Revolutionary War Causes

Revolutionary War Causes (10- Presented to Mr. Paul’s History Classes)

Background- Early explorers from both France and Britain had claimed land in the Ohio River Valley (land between the Mississippi River and Appalachian Mountains). Once the 13 colonies were settled as more people came over the colonists desired to cross the mountains and move into the Ohio River Valley. Although both England and France had claimed it, it was occupied mostly by Indians along with a few French fur traders. About 1753 tensions grew between the French and the English colonial settlers over the land dispute. Both sides wanted the others out. Fighting broke out and the settlers called on the British to help them since Britain was the parent country. For the most part the Indians sided with the French since they had treated them with respect while the colonists had continually sent them packing west as they claimed land. Britain sent thousands of troops, eventually winning the war in 1760 after 9,000 more soldiers and 200 naval ships arrived. The war ended with the Treaty of Paris which gave the Ohio River Valley to the British. The war had put Britain in tremendous debt. The people living in Britain did not think they should have to pay for all of the war. The colonists did not pay any taxes to Britain up to this time. The colonists were eager to move into the Ohio River Valley. Earlier the class learned John Locke’s ideas about a government’s responsibility. He said a government’s job was to protect its’ peoples natural rights to life, liberty, and property. If a government could not protect these rights then the people had a right to change that government.

1. Proclamation Line (1763)- Britain put this line along the Appalachian Mountains prohibiting the colonists from moving into the Ohio River Valley but also to protect them from Indians. (Colonists who had moved into the Valley had been attacked by Indians and asked Britain for help in protecting them.) British Perspective- The colonists called on us for help. We are in major debt caused by the war we fought to protect the colonists. We now have thousands of soldiers still in the colonies who are to guard the line to make sure no Indians cross into the colonies. These soldiers are protecting the colonists. We do not have enough money or soldiers to protect colonists who would move into the Ohio River Valley so we want them to stay on their side of the line. Colonists Perspective- The British soldiers are not allowing us to cross the mountains and go settle in this land we just fought a war to obtain. They are keeping us from our land in the Ohio River Valley. This is depriving us of our right to property.

2. Sugar Act (1764)- This act taxed foreign sugar making the once cheeper sugar more expensive than British sugar. Britain hoped that colonists would purchase their sugar. The money made from the British sugar was designed to pay for the war debt. Colonists responded by boycotting British sugar or smuggling in foreign sugar. British Perspective- We are in serious debt caused by the war we fought for the colonists. All we are asking is that colonists pay to buy our own sugar so we can use the money to pay for the debt. We are not taxing our own sugar so colonists do not have to pay a tax. The colonists are boycotting (refusing to buy as a form of protest) British sugar and smuggling (illegally sneaking into the country) foreign sugar in so this isn’t helping us in any way. Colonist Perspective- The British taxed the cheep foreign sugar that we use so much. They are forcing us to buy their more expensive sugar. They have no right to tax us since we are not represented. We had no say in how much the tax was or what items would be taxed on. We use sugar nearly every day! Completely unfair! They are our parent country and it is their duty to protect us and take care of us.

3. Quartering Act (1765)- Required for colonists to house, feed, and cloth British troops who were stationed in the colonies. British Perspective- As our troops are stationed in the colonies to protect them we see it only fair that they house the soldiers. Many of these soldiers fought in the war against France and the Indians to help the colonists. We are in terrible debt from the war and it would cost entirely too much money to build the soldiers houses. Colonist Perspective- We do not want the soldiers here. They are keeping us from our land in the Ohio River Valley. Now we are being forced to take care of them by letting them live in our houses. This causes us many problems. We don’t have enough room in our houses, don’t have enough money to buy them food and clothing, and they are extremely rude and they scare us. This puts an extreme burden on our families.

4. Stamp Act (1765)- This act put a tax (in the form of a stamp) on newspapers, playing cards, and legal documents in the colonies. British Perspective- We are not making any money to pay for the war from our sugar sales because the colonists are boycotting the sugar and smuggling in foreign sugar. The people of our country should not pay entirely for the war that was fought to help the colonists. We want the colonists to pay this small tax so we can pay off the war debt. Colonist Perspective- This is entirely unfair. Not a single colonist votes in Parliament so this clearly violates our dear principle of No Taxation Without Representation. (This proved to be the colonists biggest argument.) We will boycott these items or torture and British agents who dare to collect the taxes from us. We will also send King George III a respectful letter requesting that he get rid of the taxes because we were not represented nor can we afford to pay them.

5. Declaratory Act (1766)- This act came immediately after King George III and Parliament decided to get rid of the Stamp Act. Under the Declaratory Act Britain said they had the right and power to tax the colonies. It was meant to warn the colonists against protests like they had over the Stamp Act. British Response- We are being very grateful in getting rid of the Stamp Act. We want the colonists to know however that because we are the parent country we have a right to tax the colonies as we see fit. The Declaratory Act gives us this power so therefore we do not want to hear the colonists complain about any more taxes that we are putting on them. Your argument about No taxation without representation is no longer justifiable. You don’t have to be represented because of the Declaratory Act. Colonist Response- This act is ridiculous! Britain does not have the power to tax us unless we are represented no matter what act they pass. This goes against our natural law of liberty. We still cry No Taxation Without Representation! 6. Townshend Act (1767)- This act was passed because the British still had no way of making money for the war debt since the Sugar Act didn’t work and the King and Parliament had taken away the Stamp Act. The Townshend Act put a tax on paper, glass, lead, tea, and paint. The law also allowed for British officials to search anywhere for smuggled goods. British Perspective- We have the right to tax the colonists and it is completely necessary because of our debt. We were nice to get rid of the Stamp Act since the colonists threw such a fit but we still need to make money so we are taxing these different items. We have to be able to search colonial houses because they are smuggling goods into the colonies without paying taxes. Colonist Perspective- This tax is worse than the Stamp Act! The items that are taxed are things we need where as the Stamp Act was on things we wanted. This is completely unfair.

7. Boston Massacre (1770)- Began when colonists grew angry at a small group of soldiers in Boston. The colonists threw snowballs and as the angry mob grew closer to the soldiers shots were fired. 5 colonists lay dead in the street. British Perspective- These soldiers fired in self-defense! The colonial mob was going to kill them. Yes they were throwing snowballs but these snowballs had rocks in them and soon the colonists were going to attack the soldiers. They had no choice but to fire in the crowd if they wanted to survive. Colonist Perspective- This is an absolute massacre! 5 of our people have been murdered by British soldiers. The colonists were throwing snowballs for God’s sake and the British soldiers responded by shooting bullets and killing 5 of us who were defenseless.

8. Tea Act (1773)- This act actually drastically lowered the tax on tea. The reason was the British East India Tea company was nearly bankrupt because of the colonist boycotts. The British tea company asked the government to lower the tax on tea and allow them to sell the tea directly to the colonists in their own ships with their own sellers. The colonists were angry over this because it took many jobs from people who worked in the harbor as well as merchants who used to buy the tea from Britain and then sell it to the colonists for profit. The colonists were also angry because there was still a small tax on the tea and if they paid it they would be consenting to “taxation without representation”. British Perspective- How much more ridiculous can you get. There is nothing we can do to please the colonists. We took the tax off the tea making it extremely cheep. We want our people to have jobs so we gave them permission to sell directly to the colonists which aided in the low price. How can they be mad over us getting rid of the tax on tea? They now have destroyed an entire ship with a half million pounds of tea on board in the Boston Harbor. They threw the tea into the harbor and destroyed our property. Colonist Perspective- The British were first taxing us which was bad but now they are taking our jobs. We have hundreds of colonists who work in the harbor on ships unloading them as they come in. We have hundreds of other merchants who sell tea that will now go out of business because Britain is giving their tea company the right to sell tea directly to us. First a tax, and now our jobs! They are depriving us of our right to live! 9. Coercive Acts (1774)- This was a series of acts. The biggest of these closed the Boston Harbor until all the destroyed tea had been paid for. British Perspective- The colonists broke the law by dumping our tea into the Boston Harbor. The tea belonged to the East India Company, a British company that was trying to sell tea cheaper than ever before to the colonists. The East India Co. had reduced the tax to almost nothing and eliminated the “middle man” so the tea could be sold extremely cheep. Now we are punishing the colonists for their crimes by closing the Boston Harbor until the tea is paid for. Once they pay back the damages caused by the crime, we will re- open the harbor. Colonist Perspective- The British government is now depriving us of our rights of life, liberty, and property. How are we supposed to live a successful life without being able to work in the harbor? Nearly all of our jobs center around using the Boston harbor. We should have the freedom (liberty) to work where we desire. The Boston harbor is our property and they are taking it away from us. It was a small group of colonists who destroyed their tea. Why are they punishing all of us? Completely unfair! Also, how are we supposed to pay back the tea if we cannot work? Britain is not protecting our rights and we should be able to change the government to one that does protect our rights!

10. Battle at Lexington (1775)- This was the immediate cause of the American Revolution. It was at a small field in Lexington, Massachusetts that 700 British soldiers encountered a small group of about 70 colonial volunteers (militia). No one knows who fired the first shot that started the battle so the debate is centered around trying to come up with a theory as to why the other side fired first. British Perspective- We are a trained army of soldiers. We are trained only to fire when we are given orders. No orders were given to fire. The colonists arrived at this field first which shows they are the ones who wanted a fight. We were on our way to Concord to take weapons from a storehouse we had heard the colonists had. This was so we could prevent a war. If we were trying to prevent a war, why would we have started one? The militia is untrained and they were extremely nervous at the site of 700 British soldiers. One of them got nervous and fired the first shot. Colonist Perspective- The British army had us outnumbered 10 to 1. We would be complete fools to start a battle. We had no way of defeating an army so large. Most of our soldiers had only pitch forks and rocks. The British army has always wanted the chance to shoot at colonists. You don’t have to look back far to see the example at the Boston Massacre. 18 colonists were killed or injured in this battle. 1 British soldier was injured. They clearly caught us off guard when they fired to start this war.