What Factors Led To The American Revolution Essay

Shortly after all of the 13 colonies were formed the citizens wanted freedom from their mother country, Great Britain. There were many factors in the colonists decision to become independent. Some of these factors are unwanted taxes, salutary neglect, the inability to trade with countries besides Britain, and no representation in the government that ruled them. These factors led to small rebellions and boycotts, then eventually the Revolutionary War. The United States were being treated more as if they were property rather than people within an empire. Therefore, the colonists had every right to defy their ruler and become their own independent nation. Examples of factors that led to the American Revolution include taxation, no representation in government and the inability to further financial goals. Some of the acts that require colonists to pay taxes to the British are the Sugar Act in 1764, the Stamp Act in 1765, and the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were believed to be required by England because the country was in debt from fighting the French and Indian War. The British expected the colonists to help settle these debts through taxation. The colonists were upset with this because they had no representation in Parliament, which was where all of the acts were coming from. The Sugar act was an import tax on all foreign sugar which was enforced by the British. This hurt the American merchants that depended on the profits from the trade of sugar. So the Americans had two options, “They either smuggled the molasses and rum in and out, or they paid the tax collectors a bribe, which was cheaper than paying the tax” (Arnold and Wiener 38). Many tried smuggling their products into the colonies. The
This concept mostly entailed things such as not buying British goods and acts such as throwing snowballs at British