American Revolution

Many factors influences the American rebellion known as the American Revolution.
Though political influences existed, the American Revolution was primarily an e
conomic rebellion, because of conflict over taxation and representation in Parli
ament. The colonists had strong beliefs that the English government was unfair a
nd often tyrannical. The conflicts over trade, taxes, and government representat
ion brought about the revolution that began shaping the United States as it is t
oday.
Although there were many economic influences on the American Revolution, these w
ere not the primary causes. The colonists believed that the king of England, Kin
g George III at the time, was too controlling over the colonies, with tyrannical
leadership. This is shown in the Declaration of Independence, declaring the Uni
ted States free from "absolute Tyranny over the States." To add to this conflict
, British forces were attempting to intimidate the colonists into submission. Th
e colonist's attitude towards this policy was that it only gave them more cause
and justification for violence. The general belief among to colonists was that i
t was God's will that America and Britain be separated, and God's will was a pre
tty strong proponent and motivation for them. In 1775, the colonists took up arm
s against the British troops in the colonies. They met at the Battle of Lexingto
n and Concord, and some of the captured American soldiers were being executed. W
ith all of these events, the adversity towards the English was growing.
Although these political conflicts were occurring simultaneously, the economic i
nfluences were greater. The colonists were very strong in believing that much of
the taxation imposed on them by Britain was unfair and unreasonable. The coloni
sts couldn't even afford to pay many of the taxes imposed on them. The Stamp Act
, for example, taxed practically everything imaginable. The Stamp Act taxed news
papers, pamphlets, bonds, leases, deeds, college diplomas, dice, playing cards,
and didn't end there. The British finally repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, but th
ey immediately replaced it with the Declaratory Act, which stated that Britain h
ad full authority to impose whatever taxation they wanted to. The Quartering Act
, which was imposed in 1765, required all colonists to provide provisions and ho
using, which could be barracks or the use of their inns and empty buildings, to
British troops under any circumstances. This was also thought to be unfair. When
Britain imposed the Tea Act of 1773, the colonists realized that once they gain
ed that kind of monopoly over tea, the same dominance and, in effect, manipulati
on, would begin to appear on other commodities. These taxations made the colonis
ts realize that the British needed to be stopped or they would always have contr
ol.
Taxation, the right to impose taxation, and representation in Parliament were al
so significant issues in the American Revolution. The main beliefs of the coloni
sts was that they shouldn't be able to be taxed by people who they had no say in
electing. Many documents throughout history, for example the Virginia Declarati
on of Rights, June 12, 1776, and The Virginia Resolves, October 19, 1765, refer
to popular saying "No taxation without representation." The colonists needed rep
resentation in Parliament to control taxes, because the representatives currentl
y in Parliament didn't have the colonists' interests in mind. For example, the c
olonists shouldn't have had to pay taxes like the Stamp Act because the colonist
s were already largely contributing to their defenses, and that was the stated i
ntention for the taxes. Many Americans at the time believed that the money colle
cted from taxes wouldn't be used for the taxpayers' well-being or benefit, but f
or the strengthening of British control or increasing British revenue. It was ar
gued that Virginians were entitled to the same rights and liberties that English
men had, and that representation was no exception. The controversy surrounding r
epresentation sparked many issues and began a lot of the conflict.
The American Revolution was brought about by a number of different things. The p
olitical rule of Britain was tyrannical and unacceptable, the colonists showed.
However, the economic policies of the British was what eventually brought about
all of the conflict. The taxes were corrupt and abominable, and the money collec
ted was being used against the colonists. The colonists had no representation to
protect them against these things, so the action they took was the American Rev
olution. The success of the Revolution has determined the success of the United
States today.