Causes of the American War of Independence

The American Revolution is usually seen as being the same thing as the American War for Independence, starting in 1775 with the battle of Lexington and ending in 1783 with the treaty of Paris. This popular misconception has lead to the most important has lead to the real revolution being forgotten, the change in the way countries are governed and the ideas that lead to it.

With the end of the French and Indian wars, the first worldwide war, the British found themselves with a huge national debt. The only reason they won the war was that their treasury lasted longer than the French treasury. As part of the agreement for peace, the French offered to give all their holdings in America to the British. These new acquisitions were a problem for the British parliament because now they needed to stop settlers from the British colonies going into the new land in fear that the Indians would attack them. Therefore, to defend the colonists from Indians (and vice versa) the British parliament decided that the colonists should pay a small tax (compared to was paid in England) to pay a less than half of the money needed for the army that would be permanently stationed in the Americas, so parliament introduced the Sugar Act.

The Sugar Act was something that actually reduced the tax on molasses eliminating the incentive to smuggle thereby increasing the amount of people willing to pay duty. This reduction, although a good idea, did not make much money. So, the British parliament brought in the Stamp Act. The parliament assumed that because the British people had been living with the tax for about 70 years and there had been no revolts in Britain that the Colonists would accept it. Unfortunately, they were wrong.

The Colonists were angry about the new tax because it covered so many things and they did not get any representation in the matter. The Americans saw the new tax as a way to enslave them, to deprive them of the very reason that may came to the Colonies