The Revolutionary War: The Meaning Of The American Revolution

What caused the little country to voice its mighty roar and take on the world giant? The timing of the American Revolution was right for both the colonists and the British subjects in England. For the colonists, they felt that they did not have a voice in Parliament and the laws and taxes that Parliament passed on to them were unfair, unjust and illegal. This was the being of the frustration felt by the colonists, but it had not yet reached the boiling point. When Parliament passed the 1763 Proclamation, which stated that the colonists could not settle west of the Appalachian Mountains, The Stamp Tax, and the now ever-present standing army, this was the last straw, which caused the colonists to rebel. At this same time, the British subjects in England began to feel that the colonies were becoming too much of a drain on their financial system and were causing their taxes to go higher to support the safety and control of the colonies. As individual colonies,
Added to this mix was the lack of law enforcement and tax collection that was done by British Officials in the early years of the colonies. Taxes that were collected were often kept by the officials collecting them and not turned into the crown, adding to the British corruption and dishonesty seen by the colonists. A lot of this stemmed from the way the charters were granted. When established the colonies were basically separated from Parliament’s rule, since the charters allowed the colonies to establish their own laws this gave them their first taste of limited democracy. When Parliament tried to reign them back in the colonists saw it as trying to take away the freedoms (democracy) that they had gotten used