Mr. G./ Period 1
September 14, 2012
Causes of the American Revolution The American Revolution began in 1755 as an open conflict between the thirteen colonies and Great Britain. The Treaty of Paris had ended that war in 1783, giving the colonies their own independence. There are many factors contributing to the start of the Revolution, but the war began as the way The Great Britain treated the colonies versus the way the colonies felt they should be treated. For example, the French and Indian War, Salutary Neglect, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, smuggling, etc. are some of the starters to the American Revolution. This problem is provided in one of the most rallying cries of the Revolution: No Taxation Without Representation.
I believe that the American Revolution was a radical revolutionary war because similarities between American government and British Parliament and the fact that those in positions of power and leadership in the colonies were the same men who led the revolution. Events like the Boston Tea Party were acts of civil disobedience. They intentionally broke a law to showcase the unjustness of said law. Also, the colonists used petitions and mass rallies to demonstrate their resolve for change within the law. The colonists wanted westward expansion, which Parliament was limiting. The only way to continue expanding at the current rate would mean taking the land. Whether or not this was right, it demonstrates the Colonists willingness to abandon their parent country in favor of their own desires. If the revolution was a ‘conservative protest’, then the colonists would have dispersed after events like the closing of Boston Harbor and Lexington and Concord. Instead the colonists rallied, supply Boston through massive wagon trains after Boston harbor was closed, and created an army after Lexington and Concord.
The final colonial war was the French and Indian war (1689-1763). During this war, England lost a lot of money and felt that