Causes of the Revolution

1. The Stamp Act of 1765

The stamp act of 1765 was passed by the British Parliament as an act that required a tax stamp
on every printed item, including legal documents, licenses, newspapers, ship’s paper, and many
other items. All of these items had to have a tax stamp that only a commissioned distributor
could give out in exchange for the money. The majority of the money that was collected was
used to support British soldiers in the mountains who were working to maintain peace between
the native Americans and the colonists. Although the price the colonists had to pay wasn’t
extreme, this act was important in leading to the revolution because it was the first time that the
taxes were in an attempt to raise money as opposed to in the past when they were viewed as
measures to regulate commerce. The part that angered the colonists the most was that the tax was
placed upon them without their say in the matter and they realized that if the British could do
this, there was nothing stopping them from placing more taxes on them and there was nothing
that the colonists could do to stop them. This was the first time where there was a widespread
epiphany that the colonists did not have the same rights as English citizens back in England,
which pushed them to fight for no taxation without representation. The stamp act falls under
politics and power because it has to do with the government's power in the political process and
the lack of power the colonists had.
Image: lots of letters and things with stamps on them

2. Proclamation of 1763
The Proclamation of 1763 was a proclamation issued by the British government that was meant
to conciliate the Indians by stopping the colonists from encroaching on their land any further.
The proclamation did this by forbidding the colonists from expanding west past the Appalachian
mountains, including buying land from or making agreements with the natives, rather the empire
controlled all relations. The proclamation also banned all colonists except licensed traders from
traveling west or trading with natives. The proclamation was meant to be a temporary measure to
create peace between the natives and the colonists, however the British began to profit from the
arrangement, so they kept the proclamation around until right before the revolution. The effects
of the proclamation were important because it further divided the colonists from the British
government by making many colonists rebel, and majority resent the government. The colonists
wanted to move west, so many ignored the proclamation and moved west to get to the good farm
lands. Other colonists simply resented the British government, which ultimately was their
motivation for the revolution. This falls under economy because it has to do with trade patterns
and land distribution. The revolution was partially because the colonists were tired of the British
controlling who they got to trade with and what land they had, which was greatly restricted by
this proclamation.
Image: line across the mountains with natives on one and colonists on the other
3. Tea Act of May 1773
The Tea Act of May 1773 was an attempt by the British government to bail the East India
Company out of debt because the company was a crucial player in the British economy. The
British government gave it a monopoly on the importation and sale of all tea in the colonies.
Although the tea sold by the company was cheaper than the Colonists smuggled tea, the colonists
were offended, believing that the British government was trying to bribe them in order to gain
back full control. This act was important because it set off a chain of events; first the Boston Tea
Party, which triggered the intolerable acts placed on the colonies, which ultimately motivated the
revolution. Most of the taxes places on the colonists after the Boston Tea Party were placed in
order to make the colonists pay for all of the money that was lost in the destruction of the tea;
this angered the colonists because they felt that they shouldn’t be taxed for something that only a
few colonists did. This further angered them and was a big motivating factor in the later
revolution. This act falls under beliefs (culture and society) because the colonists ideals and
morals led them to reject the act when they felt that they were being bribed, and they felt that it
was not right to be taxed for it later.
Image: boston harbor with people throwing tea into the ocean with east india company on the
side of a boat

4. French and Indian war

The French and Indian war was an imperial war in North America between Britain and France
over land. The border between French and British territory lied in the Ohio River Valley was not
very well defined; France set up many forts in the area however Britain was constantly invading
in an attempt to gain more land. The war lasted 9 years, ending with the Treaty of Paris in 1763
which mandated that France give up all of its territories in the middle part of North America.
Even though the war provided Great Britain with large territorial gains, there were many
consequences, such as debates over foreign policy and massive debt that the colonies were
forced to pay for later. All of the consequences were somehow turned to punish the colonists
who were not happy to have to pay for all of the debt and have more taxes and laws placed on
them. This was important because it was one of the final events that happened prior to the
revolution, and was really a tipping point for the colonists where they started to see that they
didn’t want Britain to have that much power over them. This event falls into the america in the
world category because there was competition between two countries through their colonies over
resources and domination of the territory.
Image: map of territory with french in “canada” and english colonies, ohio river valley in the
middle

1. Declaration of Independence
QUOTE: “We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Happiness”
The Declaration of Independence was written on July 4th, 1776, by Thomas Jefferson,
with the help of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and a few others. This quote is one of the most
commonly known lines from the declaration because it is a strong quote that shows both the
colonists issues with Britain’s rule as well as their strong belief in natural rights that emerged
during the enlightenment. Through this quote, the colonists told the British government and the
world that their values about having equal rights and representation in government were strong,
and that everything that Britain had done to control them was wrong. The tone of this piece is
assertive and bold because the speaker spends most of the declaration pointing out all of the
British governments flaws when it comes to governing a nation, which is a bold move. The
occasion is the most important aspect of this piece because it was written at the end of the
revolution and aided the colonists in finally declaring their independence. Many of the topics
discussed in the piece were also important to the time because it was right after Britain had put
many harsh laws and taxes on the colonies which they pointed out as bad governing in the
declaration. This piece is significant to the american revolution because it is the document that
informed the British that they no longer has control over the colonies, and told the rest of the
world, including the colonies that they were a strong, independent nation. It also was significant
because it helped the colonies point out all of the British governments flaws in ruling them,
which helped them to figure out how to run their new nation better because they knew what they
wanted out of their government and with their independence, Britain couldn’t deny their requests
and changes.

2. Common Sense
QUOTE: “A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being
right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom. But the tumult soon subsides.
Time makes more converts than reason.”
“Common Sense” was published on January 10th, 1776, by Thomas Paine. This quote is
describing the situation that the colonists have fallen into where the colonists haven’t seen what
the British government is doing wrong for so long that they believe that they are doing
everything right. Paine then goes on to say that reasoning cannot help people see this, however
with time, the colonists should see how the government is not doing what is best for them. The
tone in this piece is extremely confident, mostly because Paine’s strategy is to convince the
audience that they are ignorant if they do not agree with him. Paine needs to show his confidence
because if he does not then the readers are unlikely to take his side. The most important
soapstone for this piece is the audience, because the entire purpose for writing this article was to
show the audience all of the reasons that they should fight for an egalitarian government. All of
Paine’s arguments and strategies are targeted towards persuading the audience to fight for their
independence and stop seeing British government as a good government. This piece is significant
to the revolution because it changed many people's minds all across the colonies, and rallied
people against the British government. Many people in this time period were on the fence about
whether to side with Britain or independence, and this pamphlet was all that they needed to be
pushed over the edge towards independence.

3. Works by Enlightenment speakers

QUOTE: “All mankind...being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his
life, health, liberty, or possessions.” John Locke
This quote is from “The Two Treatises of Civil Government” which was written by John
Locke and published in 1689. In this quote, Locke telling the reader about his opinions on the
natural rights that all humans are born with. Locke believed that people’s life, health, liberty, and
possessions should be things that they get to control themselves, and that neither the government
or other people have the right to mess with. In this piece, Locke used logos in an attempt to show
people how the government is doing things wrong, and how people actually have the power to
change things. By appealing to the readers logical side, Locke was able to show them how many
of the things that the government was doing was actually not helping them, and that they could
actually change the way that the government was run instead of accepting how it was. The most
important soapstone of this piece is the purpose, because the purpose of this piece was to
challenge the common notions at the time of how a government should rule its people as well as
introduce a new way of thinking about the way that people live and are controlled. John Locke
strongly believed in the natural born rights that all people had, which is why he wrote the book,
and these same reasons were carried through to the revolution where colonists fought for these
same rights. This piece was significant because it was the foundation for many other
enlightenment philosophers to question the way that things were governed and it was the first
time that many people realized that things could be changed. Later on, all of these ideas helped
to spark the american revolution because the people realized that Britain was not governing them
right and they felt that they had the power to change things because the philosophers such as
John Locke convinced them that they had the right to do so.

4. Speech Against the Writs of Assistance (1761)

QUOTE: “It appears to me the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of
English liberty and the fundamental principles of law, that ever was found in an English law-
book.”

The speech against the Writs of Assistance was given by James Otis on February 14,
1761. This specific quote discusses the opinion of Otis on the subject of the Writs of Assistance
that mandated that a a court instructing a law official must perform a certain task, such as
collecting taxes from people. Otis was appalled by the new law and thought that it took away
people's basic rights, which is what he says in the quote in a much more defensive way. The tone
of his speech is very accusatory and bitter towards the people that he is speaking to. He uses this
tone because he highly disapproves of the decisions to put this law into place and he is angry that
the government feels that they can take these basic rights away from them. The best soapstone
for this piece is occasion, because Otis is writing this at a time when the British government was
passing many laws that took away more rights than the colonists wanted them to. Many of the
colonists at this time felt that they were getting even their basic rights taken from them, and this
upset many of them, which is why James Otis made this speech on behalf of 53 Boston
Merchants who didn’t have a voice in the matter. This speech was influential in the american
revolution because the central topic of the argument was the government's control over the
natural rights of the people. This was a central idea in the revolution, that the government had
taken away too many basic rights, and here even a British lawyer sees this and tried to stop it.

Work Cited
Independence Hall Association. “The Declaration of Independence: Full Text.” Ushistory.org,
Independence Hall Association, 4 July 1995, www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.
“James Otis Speech” . “James Otis Speech Against the Writs of Assistance.” Colonial
Women , www.landofthebrave.info/james-otis-speech-against-writs-assistance.htm.
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, ed. Thomas Hollis (London: A. Millar et al., 1764).
10/4/2018. <http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/222>
Paine, Thomas. “Common Sense.” Pdf, 14 Feb. 1776.