Western History 119: What were the causes of the American Revolution?

It is very difficult to narrow done the cause of the American Revolution to a single event or indeed a series of events.  The seeds of the revolution were multi-faceted with origins pre-dating by some time the actual Revolutionary War that that was fought between 1776 and 1783.  A worthwhile approach however  is to divide the causation attributes into three segments for analysis. These are political, philosophical and economic. Lets look at each.

Political: Great Britain emerged as the power in North America following the end of the French and Indian War in 1763. Other than New Orleans the French controlled no territory east of the Mississippi River. The settled territory beyond the original thirteen colonies had  been expanding for some time and many colonists looked to move west of the Appalachian Mountains.

North America after the Treaty of Paris 1763 source: openendedsocialstudies.org

However Britain's king George III who had ascended to the throne in 1760 was loathe to allow such settlement as he sought to normalize relations with the Native Americans (many of whom had assisted Britain during the war). 

King George III source: historythings.com

In 1763 a Royal decree prevented westward colonization. The problem was that many settlers had already purchased land here and  ignored the Royal Proclamation. A concession was eventually reached but the tug-o-war in interest created much bitterness between the crown and the settlers.

This ill feeling continued to marinate and  was given a voice in the various colonial legislatures , such as the House of Burgess in Virginia (formed 1642), that enjoyed a certain degree of independence from the crown. The legislatures took on the role of passing laws, levying taxes, and organizing militia. In the eyes of the colonials they were legitimate bodies who better understood the relevance of local issues. The crown on the other hand was distrustful of these legislatures, whose independent actions  all too often clashed with royal directives. It was however through such bodies that the spirit of rebelliousness was cultivated. 

Philosophical: The thinkers of the English and Scottish Enlightenment movements – John Locke, David Hume and Adam Smith – had a profound effect on the future Founding Fathers of the United States. There were other continental European voices as well  viz.Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and the Baron de Montesquieu – but in totality the concepts of limited government, private ownership of property, the sovereignty of the individual and the notion of the consent of the governed was well received in the colonies. Men such as Benjamin Franklin and John Adams looked fondly to these ideals and championed the separation of power. Much of what was advocated stood in contrast to tyranny, autocracy and the notion of the divine right of kings.

Benjamin Franklin source: historyplex.com

Not only was such individualism popular among the North American elites but it  also expressed itself in the rugged nature of the frontiersman who were eager to branch out further in a westward direction. The possibilities seemed endless. Crown and Parliament looked more with the passing of time as obstacles to potential.

Such feeling was not unfounded. Since the French and Indian War British force exerted more of a presence in the colonies. A particular sore point was the ‘Writ of Assistance’ that allowed British soldiers to search for smuggled goods. Many abused this warrant by entering private homes, disrupting businesses and seizing warehouses. This was further worsened by laws that required the colonists to house British soldiers (the Quartering Act). Both were so resented by the colonists  that that they later inspired the writing of the fourth and third Amendments to a future American constitution that prohibited such an action (enacted through the Bill of Rights that was ratified in 1791).

Economic: Victory in the French and Indian War had come at a very high economic cost. In order to meet the financial shortfall the crown levied a series of  new taxes in 1763. The Stamp Act and Currency Act were two of these. The former placed a high tax on molasses and forced the colonists to seek certain goods in  Britain alone. The latter forbade the colonies from printing their own money which making them  more reliant on Great Britain.  Free Trade – a fundamental Liberal principle was most certainly curtailed. A third economic infringement – the Stamp Act (1765) – further burdened the colonists by taxing commercial and legal documents, pamphlets, newspapers and other platforms for the written word.

This act was met with considerable protest and played a role in the formation of the very vocal  Sons of Liberty organization. The Act was eventually repealed in 1766 but not before it  had served a role in priming the  revolutionary fever.

Samuel Adams - Boston merchant and founder of the Sons of Liberty.

However the actions of the crown in controlling both the political and economic freedom of the colonials continued via the Townsend Acts. These were instituted to ensure loyalty of the governors and judges to the crown, enforce trade regulations, punish states such as New York for opposing the Quartering Acts and ultimately clarifying the  right of the British Parliament to tax the colonies.

Adding fuel to all of this was a corrupt judiciary system. Political Protests increased as sentiments were aroused in opposition toward the injustice of  unfair taxation. Too many the legal system that was seen as a tool of the crown.

In 1770 ill-feelings reached a head with the Boston Massacre. A street brawl between colonists and a British soldier grew violent and rapidly escalated resulting in five civilian deaths and six injuries. In the spirit of  justice  and a nod to the concept of fair trial the soldiers were defended by John Adams (a future American President). They  were found not guilty of murder although two were found guilty of manslaughter.

Crispus Attackus - American patriot of mixed African and European descent. Widely regarded as one of the first people killed in the Boston Massacre. source: thefamouspeople.com

This would not be the last of the clashes between colonists and crown. In 1773, the Sons of Liberty disguised as Native Americans protested the Tea Act by boarding ships in Boston Harbor and dumping the cargo of  tea belonging to the largely tax exempt British East India Company. The Tea Act  in particular was very much loathed by Colonial merchants  who saw it as the ultimate symbol of ‘taxation without representation.’

The Spilling of the Tea in Boston Harbor source: brittanica.com

The action of the ‘Boston Tea Party‘ was not taken lightly by the crown who responded  by passing a series of laws known as the Intolerable Acts (or the coercive Acts in Great Britain). Friction between crown and colonies was clearly worsening and what was more disturbing is that there was much more to come.