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DBQ: Causes of the Revolutionary War

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DBQ: Causes of the Revolutionary War
DBQ: Causes of the Revolutionary War

After the French and Indian War, tensions grew between Britain and the colonies. American colonies were justified for waging war and breaking away from Britain because we were trying to defend ourselves from unfair Parliament measures that were imposed on us without our consent. Such as, being so poorly and unfairly treated by British officers, we had no other choice but to resist the power of Britain over us and fight for our independence; and having imposed high taxes on necessary things. According to Britain, they fought the French and Indian war only to protect us, so they thought that we should return the compensation for the protection they provided us with. This was very true, they were the reason why we were safe from French and Indian attacks, so they thought the least the colonists could do was to pay taxes (DCT 1), but the Parliament got a bit carried away with its power so we had to cease the tremendous power they had over us before it aggravated, so we chose war. (DCT 5) Over the past years, the colonies have written petitions for Redress to the British in the most humble terms, but we never got a response from them. All we kept getting was raising of revenue and such. (DCT 7)

To pay for the debt, British Parliament (George Grenville) created the Stamp Act of 1765, which demanded tax on printed documents. Also, the Townshend acts were passed and these imposed tax on imported goods such as tea, paper, lead, etc. These were all ways to raise revenue, but some colonists felt betrayed of such actions, because they thought Britain would ever think of imposing such duties, so they thought the Townshend Acts were made for the single purpose of wanting to levy taxes upon us. (DCT 2).

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