Top 5 Causes of the American Revolution

Ashten Blain and Julia Kassies

1774-1775 – Representatives from 12 of the 13 New England Colonies (all but Georgia) met in Philadelphia, making their meeting the First Continental Congress. They met to discuss the British Intolerable Acts, their relationship with Britain, and how they should assert their rights with the British government. The purpose was not to seek independence

from Britain. They wanted to compose a “statement of colonial rights, to identify British parliament’s violation of those rights, and to provide a plan that would convince Britain to restore their rights.” An agreement was made to boycott British goods and they resolved their colonial rights, promising to meet again in May of 1975 if Britain wouldn’t change their ways. Contrary to what the Congress believed would happen, Britain actually cracked down harder and punished and weakened the colony by blocking their access to resources. They ended up meeting again, the Second Continental Congress, on May 10th of 1975 in the State House in Philadelphia. All thirteen colonies were present at this meeting just after the ending of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, and the memories and emotions of the battle were still fresh in their minds. The Congress decided to establish the militia that were still working to push the British out as the Continental Army, and to elect George Washington Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. This event was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The colonies asserted their independence and got ready to fight the British. They decided to fight for their freedom, and where there is a will there is a way.

1775 - Dr. Joseph Warren found out about the British plans to come and seize stores of gunpowder and arrest John Hancock and Samuel Adams and sent Paul revere to warn them. Revere said he would warn them when the British began to march, by placing one lantern in the Old North Church steeple if the British were coming by land, and two

lanterns if by sea. On April 18th, Paul Revere hung two lanterns in the steeple, signaling the arrival of the British by sea. Then Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott rode to warn the colonies that the British were on the move. Paul Revere rode right to Lexington and warned Adams and Hancock, giving them enough time to escape before the British reached Lexington. The colonists had an organized group of militia called the Minutemen (so called because they needed to be ready at a moment’s notice). 75 of these soldiers as well as Captain Jonas Parker met the British at Lexington, even though the Minutemen were greatly outnumbered. The British fired and killed 8 Minutemen, also injuring 10 Minutemen. Paul Revere was capture by the British before he could reach Concord, but other messengers got through to warn people. The people that were warned were able to move the some of the arms and ammunition to surrounding towns to hide them, so only part of the supplies could be destroyed by the British. Seeing their fellow countrymen killed, and the desire of the British to destroy their supplies and suppress them made the colonists angry. The British fueled the fire that had been building in the colonists by attempting to get rid of their heroes and leaders. This made the colonies want their independence even more.

1770 – The Boston Massacre was started because a wigmaker’s apprentice called out to a British officer at the house of one of the British leaders that the bill of his master had not been paid. The officer replied that it had, and the apprentice left, but later returned with companions. They began to harass the officer and throw stones at him, and the crowd grew

and grew as the warning bells rang throughout town. Eventually 5 civilians died at the hands of British troops. This turned attitudes away from the king of Britain and British taxes and laws because the other colonists didn’t like the way the situation was dealt with. When they lost their friends, their tempers flared and the situation of the American Revolution escalated because of it.

1754-1767 - The French and Indian war was the fight between Britain and France. It nearly doubled Britain’s national debt and the colonies dependence on Britain for defense lessened. Because of the increased national debt, more taxes were placed on the colonists and larger duties on imported goods on such

things as sugar (Sugar Act), playing cards, newspapers, marriage licenses (Stamp Act, which was a direct tax said to be for defense of the colonies; other taxes from Britain were often hidden or indirect), glass, paper, and tea (Townshend acts). These new taxes caused smugglers to increase activity to avoid the tax. This caused an increase of British troops in Boston. The colonists did not like the new taxes, so this changed their attitudes toward the British government and laws. With the change of attitude came a change of beliefs and the colonists started to turn away from the government, believing they could make it on their own.

1773-1774 - Surplus British tea was to be sold in America by underselling it so that the tea would be extremely cheap and sell quickly and in large amounts (called the Tea Acts). This would affect merchants in America hugely, so the colonies strongly resisted the acts. It was also seen as

a bribe from the British, giving the colonists another reason to boycott it. Some colonists in Boston dressed as Indians went on a ship carrying tea and dumped the entire shipload into the Boston Harbor to show their opposition (45 tons of tea). As a result the British Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts so that the Boston port was closed until compensation was paid to the government for the tea and British troops were put back into Boston. This was a method of limiting the colonies access to trade and supplies, and another way the British pushed their colonists to the breaking point. The more the colonists were suppressed, the more they felt the desire to fight back.