of when William Pitt took office. Because the war was
fought for the colonists, much of England believed that that they should be the ones to
recoup the great financial loss that England had suffered. The colonists disagreed, as
they saw it the French and Indian War served to strengthen England's hold in the
colonies, and as British subjects thy should not be held accountable, while those in
Britain had not impact.
The first attempt for Britain to recoup their monetary losses came in the form The
Revenue Act of 1764, or the Sugar Act, The Sugar Act gave troops the power to act as
customs officials and board ships suspected of smuggling and allowed them to seize
suspicious cargo. Smugglers caught without paperwork would be prosecuted in a harsh
courtroom. Greenville, had hoped that this act would reform smugglers and generate a good
income for England. However, this only annoyed American Shippers and enticed smugglers.
The next big attempt that Britain put forth was the Stamp Act. The stamp Act was the
preface for the first major conflict between Britain and the colonies. The stamp act was
something new, a tax precipitated simply to raise money. The Stamp Act said that various
types of documentation, such as newspapers, pamphlets, contracts, court documents,
licenses, deeds, wills, ship's bills of lading, all required a special stamp be embossed
on the documents proving the tax had been paid. Also, the stamp was required to be paid
in sterling silver, and hard money was very hard to come by in these days. The Act,
though passed in February of 1765, did not take effect until November of that year, and
by April the colonists had been notified, leaving them with 7 months to formulate a
response. While the colonial governors were unlikely to do anything against the king,
being that it was he that gave them office, this did not stop the colonial assemblies
from meeting to discuss their objections and their recourse if they were to all out
object. Eight of the colonies held discussions on the Stamp Act. By Octoebr 1765
delegates were sent to New York City by nine of the colonies to what became known as the
Stamp Act Congress where they petitioned Greenville for repeal of the Tax. Their demands
were to no avail. This distress at this taxation wran much deeper then any group of
politicians. This tax affected the livelihood of many Americans, all those who requred
any official paperwork would be affected and taxed. Each of these people needed to decide
wether or not they would comply with this new law, or should they just boycott
alltogether. The first massive effort to resist the act came in Boston, where Samuel
Adams organized and led a large street demonstration in which they protest the tax by a
mock execution of the designated stamp distributor, and by destroy what was purported to
be the new stamp office. These protestors learned how powerful public dmonstration was
and folowed in the coming days with several more incidents. This was a victory for the
colonists of Boston because no one volnteered to replace Olicer and on November 1st ships
were permitted to pass without the prerequisite stamp, as there were not enough staff to
force the issue. In March of 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed but ws replaced by the
Declaratory Act which asserted Briotains right to legislate for the colonies.
The final acts that I am going to discuss are the Coercive Acts of 1774. There were
several happenings between the Stamp and and The Coercive Acts, thought I feel that the
Coercive Acts are the real straws that broke the camels backs. The Coercive Acts, more
commonly called the Intolerable Acts were in direct retalliation for all that had
happened in Boston. They were:
1) The Boston Port Act, closed the port to all shiping traffic as of June 1, 1774 until
the tea that ws destroyed had been paid for.
2) Thje Massachussetrs Government Act, altered the charter to greatly enhance the royal
govenments powers, and limt the powers of governemntal bodies othern thatn Parliament.
3) Adminsitration of Justice Act, any royal official accused of a capitol crime would be
tried in a court in England
4) The 1765 Quartering Act, permits militaryt commanders to lodge soldiers wherever
ncessary
5) The Quebec Act, confirmend the continuation of French civil Law, government form, and
catholicisim for Quebec, and gave Quebec contro of dispuited lands throught the Ohio
River Valley.
The reason that these laws alarmed and affect more than just Massachussettes, was the
fact that the colonists were forced to realize that if the crown could do this to the
people of Massachussettes, they could do it to ANYONE.