Frq1

In America during 1776, the tension between the American colonists and British Empire had been increasing enormously for a long time. The British ruthlessly taxed the Colonists without even giving them representation in politics. These tensions caused them to be thrown into a revolutionary war. In many respects, the Americans were prompted to rebel as a result of three relatively important factors which were parliamentary taxation, restriction of civil liberties, and British military measures. To start off with, parliamentary taxation was one of the most important factors that contributed to the Americans rebelling in 1776 against the British crown. For England, their purpose of having a colony was to provide for its mother country, according to mercantilism. As a result, the American colonies were restricted economically. After the French and Indian War, Britain was in debt and was determined to pay off the debt by brutally taxing the colonies. They reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts and placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act that put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies. The colonists felt like their civil liberties were being violated because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. Following those acts, the Americans resented Britain even more when the Currency Act was passed. This Act disregarded the colonies paper money and made the colonists pay in only silver. This caused the American economy to be in chaos. Most likely, the most important and controversial acts were the Stamps Acts which placed a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspaper, pamphlets, playing cards and dice. The colonists responded with anger and more importantly the non-importation agreement in which they rejected all British goods. In addition, the Americans rebelled due to restriction of civil liberties. These restrictions included no free trade, unlimited search and seizure, destruction of Colonial government, oppression of political protesters, immunity for corrupt and abusive British officers, direct control of the Criminal Justice System, guilty by Parliament (no guarantee of trial by jury), forced quartering of soldiers, closure of the Boston Port, and most importantly taxation without representation. The specifics of the liberties the colonists believed had been violated are found in the multiple written complaints by individual colonies and by the Second Continental Congress at the beginning of the Revolution. The best source of the civil liberties broken and why the colonists were declaring freedom is found in the Declaration of Independence. Last of all, British military measures caused the Americans to rebel. In the beginning, England had a hard time controlling the colonies falling into a pattern of salutary neglect. Location was one factor this since England was 3,000 miles away. An example of British military conflict with the American colonists is evident during the Boston Massacre. This event was where a group of sixty townspeople began throwing snowballs at British soldiers and then the soldiers opening fire on the townspeople ending up killing five. The people of Boston and throughout the American colonies were outraged by this act of injustice in response to the throwing of a few snowballs. The Boston Massacre was really not a massacre in the sense that a lot of people were massacred. However, it was a massacre in the sense that the colonists were no longer going to tolerate the British government's power. In addition, the British passed the Quartering Act, which was a part of the Intolerable Acts. It stated that British soldiers could be housed in any colonist’s home. These Acts were an overextension of British military power and invasion of American privacy in their homes. In brief, there were a lot of factors that prompted Americans to rebel in 1776. The three most important were parliamentary taxation, restriction of civil liberties, and British military measures. The colonists were tired of British injustices and being out without representation. These factors all led to the American Revolution which significant changed the whole world and shaped our future for today.