American Revolution Causes, Events, & Purpose | What Caused the American Revolution? – Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

Causes of the American Revolution

The British colonists in North America were happy doing their own thing, until Britain started to tighten its grip on the colonies. Why did the American Revolution start? It was a series of events over an extended period of time. Starting with the French and Indian War. Britain had protected and fought with the colonists during the French and Indian War. Britain was already in debt from fighting other wars and British participation in the French and Indian War increased that debt. Britain felt it was only fair that the colonists help pay down this debt. So, the colonists were required to pay taxes passed by the British. Britain passed other acts and taxes that some colonists rebelled against. One act of rebellion was the 1770 Boston Massacre. In 1773, the colonists took part in the Boston Tea Party. Tensions continued to rise and on April 19, 1775, the first official battle of the American Revolution took place just outside of Boston Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord.

French and Indian War

In 1753, George Washington was sent on his first military mission. The Virginia governor sent him to warn the French that they were on Virginia territory and needed to vacate. Both Britain and France had land claims in North America and the British colony of Virginia felt the French were invading their territory. A battle broke out, resulting in the deaths of French soldiers. After receiving additional troops, the French along with their Native American partners attacked Washington and his troops, resulting in a loss for Washington. Washington and his troops surrendered the fort. In the agreed upon terms of surrender, Washington took the blame for assassination of the French soldiers. Washington later claimed that he did not understand this translation. He thought he was accepting responsibility for the death, not assassination of troops.

This was a humiliating defeat for the young 22-year-old George Washington. After the defeat, Virginia requested help from the British. In July 1755, Washington served as an aid to the British general, Edward Braddock. Washington was familiar with the fighting style of the Native Americans, as he had experienced it first-hand during previous battles with them. Washington tried to warn Braddock that his usual fighting style of rows and columns would not work in the wilderness against the Native Americans. Washington knew that the Natives used guerrilla warfare tactics. Braddock did not listen to Washington. The French and the Native Americans overran Braddock and his troops. Braddock was killed in battle. Washington organized a retreat and got the rest of the soldiers to safety.

The Seven Years War was a global event involving multiple countries that began in 1756. The British gained more land than the French as a result of the war. The clashes that began with Washington led to the French and Indian War. France had been expanding into the Ohio River Valley. The French had set up forts and cut into the fur trade business. The colony of Virginia felt the land belonged to them. The British felt they had exclusive claims to the territory that had resulted in a lucrative trade business for the British, so they were not going to back down without a fight. This resulted in war in which the French and Native Americans fought together against the British.

Taxation and the Tea Party

What were other causes of the American Revolution? The French loss in the French and Indian War meant more land available for the British colonists, or so they thought. With the Proclamation Line of 1763, the King put an end to that possibility. The Proclamation banned settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains. The British King, George III, did this to try to appease the Native Americans by keeping the colonists off their lands. It was also done to keep the colonists in the original settlements, where he felt he had a tighter grip on them and also to make sure the colonists kept up with the profitable fur trade. Some of the colonists were angered by this act and rebelled against it.

The Proclamation Line of 1763.

There were many causes of the Revolutionary War. In April, 1764, the British passed the Sugar Act. This Act taxed sugar, molasses and other things. The British wanted to force the colonists to buy their molasses from the British Indies. The colonists did not like this because they could get the product cheaper elsewhere. So, some of the colonists resorted to smuggling molasses and other products, which angered the British.

Taxes were one of the leading causes of the Revolutionary War. To help pay down their war debt, the British passed taxes requiring the colonists to pay their fair share for the British protection that was provided during the French and Indian War. 1765, the British passed the Stamp Act. Some colonists felt this was a violation of their rights. They felt only their own representative assemblies could tax them. This led to the ”No taxation without representation” argument. The British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act but passed additional acts.

A stamp that colonists had to buy to satisfy the Stamp Act requirement.

In 1767, the British passed the Townshend Acts. This Act taxed colonial imported goods such as glass, lead, tea and paint. The colonists felt like this was another abuse of British power. The colonists responded to this Act with protests and boycotts. The British responded by sending troops to occupy Boston, the hotbed of colonial protests. Tensions between the troops and colonists only grew stronger. On March 5, 1770, the angry colonists were yelling at the British troops. Events escalated quickly and resulted in the British firing into the crowd of colonists. This event went down in history as the Boston Massacre and further fueled the flames of rebellion.

The Townshend Acts were repealed with one exception: the tax on tea remained. In December, 1773, tensions once again rose to a fever pitch. Colonists disguised themselves as Native Americans and climbed aboard a docked British ship that was loaded with tea. They dumped the tea chests overboard. The King was furious with the act of rebellion and retaliated against the colonists. The British Parliament passed additional acts upon the colonists. The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in March 1774. This was a package of several acts. One of the acts was the Quartering Act. The Quartering Act forced colonists to provide housing for British soldiers. This resulted in a meeting of the First Continental Congress in September 1774. The Congress met to discuss what actions to take in response to the British Coercive Acts, which the colonists referred to as the Intolerable Acts.