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The Causes of the American Revolution:
An island ruling a continent. A war that gave birth to a new and free country. King George's taxes, neglect of the original 13 colonies, and England's mercantilism policy played a major part in the fire and anger of the English colonists in America that lead to the American Revolution of 1775 to 1783.
King George III of Britain was a tyrant by the standards of James Otis and other colonial rebels. He put taxes on the colonists' tea, paper, and many other items that they used frequently, if not daily. These taxes were called the Townsend Acts and King George did not give colonists any say or vote in Parliament in the taxes. Part of the money collected even went to the colonial governor's pocket! To free themselves from these tyrannic taxes, the colonists united and boycotted British products. These boycotts caused the English merchants to lose money and so they turned against King George for provoking the boycotts. Also, King George did not abide by the Magna Carta by taxing the British colonists. In the Magna Carta, it is clearly stated in Clause 12, "No . . . aid (taxes) shall be imposed . . . unless by common counsel of our kingdom." Nevertheless, King George III was unfair when the colonists pointed this out and said that since they were across an ocean, the Magna Carta did not apply to them.
The British colonists in America also wanted to break away from Britain because of its mercantilism policy with which they disagreed extremely. This policy said that with more money, a country has more power. Colonists lost hard-earned money to the king because of the mercantilism policy. The colonists sold their raw materials to the mother country at low prices and bought back the finished products at exceedingly high prices because they could not make them themselves. Another part of mercantilism is that a nation must regulate its trade to sell more than it buys. This brought the Navigation Acts. These acts were to regulate trade for Britain's own benefits and forced colonists to trade almost only with England. The king of England also felt that the colonies were there only to make the mother country rich. The colonists felt that King George did not care about them but instead their money. This did not pass by the colonists' tempers.
Another thing that got the colonists red-hot with anger was the king's neglect of the colonies. King George took away their rights to self-government in America after it had been going on for several years. The king made the colonists lower than the loyal subjects they thought they were. Colonists were not given the same rights as English citizens in Britain like trial by jury, appropriate taxation, and control over private homes where a soldier cannot barge in to quarter there. The colonists were neglected in the voting in Parliament and had no representative. King George III even closed down the Boston ports, allowed British officials to be tried for crimes in England, and gave out a stronger Quartering Act just to punish the colonies like they were small children!
Philip Freneau once said, "When a certain king, whose initial is G, shall force stamps upon paper, and folks to drink tea; When these folks burn his tea and stamp paper, like stubble, you may guess that this king is then coming to trouble." Freneau was obviously speaking of King George III and the British colonists in early America. The king of England was definitely "coming to trouble" when he pushed the colonists too far with his taxes, neglect, and disagreeable mercantilism policy. The colonists could not put up with King George anymore and fought the battles at Lexington and Concord. And so the American Revolution began.
Boston Tea Party
Proclamation of 1763
Quartering Act:
Sugar Act:
Stamp Act:
Townshend Act:
Boston Massacre:
Tea Act:
Boston Tea Party:
Intolerable Acts:
First Continental Congress:
LexingtonConcord:
Second Continental Congress:
Declaratory Act:
Common Sense:
Declaration of Independence:
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