British Missteps that lead to Revolutionary War

The cause of the American Revolution can be argued but it is clear that it was caused from British missteps that lead to colonial determination to become a separate nation. After 1763, the British began to increase and assert their power over the colonies, who, in contrast, wanted to be less controlled. However, the colonies did not want complete independence prior to this increase in control from the British. Although the colonies did seem to have determination for an independent nation in England’s eyes, the British failed to recognize the colonies real intentions for government, limited expansion and economic success, and increased and controlled taxation in the colonies. In the viewpoint of the British, the colonies did appear to have determination to be a separate nation. This was part of their reasoning behind exerting more control over the colonies. The colonists had been accustomed to the loosely enforced Navigation Acts that limited their exports to England and imports from England for many years. They found ways around the Acts and smuggled. It is justified that the British would fear that the colonies were trading with other countries because it would result in less profit for England. Many colonies also, in previous years, practiced self-government. Beginning in 1620, the Puritans of Plymouth signed the Mayflower Compact, agreeing on majority rule. This was one of the earliest forms of self-government the colonies practiced. In 1639, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was written. This was essentially a crude constitution limiting the powers of government. The colonists of New England and some middle colonies became very accustomed to self-government over time due to their democratic town meetings. Losing this ability to govern themselves would obviously anger the colonists because they had been practicing it for many years. However, it is justified that the British would fear self-government expanding across all of the colonies because they could lose control over colonial America. In contrast to England’s fears of colonial independence, the British failed to recognize the colonies’ true intentions about government. In 1754, during the French and Indian War, representatives from seven colonies met in what was called the Albany Congress. Their intentions were to stay peaceful with the Iroquois Indians, and to also propose the idea of home rule in the colonies. The colonies made it clear to British Parliament that they believed they should have more autonomy. They never wanted complete independence nor separation from England. By the end of the French and Indian War, they especially believed they deserved this because they believed in their military strength and did not have to fear the French anymore. The colonies also made their intentions and their grievances clear at the Stamp Act and the First Continental Congress. However, England ignored these propositions believing the colonies were asking for too much power. England also did not realize that limiting the colonists’ expansion and economic success would lead to colonial resentment. Before 1763 the Navigation Acts did not create a burden on the colonies until the British tightened their control over the act. Although there were some benefits to the act such as the colonies having a guaranteed market, the negatives outweighed the positives. The colonies were kept in a state of dependency on England, they felt used, there was a currency shortage, and their true economic potential was limited causing colonial resentment. Additionally, the British put the Proclamation of 1763 into place which limited the colonists’ expansion to the Appalachian Mountains. Although the British defend the act as a way to prevent conflict with the Native Americans, the colonists felt too controlled. They felt it was their right to expand because they fought for the land in the French and Indian War. The colonists did not want to be restricted by England; they wanted the sovereignty to make their own decisions about their economy and land. The British also failed to recognize that controlling and increasing taxation would gradually push the colonists towards revolutionary feelings. England believed it was the colonies’ duties to have a fair share in paying for the French and Indian war. Radical Whigs tried to warn England that taxation would only lead to resistance but the British continued to tax the colonies to pay for the war. The first Act that was put into place for revenue was the Sugar Act in 1764 which taxed foreign sugar. This sparked immediate uproar and the protests from the colonies quickly lowered the duties. Britain still wanted revenue from the colonies so they put the Stamp Act into place in 1765 which required a tax on certified documents, playing cards, pamphlets, etc. This resulted in a boycott of British goods called non-importation agreements and the colonists’ famous expression of, “No taxation without representation!”. However, if the colonies had representation in Parliament, they would have been outnumbered anyways. What the colonies still wanted was home rule and the ability to tax themselves, something they made clear to England with their grievances sent from the Stamp Act Congress and years ago at the Albany Congress. Non-importation agreements had such a negative impact on England that the Stamp act was repealed. Although immediately after the repeal, the Declaratory Act was put into place emphasizing the power England still had over the colonies. This, again, contrasted with the colonies idea of home rule and was not something the colonies wanted emphasized. In 1767, yet another tax was placed on the colonies by England under the Townshend Act. This put a tax on glass, lead, paper, paint, and tea and this revenue was used to pay royal governors and judges in the colonies. The colonists opposed this and revived non-importation agreements and smuggled. In 1770, the colonists’ resistance caused the Boston Massacre where sixty British soldiers open-fired on rowdy unarmed colonists, killing eleven. Blood was now being spilled over the resentment of the increase in British taxation and power over the colonies. Additionally, Sam Adams organized the Committees of Correspondence to spread gossip and information about the British and to move the colonies toward united action. Colonists were losing their lives and creating organized resistance even though the Townshend tax was light and indirect. However, it was never the cost of the tax, it was the principle fact that their money was being used to pay royal appointees who represented what they did not want in the colonies; too much British control. Previously, the colonists did not want independence from England, but after the repeal of the Townshend Act, the British kept an indirect tax on tea and gave a monopoly to the British East India Company to keep them from going bankrupt. This was the turning point toward a revolution. Tea was a part of almost all colonists’ life so many colonies never allowed the tea to come into their ports. Specifically in Boston in 1773, colonists dressed up as Native Americans and dumped crates of tea into the Boston Harbor as protest. They dressed up as Indians to represent the growing difference and separation between colonial Americans and the British. Again it was the principle of the tax, not the price. In response to this resistance, the British did not tax but punished the colonies with the Intolerable Acts in September of 1774. This further exerted British control over the colonies by closing the port of Boston, taking charted rights away, and restricting democratic activity in New England. The colonies saw this punishment as too cruel and the punishment, again, went against their belief that they deserved home rule. The colonists responded with the First Continental Congress in 1774 to deal with their grievances and to create the Association which was a complete boycott of British goods. Parliament rejected the Congress’ petitions which continued the drift toward war. Following the rejection, the clash of the battles of Lexington and Concord were inevitable. England’s failure to negotiate and recognize that tightening control was pushing the colonies towards a revolution was one of their biggest missteps. Instead of bringing the colonies closer, England’s actions to exert their power lead the colonies to a revolution. England’s overall mistake was not letting the colonies have home rule. They misunderstood the colonies’ intentions leading to actions such as limitations on the economy and expansion, and the increase in taxation which would eventually lead to the revolution. The British feared colonial independence, but their missteps were the reason behind it.