The Causes of the Revolutionary War

There were many events that took place in the 1760's and 1770's that led to the Revolutionary war. During these years the British did many things that upset the colonists. These upset colonists would eventually get sick of all the British ways and fight for their freedom. Many events crucial the Revolutionary War took place in the 1760's, such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Declaratory Act. The Sugar Act of 1764 set an import tax on foreign sugar, molasses, and rum entering Britain's American colonies. Colonial merchants, ship owners, and rum distillers who profited from foreign trade angrily protested the law, but that did little of anything. The Sugar Act was the answer to the British's question of how to raise revenue for their war debt. Laws had been made before that placed an import tax on sugar, but this was the first time they were seriously enforced. Royal inspectors would search ships, warehouses, and homes for smuggled goods. The Quartering Act of 1765 forced colonists to house and supply British troops. Another important event of the 1760's was the Stamp Act of 1765. The Stamp Act placed a taxed on all printed matter such as newspapers, advertisements, and playing cards. Many didn't mind paying the tax because it was not an extreme amount, it was more about the principle of things. The Stamp Act made people angry because they thought that they should not have to pay taxes on items such as newspapers. The Stamp Act's purpose was to earn enough money to raise a standing army. As a result of the Stamp Act a secret group called the Sons of Liberty came together. This group consisted of lawyers, merchants, politicians, and artisans who were all there to protest the stamp act. The Sons of Liberty usually relied petitions, public meetings, and pamphlets to rally support, but they would also get violent if necessary. The Stamp Act congress came together in 1765 to repeal the stamp act and deny the Parliament's of its right to tax the colonies. British merchants who profited form colonial trade joined in the protest, fearing financial ruin. When the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766 people on both sides of the Atlantic rejoiced. While many were busy celebrating they ignored the passage of the Declaratory Act. The Declaratory Act gave the Parliament full power and authority over the colonies. The Declaratory Act also gave the Parliament the right to make laws. The Townshend Acts of 1767 placed import duties on common items such as tea, lead, glass, and dyes for paint. British customs officials used special search warrants called writs of assistance to enforce the law. Writs of assistance were much different than the modern day search warrants, because they did not specify the item sought and specific location to be searched. A customs officer with a writ and a suspicion had the right to search any where he pleased. Colonist hated these writs very much so they stopped housing the British soldiers as the quartering act of 1765 had called them to do. On the evening of March 5, 1770 a crowd of 50 or 60 angry colonists faced a small group of British Soldiers who where there to enforce the writs of assistance. The crowd yelled insults and threw many different items at the soldiers. The crowd pushed up against the soldiers and then suddenly one of the guns discharged and then the other soldiers started firing. Three colonists died immediately and then two more died later. The Sons of Liberty quickly dubbed this incident the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre was the last of the important events in the 1760's that lead to the Revolutionary War. The 1770's was another important decade to the start of the Revolutionary War, including famous events such as the Boston Tea Party. The Tea Act of 1773 was a law created by the Parliament that allowed the British East India Company to sell tea directly to American agents without paying certain taxes. The Tea Act allowed the company not to pay taxes because it was very close to going bankrupt. Even though tea was at an all time low price many colonists refused to buy tea. The Sons of Liberty responded to the Tea Act by threatening anyone who imported tea. On December 16, 1773 the governor refused to send the three shiploads of tea to England and colonists had a big meeting in Boston's Old South Church. Later that, a group of colonists dressed in an Indian manner, boarded the anchored ships on Boston Harbor, and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea into the water. This protest, the Boston Tea Party, was the most famous protest against the Tea Act. The Intolerable Acts of 1774 were a result of the Boston Tea Party. The first act closed the port of Boston until the colonists of Boston paid for the destroyed tea. The second act forbade the Massachusetts colonists to hold town meetings. The third act allowed royal official who had committed crimes while working to be tried in England, where the punishments would be less harsh, if nonexistent. The fourth act ordered local officials to provide food and housing for British soldiers staying in the colonies. The Intolerable acts were originally named the Coercive Acts, but later dubbed the Intolerable Acts by the colonists. The Quebec Act of 1774 also passed and made the colonists resent the British even more. The Quebec Act extended the border of Quebec south to the Ohio River. This law also granted full religious rights to the French Roman Catholics upsetting the Protestant colonists. The Intolerable Acts and Quebec Act greatly angered the colonists, but they also made the colonists a tighter group. The Revolutionary War was a cause of many little things, not one big thing. From the Sugar Act to the Quebec act the colonists' rage was constantly building up. The British kept giving the colonists a hard time and were basically asking for what they got in the end, war.