Causes Of The American Revolution Essays (1502 words) -

Causes Of The American Revolution CHAPTER 2, Q1: What are the decisive events and arguments that produced the American Revolution? It was the best of times, it was the worst of times (Charles Dickens). This best describes the Americas in the 1700's. The settler's went through the best of times from obtaining religious freedom, to becoming prosperous merchants, and finally to establishing a more democratic government. However, it was the worst of times in the sense that the settlers in the America's were taken advantage of my their mother country, England. The hatred of being under another's control was one of the main reason's that led to the American Revolution. In the 1600's, England began to colonize America. King James I had urged those against the Church of England, such as the Puritans, to settle in America. Many settlers came to America to obtain religious freedom. Merchants settle din America to profit off the land since land was free or cheap at the time. Settling in America gave people hopes and dreams that they can do something with their lives. Even indentured servants had the hope of someday owning land as soon as they were done with their service. It was unlikely but they had hope. The Atlantic Ocean made communications hard between England and the colonies. Because of the difficulties in communication, the colonists developed an independent spirit. Harvard College allowed most Americans to read protests against British injustice printed in papers, pamphlets, and books. The college provided education and writings of Greek philosophers such at John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The ideas of these Greek philosophers that men were created equal dwelled in these colonists mind. England expected the American Colonies to serve it's economic interests, and it regulated colonial trade. In general, the colonists accepted British regulations. For example, they agreed not to manufacture goods that would compete with British products. Things began to change in the 1700's. England had largely neglected the administration of the American Colonies while it fought France in a series of wars during the 1700's. But after the French and Indian War ended, the British government sought to tighten it's control over the colonies in fear that the colonies have gotten too powerful. The treaty of 1763 ending this war made England master of Canada and of the land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. The chief motive had been nation advantage: but as one of the results the 13 colonies might now live in peace. George Grenville, Britain's prime minister in 1763, did not concede that the colonists had any political rights. He now sough ways to make the colonies most profitable to England at the least expense. Settlers were pouring into the Ohio Valley, and land speculators were busy with schemes for opening the country won at so great a sacrifice from the French. Such activity excited the worst fears of the Indians. That year, a great chieftain, Pontiac united the tribes and led them in a series of destructive raids on the advancing frontier. Britain feared a long and bloody Indian war, which it could not afford. To quiet the Indians, England issued the Proclamation of 1763. This decree prohibited settlers from buying lands beyond a line that ran through the sources of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic. England, it seemed, meant to favor the Indians and the fur traders. It would do so at the expense of the pioneer, the land speculator, and the colony whose charter gave it a claim to a section of the interior extending westward to the Mississippi River. But the settlements east of the Proclamation Line were not to be neglected. For their defense England decided to station a large army o n the frontier. England decreed that the colonies should contribute toward the expense of this protection by paying taxes imposed by Parliament. The Americans having been accustomed to self-government, strongly resisted the new laws, especially tax laws. The Sugar Act placed a three-penny tax on each gallon of molasses entering the colonies from ports outside the British Empire. Several Northern colonies had thriving run industries that depended on imported molasses. Run producers angrily protested that tax would eat up their profits. The