Blog #54 – Was the Revolution’s main cause economic, political, or social?
Historians have been debating this idea – the primary cause of the American Revolution – pretty much ever since it occurred over 200 years ago. Your job: read over the three main causes argued over by historians, and in your own words, explain which one is the most convincing.
Economic: In examining the economic causes, historians have pointed to the damaging effects of the new emphasis that the British put on organizing their empire along mercantilist philosophies – meaning that the colonies exist only for the enrichment of the mother country and not for themselves. Because of salutary neglect, the American colonies had been used to running things on their own – defying the Navigation Acts, printing their own money, paying very few taxes (26 to 1) – for almost 150 years. These Navigation Acts and other laws prevented American colonists from competing with British goods on the same playing field – American goods were taxed at a higher rate than British goods (don’t forget the Hat Act of 1700). After King George’s War in 1748, and especially after the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the British began to flex their economic muscle to squeeze more money from the colonists through things like the Sugar Act and the Townsend Acts. One of the things that was growing by 1770 was intra-colonial trade which accounted for almost 20% of the goods shipped out of New York (these things shipped to other American colonies included rum, manufactured products, refined sugar, and food). Britain appeared to want to limit this trade as well, b/c it didn’t enrich the home country.
– Post French and Indian War acts like the Sugar, Stamp, Townsend, and Tea acts all appared to limit o
r cut out colonial businessmen. For instance, the Sugar Act raised prices on refined sugar which was used in the production of rum, 60% of which went to the colonies or West Indies. Under the Townsend Acts, the new Board of Commons in Boston virtually put an end to smuggling, so struggling merchants organized a boycott movement in 1768. Merchants from Philadelphia and New York joined the non-importation movement in addition to some southern colonies.
– Also, we mentioned that the colonists were cash-strapped / poor because they paid for English goods with gold and silver, so that states resorted to printing their own paper money. In fact, many merchants and upper class folks were in debt to English merchants, and with the Parliament taxing or limiting colonists’ work, they had a difficult time paying their debts.
Social / Cultural: For social reasons, while the economy grew rapidly, not everyone was sharing in its bounty. In the 1770s, the top 20% of the population owned about two thirds of the colonies’ wealth, while the bottom 20% owned only 1%. Indentured servants made up part of that bottom 20% and were more often landless workers either finding jobs as tenant farmers or factory workers in the cities. These workers were not happy with the state of things and had hoped to get better farm land from the eastern, more populous side of their colony but were shut out. So they had to move west into the frontier to find arable (farming) land. Since there was little land available, many of these would-be farmers moved to the cities looking for work. In Boston, these unemployed workers vented their grievances at town hall meetings and were able by sheer numbers to out vote the “Gentlemen, Merchants, Substantial Traders and all the better part of the Inhabitants” (Zinn 60). Historian Howard Zinn stated that men like James Otis and Sam Adams used this lower-class resentment to fuel a revolutionary fire against the British and upper class politicians beginning in the early 1760s. In other cities, working class men demanded open meetings and roll-call votes to find out how their representatives were voting to make sure that their demands were being met. There was a full-blown class warfare, it seems, between those who were associated with the British (usually upper class) and the middle and working classes (pro-colonies). The British soldiers located in Boston may have inadvertantly sparked the Boston Massacre b/c they were competing with unemployed colonists for jobs (apparently the British military pay wasn’t great and there was lots of spare time). But, the passions of the poor and middle class were apparently greater than the wealthy colonists like Adams and Otis who tried to control them, because marches and protests would often get violent and potentially bloody. Men like Adams and Otis who tried to utilize the poor’s anger against the pro-British rich only seemed to pour gasoline on smoldering embers. 
– Even in the countryside, Bacon-style rebellions were popping up led by the poor against the wealthy. The Paxton Boys of western Pennsylvania marched on the capitol in 1763, Philadelphia, to air their grievances, were prepared to torch the city, and did not leave until they were calmed down by Ben Franklin himself. In 1771, North Carolina’s Regulators were white farmers and tenant farmers who had organized against “wealthy and corrupt officials” and wanted to “democratize local government in their counties” (Zinn 63). The Regulators hated the existing tax system and blamed the rich for its structure. This turned into a full pitched battle in May 1771 when the state militia defeated several thousand Regulators, after which six Regulators were hanged for treason.
– Though this may seem like an economic argument between the haves and the have-nots, it really focused on the lack of opportunity that new immigrants sought and natural-born colonists had sought since they’d been born here. The massive gap between the rich and poor may have contributed to this, but so did the lack of political representation for the poor.
Political: The biggest argument here revolves around “no taxation without representation”. As we read in the Stamp Act Congress document, especially part V, that the colonists felt that Parliament’s taxation was unconstitutional b/c the colonists had no representation in Parliament. Also, in the Stamp Act document (and subsequent pamphlets and speeches), the Congress reasserted their own rights as Englishmen even though they didn’t live within Great Britain – the right to trial by jury and other such liberties and rights. The taxes themselves were not very great (and by comparison to the British people themselves), but many, including Samuel Adams, felt that these taxes were but a slippery slope on which more burdensome laws would pour down upon the colonists. 
– The Quebec Act, in 1774, was seen as another slippery slope law. Though Parliament was well-intentioned with this law, it preserved the French Canadians their right to practice their religion and other rights that they had been accustomed to. However, the right to trial by jury was not one of those rights, and the American colonists saw the Quebec Act as fencing them in with Catholics, and felt that their right to a trial was in jeopardy.
– Enlightenment ideas, like those of John Locke, began to filter over to the colonies. A new attitude towards government emerged, one that any government was formed by the people who were ruled by it, and that the government got its power from those same people. John Locke’s idea about an abusive government that can be removed from power by the people was one that was adopted by Thomas Jefferson and others. Also, Locke’s idea on natural rights was well-received by the colonists and was ensured in the Declaration of Independence.
Pick only one of these three and make a persuasive argument for it to be the primary cause of the Revolutionary War. 250 words minimum. Due on Thursday, Sept. 26th by class time.
The Economic issues between the British and colonists were the main reasons behind the tensions that led to the Revolutionary War. The colonies since their founding were relatively unrestricted economically and free to go forward with pretty much all economic trades and transactions. The taxes were reasonable and there were no issues with trading and during this time, there were no tensions between the British and the American colonists. However, once the British got greedy and decided to make more money off the colonies, issues began to arise. Acts that limited the economic freedoms and the monetary limits of the colonists severely angered the colonists, which eventually helped lead to revolution. The colonists were mad at the fact that the taxes were a lot higher on American goods, which forced a lot of colonists to buy British goods. Acts such as the hat act 1700 began the rise in prices in American goods, which eventually forced a lot of colonists to buy British goods. After the French and Indian war, the British really started to cause more economic trouble with acts such as the sugar act, which raised prices on sugar, which was used for rum. They also enforced the Townsend act, which prevented any smuggling, which hit some merchants hard. They even tried to create the stamp act to raise they price on stamps, but luckily for the colonists it was repealed. These acts led to colonists struggling for money, which eventually led to rebellion. The economic hammer that Britain laid down on the colonists made life harder by draining them of money, leading the colonists to want to rebel against these unfair economic acts of tyranny.
Political distress became a huge problem in the American colonies nearing the end of the 18th century, which is why I think it was the main cause of the American Revolutionary War. Britain began to tax them more than they had in the past, and they had many more rules to follow as well. This made the colonists paranoid about the idea of a “slippery slope”. The people in the colonies thought that if one Act was passed without a fight, then in the future there would be even more acts that were more drastic than the ones already in place. Perhaps the biggest problem that came about because of this was the notion of “taxation without representation”. The colonists believed that since they were British subjects, they should hold a place in parliament and be represented, especially for the things that they were directly affected by, such as taxes. The Quebec Act left the colonists feeling trapped, surrounded by Catholics, which made them feel threatened. The various acts passed by the British government continued to make the colonists more and more resentful. Another reason for this political change was the Enlightenment movement. This idealism John Locke was involved in encouraged a self-governing way of life in countries. The colonists quickly agreed with and adopted this way of thought, setting the stage for them to want to break away from Great Britain. John Locke’s ideas of citizen rights spread like a wild fire through the colonies. They believed people should be able to overthrow an abusive government, which is what the colonists thought Britain was beginning to be. They also believed in natural rights and liberty, which were the very things that the Declaration of Independence was based on.
I think that the reasons for the Revolutionary War, social/cultural, political, and economic, it all eventually leads back to economic reasons anyway.
The argument for social/cultural it talks about the large gap between the rich and the poor, an economic reason. And how those of higher class lifestyles usually supported the British government, because of the laws and acts that they passed that helped out the rich to become richer. The middle to lower class people were much more pro colonies than the rich counterparts, again due to the large gap in income. Even their hate for the soldiers deployed by the British Government was tied to money, because the soldiers started taking their jobs. To me, that doesn’t seem to be a social issue, although I’m sure that rich people put in positions of power often abused it, but instead seems like an economic issue because of the heavy ties to money and income.
The political argument was still about money! They didn’t want to pay (keyword pay) for taxes that they felt were unnecessary or that they didn’t agree to, “taxation without representation”. The Quebec Act also hindered the colonial people from moving west, because the Canadians/French had a space set aside for them by the British government. Which was very upsetting to people who wanted land, so that they could get money. That’s why the political argument ends up back to economic reasons.
In the end America was founded to make money, and the people that lived there felt used and slightly betrayed by the British government. Colonists have had 150 years of self governance and the freedom to make money and pretty much, trade with whoever they want! Americans are capitalists through and through and in the end money is really what gets the blood pumping.
The Revolutionary War occurred because of 3 issues. The first was money, the americans were being forced to buy British goods,and couldn’t print their own money. While there was more economic issues, that wasn’t the only thing that inspired to colonists to rebel against the king. The last two are the most important, even though money is important social and political problems over weigh it. When America was colonized it was the supposed to be the “ultimate get a way” even though it was still owned by the king, you were thousands of miles apart and it took forever to get a message to the king. This led to the colonists w running themselves for 150 years. All of a sudden the British comes in and tries to “contain” the colonists in a way. America was found to make money, that is what the british came here to do. But it wasn’t that simple. They tried to run things politically with the parliament and al that jazz. But the Americans saw it as a “slippery slope”, this expression basically means if i give you an inch, you take a mile. The Americans were reluctant about the British. They were being taxed without representation. They probably would’ve been okay with a few tax increase and with a colonial representative there to speak for each colony, they wouldn’t be as angry towards the laws. But the British didn’t care one bit, they were seen as englishmen because it was British land. This gave the Americans the push they were looking for to rebel. They didn’t want to rebel at first, they thought of it but all they knew was the British way. The unfair taxes, and the slippery slopes pushed the americans off the edge. Political is the main reason why the revolution occurred.
Before the Revolution or the fight to break away from the Old World many events were going on that made living under the Old World rulers terrible and unlivable. There were Economic issues with taxes, the colonist printing their own money and intra- colonial trade but they were tolerable to an extent, not enough to push them into a war. There were also social and cultural issues, how people were being treated and how people were reacting to situations; still not enough to get the colonist to start a revolution. The urge to be free and liberated is stressed much more when there are leaders from the other side of the world commanding you what to do and taking rights from you. The biggest reason that induced the start of the Revolution was the political aspect of it, of not having freedom to rule themselves.
People left the Old World to get away from the system and the ways that they were brought up, to start new and fresh with their own ways of life and their own ideas and laws. The Kings of the Old World refused to withdraw from the colonies because they were making a large profit and brought new markets to that country. The countries became too involved in the colonies to a point where they were taking away rights as people. For example, there was “no taxation without representation” anything the Old world wanted to tax they could do without consent of the people and a reason to do so. That pushed the colonist over board. No one wants to be taxed without having a legitimate reason to do so. You wouldn’t just give your money away, so neither did the colonist. The Colonists rights were being twisted and turned by England in the Quebec Act in 1774, the French Canadians had freedom of religion but did not have a right to a jury. That should be something as a colony they should talk about not just an executive decision by the king an ocean away. England took many rights away from the colonist which I believe threw them over the edge and lead them to believe bloodshed and war was the only way to escape to freedom.
Political issues were the main reason for the American Revolution. If the British taxed the colonists with representation from the colonies, the other issues would be irrelevant. If the social issues that appeared at that time appeared at that time but themselves governed the colonies, they would not have been as angry with the issues because they weren’t forced upon the people by another country with a government that governed the colonies from across the ocean. If the economic issues that arose when the British governed the colonies arose at that time if the colonists governed themselves, unlike the British, who, without representation, imposed taxes and laws upon the colonies that fueled the proverbial fire of revolution, the colonies would have passed laws and levied taxes based on the consent of the people, which wouldn’t have caused such an uproar. While the laws and taxes imposed by British without colonial representation that mandated the imports of British goods and then taxed the required goods and didn’t allow colonists to make their own money and the limiting of intra-colonial trade and the requiring of colonists to use British money and make silver and gold coins with materials that they didn’t have were all terrible, if the colonists had representation in parliament, none of those acts or laws or taxes would have been imposed, passed or levied. While there was a considerably large class divide, if they were to govern themselves, they would have the power to decide how to handle the issue, not just watch the British make all their decisions.
The American Revolutionary War was mainly sparked from economic issues between the British and Americans. Ever since the beginning of Britain’s reign over the New World, they have been using the mercantilism system to benefit from this new area. Ever since the Navigation Acts started; restricting colonial trade to only Britain, the British took complete advantage of the colonies. The colonists were infuriated; creating the saying “no taxation without representation.” The colonists felt that taxation of simple things like stamps and tea were a denial of their basic freedoms as men. The Stamp Act of 1765 made basically all materials and items made of paper have a tax. This was extremely unfair, with most colonists just struggling to make a living in this new economy. The Sugar Act of 1764 was another unfair example of taxation without representation where Britain tried to tax the colonies for sugar products like syrup and molasses. The Colonists were fed up with Britain taking advantage of them, making money off of them, and not giving anything back. All of this while taxing the colonies without representation from the King. Eventually, all Townsend Acts were repealed except for the Tea Act. In 1773 when the East India Company brought a large shipment of tea to Boston ports, the colonists (poorly disguised as natives) ransacked the ships and threw all crates overboard. This act of rebellion was a major spark in the beginning of the Revolutionary War of 1775. For the reasons listed above, and countless of petty others, the economical issues and distrust between the British and the colonies is overall the main cause of the Revolutionary War
Most of modern history has something to do with trade and making money. People like to be wealthy because it is less work and it is an easier life style. The two reasons that the U.S. was founded was to make money and for religious freedom. For instance look at the Jamestown colony. It grew very rich on tobacco which started the American tradition of trying to get rich quick. Another example of how trade is involved is the seven years war. France main profit form all of her colonies was her sugar colonies. This made her easy money and helped with her making a giant seapower. France main reason for fighting was so she could lose her colonies which made her money. If you look at the majorities of people in the american revolutionary war a huge majority where on the fence. A lot of your average day to day farmer really wasn’t interested in rebellion just as long as they where represented fairly in parliament. However most of the founding fathers where very rich men. Such as John Hanncock who made is money by smuggling. They where very interested in rebellion so they could gain more profits from non-English goods. The crack down of the navigation acts and the hat act made smuggling very hard and a lot of rich men in America very angry. They banded together when the colonies sent there most influential men and just so happened to be their richest Their actions at the continental congress shaped the U.S. to what it is now just so they could make a little cash.
In my personal opinion, I found that the argument for the social/ cultural aspect of early America was the leading cause of the revolution. The first piece of evidence that I would use to support this judgment is the poor tools for communication between the two flourishing civilizations. Obviously there were quite blatant disagreements between Britain and America, but I personally feel that if the government of America was able to consult the king without a six month delay between each sort of conversation, some of the more meager issues would be thoroughly debated and thus solved peacefully. However, since this of course was not possible at the time, between each act of injustice on either side, this allowed for vicious propaganda to be spread, and the truth eventually worn thin. Although this is not actually mentioned in the argument given on this blog, I personally felt that it ought to be mentioned. On the other hand, a common theme shown in the blog’s argument suggests the feuding of classes, which ultimately was an extreme source of restlessness in the American society, thus “riling them up” for the Revolutionary War. The methods of cruelty during this time were absolutely disgusting, as a large majority of the British officials were harassed by the enraged colonists, most of which just following simple orders. Next to death, a form of torture proved the most awful action inflicted upon the wealthy British officials and the like, known as tarring and feathering. If Britain itself caught wind of this chaos occurring within their new empire, it would be completely understood why they felt the need to intrude upon the colonists affairs. At this rate, America was beginning to realize its own strength, though with a shaky start to standing true to American concepts of justice. The process of forming the supreme country known today required an unfathomable degree of sacrifice, and at this period of time, the civil and social aspects of their world would be torn apart as a result of lack of effective discussion between the two.
sorry mr. wickersham accidently turned in rough draft this is the actual blog post
Out of these three deciding factors, the economic precedence had the largest affect towards what would become the American Revolution. Back in the day mercantilism was the English’s way of doing things. This stated in the American colonies situation, that they were create for the sole purpose of enriching England (the mother land). At one point the Colonies had little surveillance from the British and became more independent than it was intended to be. During this time the colonies started printing there own money, trading products and crops with other colonies, and most of all becoming somewhat independent. Around the time of King Georges war ending the British were in massive war debt and saw the colonies as a source for money.
This resulted in many “Acts”, these acts resulted in taxing many goods that were very integrated into the colonies society. Such as the Sugar act, Currency Act, Stamp Act (appealed), and Townshend acts. These acts left colonies crippled economically and was just asking to much from where there was not enough. The colonies saw this as a slippery slope. They thought if they tax us on tea, sugar, molasses ,and give us taxation without representation what’s next? They wondered what the British were going to end up doing and they did not like what they thought would be the outcome. These acts made the colonists very angry at the British. They thought that the British did not have the right to govern this authority over them and that it was unfair. So when tensions grew between the two because of the economic troubles listed above, a revolution was sparked.
The Revolutionary War was started for economic reasons. The British realized just how bountiful their colonies were and decided that deserved to be taxed as well. They needed to pay for the French and Indian War. The British also began to try and organize the colonies to where they would only benefit their mother country. The colonists were cornered into buying only English goods. There were also new taxes out on many common goods such as paint, lead, sugar, tea, stamps and paper. The colonists were angry and thought that it was ridiculous that they should have to pay taxes after the many years of them getting by with little to no taxation. They were also being taxed without representation which caused more vexation throughout the colonies. The economic aspects that lead up to the revolutionary war were not just taxation, the colonists were poor because they bought English goods using gold and silver so they were forced to print out their own paper money. Many colonists were in dept to English Merchants and had trouble paying these debts back. Many of the acts that taxed goods were created to limit colonial businessmen. American goods were also taxed at a higher rate than British goods. The British also tried to limit the inter-colonial trade going on in America because it didn’t benefit them. In addition to the economic blunders of the British that lead to the war it was also caused by the lack of income for many of the colonists. Majority of the colonists were poor and landless and could not afford to live in what the colonies were becoming. Because of this, the colonists decided to take a stand, not only to protect themselves but also to protect the economic stability of the great country that was on the brink.
Although there were many factors that contributed to the start of the American Revolution, the primary cause was due to political reasoning. Though there are many political aspects to this argument, there are a few major points, such as salutary neglect, “taxation without representation,” and various acts (sugar act, Quebec act, quartering acts, and stamp act), that were primary causes of the revolution. The people in the thirteen originating colonies felt that these various points were a “slippery slope,” which would only worsen conditions, making it worse for colonist. The colonist believed that if the crown could so easily put these different rules into place, they could easily add more, taking away even more of their rights, putting them on a “slippery slope,” or quick downfall. By forcing these new principals and laws onto the colonist, and giving them no say, this made them, not only angry, but fear what this could mean for them in the future, as well. They believed these new laws could be used against them to oppress them, and keep them subordinate to the crown for, so they believed, forever. With these thoughts, enlightenment ideas began to emerge, and they began to develop a new attitude toward the government. They began to adapt and accept thoughts of natural rights, and began to give actual thought to their, then, current ways of living. All of these various points pushed the colonist toward the beginning of the American Revolution, leaving political reasons, as the dominate and primary cause of the American Revolution.
Of all the causes of the American Revolution, economic, social / cultural, and political, the most important cause was the economic problems. The British economy was founded on the principals of Mercantilism. This means Britain tried to spend as little money as possible in foreign markets. For almost 150 years the colonies had run their economy themselves before the British started to care about the colonial economy. The British started taxing more for American goods so people would buy British goods instead of American goods. Britain started to limit inter colony trading so more money would go to the British market. After the French and Indian war there were many new laws passed on taxes. The acts included the sugar act, the stamp act, and the tea act. The sugar act put a high price on molasses, which made the price of rum go up. The stamp act, which put taxes on all kinds of paper, caused such a commotion that it was repealed before it was enforced. The tea act forced colonists to buy only British tea. Angry colonists in Boston had the Boston tea party and dumped tea into the harbor. The British shut down the harbor until all the lost tea was paid for. This made it very hard for the people to make money to pay for the tea. The British required English to be bought with gold and silver coins. Since all the money went to Britain and non came out many of the wealthy American merchants owed money to British merchants. The colonists felt they had no say on the taxes they were forced to pay. This helped to develop a want for self rule and cause the Revolution.
The revolutionary war was a necessary step in revolutionizing our country. There were three reasons why this war started economic, political, or social is the question on every historians mind. The main reason why it started for me was economic reasons. No matter if you want to admit it or not money makes the world go round, and nobody wants to give it away. With all the new taxes colonists were overwhelmed and they knew that they needed to rebel. Acts were implemented so we were taxed more and it was harder to buy products that weren’t made my the mother country (Britain). The Acts that were introduced in America were Navigation Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Act, Stamp Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act, Hat Act, Tea Act, and Intolerable Act. Example of these Acts, the sugar act raised prices on refined sugar. The Townsend act was meant to stop smuggling so you would by Britain made products, this anger the colonists and they had a boycott movement in 1768. The colonists were poor, they used gold and silver for their currency until they believe that it was running out, so against british wishes the colonies started to print money out of paper.
People were very outraged by all these changes, people were trying everything to stop this. The more peaceful ways were writing letters to the king and asking him to repeal acts that the colonists felt were hurting them. The after math was everything was taxed, from paper to tea and everything in between. Americans thought they were getting the bad end of the deal even though British colonists were paying far greater taxes. They just wanted to do things there way, and rightfully so because the whole point of America was to break away from Britain and become their own country that they could govern themselves
It wasn’t just one of these issues that led to the Revolution, it was without a doubt all three because these three issues were constantly circulating the minds of all the colonists around this time. They weren’t just thinking about the social injustices; they weren’t just thinking about their economic grievances; they weren’t just thinking about the political neglect and then the overbearing kingdom that came after. The colonists were always worried by all three of these issues, but primarily, I think the cause of the Revolution was a mix between the political and economic issues because much of these issues “main ideas” really do go hand in hand. There was a lot more baggage that came specifically with these issues. The salutary neglect lasted almost 150 years alone, and that, perhaps, was better than what came after it. The colonists could ultimately run America by themselves with very little British interference into their seemingly perfect country. Once the British realized (after the Albany Plan) that they liked the colonies divided, with grievances toward each other and not at the British, they got involved. Britain was the one who ordered the conference, but they soon saw that a unified America could be dangerous to the mother country in the long run. So, the British put more of their influence in America, doing everything they could to get the most money out of America for British gain. They imposed different laws in the colonies. Rum was a big intra-colonial trade item and the Sugar Act increased the taxes on sugar, making rum production extremely expensive. The colonists were losing money to Britain so they began printing their own money but the Currency Act put an end to that and the Stamp Act really sent people into turmoil overdrive as the first direct tax on the colonies. Then, soon after, there were the Coercive Acts, which really sent colonists over the edge. There was the Port Bill which closed the Boston Harbor until the tea was paid for (the Boston Harbor controlled much of the loading/shipping of goods and merchandise). The Government Act shut down all Massachusetts town meeting halls; The Administration of Justice Act lent a favor to the accused British in the colonies: if they were accused of a crime, they were sent back to Britain to be tried; The Quebec Act took away the right to trial by jury and redrew the borders of Canada. The colonists hated this domineering government that took away rights and drew the colonies’ economy to the ground at their own gain. This is what primarily fired up the colonists enough to begin the first steps of the Revolution but the economic and political crises are not the only cannons that pushed the colonists all the way through the war.
The Revolutionary War was started based on the outrageous situations the American colonists were put into due to economic reasons. The British did not lead America and its people as their own society that was separated from the British. Instead, the British did almost everything they could to control the land. The main reason for this was because at the end of the day, all the British wanted were the profits and money that came out of America. In fact, besides the extreme taxes that were imposed onto the colonists, certain acts were also put into place. Such acts included the Navigation Acts, the Sugar Acts, and the Townshend Acts. Each had significance because they all took money out of the colonists’ pockets, and threw it into the British’s wallets. The colonists eventually came up with the plan to completely avoid buying British goods and to start using inner colonial trade. This was started in hopes to keep money in America instead of being forced to hand it to the British. However, with colonial trade going on, how could the British get all the money from the profits? Because they didn’t inherit the full amount of money as they could, the British tried to limit this trade as much as possible. It seemed as if the British wanted to make the colonists as poor as possible. At one point, the colonists were so poor that some resulted to printing their own money. The fact that Parliament taxed and limited work for colonist was obviously not a positive for Americans, either. Because the British wanted to completely control America’s economic situation, economics was the Revolutionary War’s primary cause.
I believe that the cause of the American Revolution is mainly because of the economic problems between Britain and the Colonists. For the first hundred years of the colonies existence there wasn’t any tax or payment that they had to pay to the British Crown and they ran the colonies on their own. After Kings George’s War (1748) the British began to enforce new and old taxes in the colonies based on their mercantilist idea that the colonies only exist for the enrichment of the mother country. One of these such acts was the Navigation Acts which prevented American’s from competing with British good of the same level because the American goods were being taxed more than the British goods. After the French and Indian War (1763) more acts were issued such as the Sugar, Stamp, Townsend, and Tea acts. All of these acts limited colonial businesses and infuriated the colonists who had done things their way for 150 years without having to pay taxes. In 1768 merchants from across the colonies boycotted the importation of British goods because of the Townsends Acts which ended all smuggling in the colonies. All of the taxes instituted by the British had to be paid with gold and silver and this forced many colonists into poverty, on top of the Parliament limited Colonial work. Soon they resorted to printing their own money but soon the British outlawed that, so many colonists were left in debt with British merchants. The sudden taxation and change of the Colonies way of life by the British left the Colonists angry and ready for a fight and freedom. This is why the economic issues between Britain and the American Colonies caused the American Revolution.
The revolutionary war was caused by mainly economic issues. I say this because the navigation acts and other laws prevented Americans from competing with British goods. The sugar act also raised the tax on sugar which was used to make rum, rum was important to America because America was considered a buzzed society. This was also very important because rum and sugar accounted for about twenty percent of goods shipped out of New York, a strongly held British colony, to other colonies. The Townsend act basically put an end to smuggling which basically accounted for a large percent of how goods were imported and exported to and from America. In fact in one instance John Hancock’s ship was searched, John Hancock was one of the richest men in America at this point he was famous because he made his money from smuggling as well did many other rich nobles did at that time.. This brought along the non importation movement which stated that America would no longer export any British goods. This severely angered the British considering that they were the primary occupant of America at this time in seventeen sixty eight. The two groups of people that started the movement later were merchants from New York and Philadelphia, merchants from some southern colonies had also joined in later as well. Economic problems were definitely the main reason that had brought along the revolutionary war. All these things that the British had done including instituting all these acts are reasons that had angered the colonists to they’re bowling point then ultimately sent them over the top. Word Count:266
The cause of the revolution all depends on what area you inspect. A general approach (America as a whole), seems that it was a mix of all three, but that wasn’t in all areas. The cause for rebellion depends on the economic, social, and political statuses of the vastly diverse areas. For example, in the New England area, the cause of the revolution was political and economic. The Bostonians especially didn’t like the slightest idea of taxes and didn’t like the restrictions that Britain put on trade. New England was really the driving force of the Revolution, containing some of the most zealous people who were willing to fight for freedom. The Boston Tea Party really showed New England’s reasons for rebellion. By dumping the tea, they refused the ideals of being taxed without representation, and also refused to support the monopoly that Britain had given the East India Company. New England also had the most to lose from a tyrannical rule of King George III. They had comfortably self-ruled for a long time, enjoyed their Puritan religious values, and local control.
But reasons changed when you went further south. New York held mostly loyalists, who didn’t have a reason to rebel. In Virginia, some wealthy planters had political reasons. Virginia also had enjoyed a form of self-government for some time, and was afraid of losing it to the British. A fear of losing slavery also drew in more planters.
But further south to poorer farms, the reason was social. They were willing to fight against any lord-like figure in hopes of changing their social status, whether it was the Americans, or the British. The cause for these (mostly farmers) men to fight was in hopes of changing their situation and receive a higher status.
It is difficult to say that the Revolution was caused by one reason, but it is far easier to say that it was caused by multiple reasons, differing in multiple areas.
Today, if someone asked a common person on the street what made the function, they would say money. Money was as important back in the seventeen hundreds just as it is today. So important that I believe it was the main contributor in the start of the American Revolution. Today it might be deficit spending that is upsetting the American people, but back then, taxes were the big thing. We still pay taxes to this day actually. Although, I believe the people of the seventeen hundreds felt the tax burden way worse than we do today. Leading up to the American Revolution, there were many restrictions and laws involving British and American taxes. For example, the Hat Act of 1700 where American goods were taxed higher than British. No one wants to pay more for a product obviously upset the colonist. So much they resorted to smuggling goods from Britain to America for the cheaper price tag.
Just like any other country, war also played a big part in the economy. By war, I mean the French and Indian War. War is not free and war is not cheap. After the war, there was still a bill for someone to take. Who to take it no other than the colonist. To get their money, taxes skyrocketed and an abundance of new acts appeared such as the Sugar, Stamp, Townsend, and Tea acts. The big one in my opinion was the tea act where the tax on tea was at an outrageous price. No one could afford this hefty cost for an essential product back then so in an effort to get the government’s attention, the Boston Tea Party was born (where they dumped hundreds of gallons of tea in the harbor). That was one of the first baby steps and the start to the American Revolution.
My opinion on how the revolutionary war started is because either economic reasons or political reasons. This is most promenade is the political reasons. The colonists of that time period thought that if another colony close by had different rights, the colonists would get some of their rights taken away. Such as The Province of Quebec, Britain, created the Quebec Act of 1774, this let the people their speak French, be able to practice Roman Catholicism, and to have another rights they were accustomed to. The colonists called this a “slippery slope law”. The reason for that was because the Quebec Act did not give the French Canadians the right to trial by jury and the colonists thought their right to trial by jury was in jeopardy. The colonists also had the Stamp Act where they had to get a stamp for every document, pamphlet, and speech that uses paper. The British Parliament enforced this law to raise taxes to help pay for the French and Indian War. The colonists were already upset because the land they fought for was given back to the French. The colonists came up with an idea to write a letter to the king saying “we are still loyal to you, but we would not like to be taxed on our documents, pamphlets, and speeches. And if you do we will not have enough money to buy your goods”. British Parliament took away that act. The new enlightenment ideas that John Locke spread was a factor as well because people started to sleep in church and need a new source of “liveliness” for the church. Younger people of that time liked Jonathan Edwards, a preacher, that said something with this theme, all of the people are God’s children, but we all will go to hell. People liked him because he was very “fun” when he preached. For all these reasons is why the political reason is why the revolutionary war started.
The revolutionary war was a byproduct of three causes- economical issues like the many tax and trade laws, social and cultural issues, and political issues like the biggest issue “No Taxation Without Representation”. I think the biggest contributing cause though is economic issues. I think it is economic because the British used mercantilism as a main system to gain income from this new land area. Mercantilism is belief in the benefits of profitable trading. The British also thought that the colonies were still technically their land, so they took total control and advantage of them. They did this by cutting of all colonial trading except back to Britain and by not giving them a real spot in Parliament. The British also showed their power by taxing the colonists on things like The Stamp Act of 1765 which taxed paper, The Sugar Act of 1764 which taxed tea and the Tea Act with taxed all tea products. The fact that the colonists weren’t included in Parliament made them very angry and they started the saying “No Taxation Without Representation”. The colonists were so fed up with the King and these unfair tax laws, that these acts, called the Townsend Acts, were repealed- except for the Tea Act. At this point the colonists were done with stupid taxes and decided to rebel. They tried to rebel by dressing up like Native Americans, but their costumes weren’t good. Late at night they snuck onto British ships and dumped all tea crates overboard in the harbor. This was the Boston Tea Party, and it was the main rebellion/ spark of the beginning of the Revolutionary War of 1775.
Of the three main causes of the revolutionary war, I feel as though the economic struggles would be the most convincing reason to start the revolutionary war. England was just using the colonies from the get go but the colonies where unaware of it; they thought that being from Britain was voluntary. It’s when buying from Britian became almost mandatory with the arrival of all the acts, that the colonist started to notice how much they have been played. An Act that was very problematic was the, Stamp Act. This was a tax by the British on any type of paper. This was very controversial, and the colonist replied with a letter that stated their consrens politely, even though it was basically a mad house back in the colonies. Another major problem was the “taxation without representation”. In parliament there was an elected official (elected by the king) who was supposed to represent the colonist. The colonist felt that someone who hasn’t lived as they did, let alone seen what the colonist want and need. All of these issues caused Britain to fear for the unitary of the colonies and start and uprising, so they sent British troops to not only enforce laws and acts but us them as a way of preventing any sort of problems. This in itself was another problem that started the revolutionary war. The British troops had to stay in the homes of the colonist, and the colonists had to house and feed the troops as well. Some families couldn’t even feed them self’s let alone and British officer. This just causes more hatred towards the British.
The American Revolution was a result of a combination of Economic, Social, and Political problems. First off, a lot of the colonists were generally pissed off at the Brits because of taxation. The colonists were saying, “Hold on, we don’t have an elected member in Parliament.” Hence “No taxation without representation.” The English responded with “Well actually, the members of Parliament represent all English subjects, therefore you are represented.” This was not actually true, the members of Parliament voted to help the area in England where they came from. So they were not really representing English subjects as a whole, but more the views of their home town.
Secondly, you have Social resentment. The bottom 40% of the population owned a grand total of about 1% of the colonies wealth. On the other hand, you have the top 20% owning roughly 66.6666% of the colonies wealth and the middle 40% owning more or less 32% of the wealth. The caused a ton of resentment of the rich, who were mostly strongly connected to the crown. Many small rebellions occurred out in the countryside, but the most notable was a Bacon-style rebellion/march on Philly. The aggressors were prepared to torch the city of Philadelphia, but were calmed down by Ben Franklin himself, and did not end up torching the city.
Finally, you have the Political problems that plagued the American colonies. This kind of ties into the first paragraph about Economical problems. The colonists were having all the acts places on them by the Brits a world away. The colonists boycotted most of these, and many were repealed, but some of the acts, the English would not repeal.The Quebec Act was especially troubling to the colonists who thought that the conquered French citizens of New France should conform to the English way of life but the Quebec Act made it so that the French could continue their way of life. The real kicker was that the French could keep being Catholic, which the colonists thought to be appalling.
All three of these helped to kick start the American Revolution, and all of them tied into each other. You can’t really choose one and have it be a sufficient answer.
-Chuck C.
Economic issues in the colonies finally got to the best of the colonies. To the British the colonies were found for only one reason to make money for Britain. The colonists, which consisted of people of all ethnicity and of different religious stature. To the people who founded the colonies it was a new beginning for them one without oppression or persecution but to there British leaders it was a chance for money. For almost 150 years after the founding of the colonies the colonists had been running there own economy. The colonists were used to running things by there own rules. The colonies would print their own money, and paid little to no taxes. After the French and Indian war the colonies masters finally started to see the area of exploitation in the colonies. After the French and Indian war the British started enforcing the Navigation acts. The navigation acts were acts that basically didn’t allow the colonists to export any of their goods that had a market in Britain and the colonies had to buy from and only from the British. As you can imagine the colonists were furious that after 150 years the British decide that they should demand the colonies to pay taxes cause they said so. After the navigation acts started being enforced the great king of England and his lovely parliament passed the sugar, stamp, Townsend, and tea acts. These three acts limited or cut out the colonial business men completely. The colonists were furious with the addition of addition taxes without representation. This lead to civil unrest within the colonies and to the eventual split between Britian and the United States.
I believe that the main cause of the Revolution was a combination of the social, political, and economic. However, the most prominent one would be economic, because it leads into the other two. The social instability between the British and Americans was stemmed by Britain’s whole “taxation without representation” deal, which is entirely economic. The way the economy was run by Britain in the Americas was by mercantilism, which was not used to benefit the Americans in any way, and purely used for the profit of the Great Britain. They also did everything in their power to control the Americas, including the Proclamation of 1763, which prevented colonists going west of the Appalachian mountains and the constant re-giving of land to the Natives who the Americans had bravely fought and died for. The constant tension between Britain’s appointed royal governors and the American colonists was due to the British economy wanting more, and enforcing treacherous acts on the American colonies, such as the Navigation Acts and the Intolerable Acts. With the British economy passing more and more tyrannical laws on the colonies, the relatively un-wealthy Americans have too many ridiculous, out-of-line taxes to pay. This leads to the Boston Tea Party, causing more unhealthy tension between America and the motherland. The teetering of Americans’ thoughts towards independence was very much swayed by the economic decisions of Britain. The Revolutionary War was for the freedom of the American colonies from Parliament, and the economic reasons listed above are more than enough for the Americas to want freedom from tyrannical Britain.
The main cause of the Revolutionary War was due to the economic difficulties stacked against the Colonist. The New World was a huge opportunity to start a new life and make a profit. The British however saw this place as more money in their pocket since the instantly started taxing the colonist and instated acts and laws limiting the Colonist from thriving in the New World. Since the start of the New World the British have used the economy to keep the Colonist under their control while milking money from them as well. The Navigation Laws restricted the Colonist from making a strong international profit. The taxes on the Colonist products were more than the British goods. The Sugar, Stamp, Townsend, and Tea acts were all Britain’s way of taxing the Colonist in small ways to achieve unfair money and restrict the Colonist from thriving as a independent country. The economy was what held back the Colonist and thus angered the Colonist to think radically. The mercantilism system which was being used against the Colonist was strictly for profit and set back the progression of the country. To fence in the Colonist, Britain Proclamation of, 1763 didn’t allow the Colonist to move west and away from the British. With all these factors in place the Colonist started the Revolutionary War to be free of Parliament. The Economy was the leash that Britain holds around the Colonist’s necks as they demanded profit for the mother land. The tyranny over the Colonist was enough for them to unite as one solid country and start the Revolution to obtain independence. To become the independent country the Colonist dreamed of…America.
Out of all the issues: economic, political, and social; the primary cause of the Revolutionary War was the Economic issues between the mother country and the Colonists. The British felt that they could treat the colonies any way they wanted in order to get what they needed which in turn made the Revolution inevitable. The colonies were used to being free and not being on hinges because Britain had salutary neglect of them for quite a while before the French and Indian war had overwhelmed them in debt. So the British instituted mercantilism imposing the idea that the colonies should only trade with the mother country. When the British decided out of the blue to start enforcing laws and taxing everything the Americans weren’t having it. The British decided to raise taxes on American goods as revenue and tax British goods at a reasonable value practically forced the colonies to stop buying their own goods. The Parliament passed the series of taxes such as the Stamp Act- Stamps must be purchased and put on every document, Sugar Act- Forced to buy British sugar, and the Quartering Act- Americans had to house the British soldiers. The British made sure that they made back their monies and it made hard for the Americans have their own money. The listed taxes policies and others angered the colonies and limited their economic success which caused them to boycott British goods. This in cause made the Americans revolt against the British because the main point of AMERICA was to break free from Britain, but what they did not know was that the British were paying higher taxes.
All 3 factors were important in the start of the revolution, but I feel that the main factor was the economic factors if people were successful why they would feel the need to rebel. Money is what affords a nice easy life. The taxes and regulation the British were imposing were strangling the colonies due to all of the colonies recourses being shipped off to Brittan. These taxes wouldn’t have been so constricting if britan had always in forced them but since Brittan never in forced the the colonies economy was built without taking them into account so when we were forced to take the m into account the economy took a serious hit. The feeling of strangulation of the economy caused lots of money loss in the colonies and thus caused to take up action against the regulations. When these actions were not followed by the British parliament they began to take violent action against the British government, violence that eventually lead to the revolutionary war. The fact that these taxes were unrepresented was a factor but it was not the main factor towards why the revolutionary war occurred.
Political issues between Britain and The Colonists sparked the American Revolution. This all evolved around the idea of “no taxation without representation”. In 1765, the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act as a means of raising colonial tax revenues to help defray the cost of the French and Indian War in North America. The Colonists reacted negatively because they felt that Parliament’s taxation was unconstitutional because the colonists had no representation in Parliament. The taxes themselves were not as significant as those imposed in Great Britain, but Samuel Adams, thought that taxes would lead to additional legislation which would assert parliaments supremacy over the Colonies. John Locke’s enlightenment ideas were resurrected and filtered over the colonies. These ideas enforced our natural rights and freedom. New attitudes toward to government were formed such as government was formed by the people and got their power from the people, and that an abusive government could get its power taken away by the people. These ideas and attitudes were resurrected by people like Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, George Washington, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. January 1776, after the Revolution had started, Thomas Paine wrote the Common Sense pamphlet. It was widely distributed and loaned, and often read aloud in taverns, which helped significantly to spread the ideas of republicanism and liberalism. It alarmed at the threat of tyranny, and provided a new and widely accepted argument for independence. These are all examples of why political issues are what truly sparked the American Revolution.
Although economic, political and social/cultural reasons may have all led to the Revolution, I believe that the cause of the revolution was a was a combination of two things, economic and political reasons. In regard to economic causes of the revolution many historians point out the damaging effects of the new emphasis that the British put on organizing their empire along mercantilist philosophies, meaning that the colonies exist only for the enrichment of the mother country and not for themselves and the colonist did not like this one bit, it’s just like they’re being used and exploited. Another economic reason for the Revolution were the post French and Indian War acts like Sugar, Stamp, Tea and Townsend acts, the colonist had problems with this because after nearly a century and a half of salutary neglect the British wanted to come in and run things and the colonist just weren’t having it. Essentially what the British did is the same as a child would do with a toy, another child comes along and finds joy in that toy and the other isn’t having it, it’s their toy and if anyone is going to benefit from it it’s going to be them. Another one of the biggest reasons for the Revolution was one that ties in with the economic reasons, political reasons, colonist were running around screaming no taxation with representation, the colonists felt that Parliament’s taxation was unconstitutional because the colonists had no representation in Parliament. Economic and political reasons are both legitimate causes of the American Revolution.
The American Revolution was a war from 1775-1783 that dramatically changed thirteen colonies into one unified nation. The primary cause for America’s Revolution was obviously for economic reasons. The British had been oppressing American markets, businessmen, merchants, and even the common man and women of the colonies at this time. Acts passed by British legislature was pushing the thirteen colonies from comfort to the war before they knew it when they passed acts after the French and Indian war such as the Stamp, Sugar, Tea, and Townsend Acts. This probably started because of salutary neglect with the British; when the colonies were first established the British cared very little about the colonies problems and just let them govern themselves because one they were not fully developed and did not have that much that the British could benefit from at that time and secondly, they were a whole ocean away so communication would take weeks if not months. British officials started to turn to the colonies for needed money when colonies were starting to import and export with other countries, started to produce raw materials the British could turn into goods (such as cotton), and started to have goods to sell like rum and fur clothing. After the sugar act, an act that taxed sugar, the rum market was suffering from raised prices increasing supply and decreasing the demand for rum. Another terrifying act was the Townsend act, virtually putting an end to American smuggling and cash scrapping American merchants and colonists of all gold and silver which the British used causing the colonies to print their own money and causing a boycott movement in 1768 which Merchants from Philadelphia and New York joined. These acts economically squeezed the money out of the colonies pushing them to go to war with Britain to reclaim their own depressed markets from cruel acts and policies that made colonial life harder.