Cause of American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War was caused from the political issues between the "mother country", Great Britain, and its "children", the American colonies. Most of the Americans initially didn't want to completely separate from England but wanted to compromise and regain the rights that Parliament had taken away. England made war unavoidable with its unwillingness to negotiate, heavy taxation of the colonists that violated their rights, and strict trading policies.

The English hardly every interfered with colonial business. During the period of salutary neglect, the colonists started to think and act independently of England. They lived far away from Britain and had grown self-reliant. Laws, such as the Navigation Acts, were not strictly enforced, so the colonists accepted with little objection. The non-enforcement of acts didn't negatively change the colonist's relationship with England. The colonists easily traded with other countries. Also, the colonists accepted England's right to supervise trade and British regulations. For example, the colonists agreed not to manufacture goods that would compete with British goods.

After the French and Indian War, England was in major debt. King George III started to rule the empire with a tighter grip. The British began to tax the colonists to meet England's financial needs. Prime Minister George Grenville passed many acts trying to increase Britain's income from the American colonies. IN 1764, Parliament pasted the Sugar Act. The act put a tax on molasses coming into the colonies from ports outside the British Empire. Britain had never directly taxed the colonists before. The rum producers protested that the tax would diminish their profits because the rum industries depended on the imported molasses.

The Stamp Act, however, created much more protest. In 1765, Parliament passed an act requiring the colonists to pay tax stamps on any paper product. The act infuriated colonists because this act was a direct attempt to raise money without the consent of the colonial assemblies. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation. With great anger, colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants even agreed not to order British goods until the act was abolished. Then, in October of 1765, delegates gathered to discuss the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress stated that the right of taxation belongs only to the people and their elected representatives. Also, they decided that Parliament couldn't deny their right to trial by jury. They argued that Parliament didn't have the power to tax them because they had no representatives in Parliament. They denied Parliament's right to tax them for revenue. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but following that, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. It stated that the kind and Parliament had full legislative power over the colonies regardless.

The protests rose again when Charles Townshend placed indirect taxes on imported goods, such as glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. The idea was to give the colonial government control to England. The colonists accepted Britain's right to regulate their trade but they claimed that the Townshend Duties were disguised taxes. Therefore,