Factors Leading to the American Revolution

The factors leading to the American Revolution were the effects of the Seven Year War, taxation without representation, the overwhelming distance from the motherland, and a general feeling of the colonists basic rights as Englishmen were being eroded by the colonial policies of the Parliament, the King and his advisors.

In Canada and the United Kingdom, the Seven Years' War is used to describe the North American conflict as well as the European and Asian conflicts. Winston Churchill called the Seven Year War the First World War. The Seven Year had given Great Britain, New France (Canada), Spanish Florida, and the Native American lands east of the Mississippi River. In 1765, the colonists still considered themselves loyal subjects of the British Crown. The British government sought to tax its American possessions, primarily to help pay for its defense of North America from the French in the Seven Years' War.

The taxation without repetition was the most talked about and most well know reason for the Revolutionary War. The problem for many American colonists was not that taxes were high, because they were low but that they were not consulted about the new taxes, as they had no representation in parliament. The phrase "no taxation without representation" became popular within many American circles. British argued that the Americans were represented virtually; but most Americans rejected the theory that men in London, who knew nothing about their needs and conditions, could represent them.

When the price of tobacco skyrocketed after a bad crop in 1758, the Virginia legislature passed the Two-Penny Act to stop clerical salaries from inflating as well. As a counter measure British King George III vetoed the Two-Penny Act which was not a good idea. Patrick Henry went to the defense of the act in court he stated "that a King, by disallowing Acts of this salutary nature, from being the father of his people, degenerated into a Tyrant and forfeits all right to his subjects' obedience." Patrick Henry also tried to use the Parson's Cause. The Parson's Cause was an important legal and political dispute