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A Review on the Causes of the Revolutionary War

• By Bob Rebers
• Click the red buttons or hyperlinked words to
  move around in the program.

Begin
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Causes of the Revolutionary War

• Click on a cause to find out more.
• Independent feeling of Colonists
• French and Indian War
• Mercantile Policy
• Taxes
• Neglect
• Boston Massacre
• Boston Tea Party

Go to The End
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Independent Attitude

• The reason many colonists came to North
  American was for freedom, religious or otherwise.

Frontiersmens Attitude
British response
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The British felt colonists owed them greatly for
the financial help to start colonies and for the
protection England gave them. This became
especially true after the French and Indian War.
French and Indian War
What if
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Frontiersmen had a very independent attitude.
They traveled west into lands claimed by the
Indians and the French causing disputes which
lead to the French and Indian War.
French and Indian War
What if
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French and Indian War

• Because frontiersmen kept moving west and
  French fur traders kept expanding their fur trade
  east. The two groups eventually started claiming
  the same land. War ensued, England won, but had
  huge war debts. Who would pay?

Colonists
British
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What if...

• What if the British had started the colonists out
  and then gradually allowed them self-government?
• Would the War have been avoided?
• Would England have lost money or had a better
  trading partner in the colonists?

Return to Causes
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What if...

• What if the frontiersmen had set up boundaries
  with the French and Indians?
• Would they have carried on prosperous trade?
• Would there still have been a war with the French
  and Indians eventually?

Return to Causes
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If the colonists should pay for the war debts,
how should they pay?
What if
Taxes
Trade
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British felt colonists had to support some of
their own costs for defense by paying taxes.
To taxes
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What if...

• What if England said we cant take care of you
  any more, you, colonies need to be
  self-sufficient? You, colonies need your own
  army? You need to support yourself?
• Would the colonies have flourished?
• Would trade have increased?
• How would expenses be paid?

Return to Causes
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Colonists could pay the war debt through taxes.
The easiest way to tax colonists was through the
products sold to colonists.
Taxes
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Colonists could pay the war debt by continuing to
trade with England. This trade could also raise
money by the customs taxes or tariff charged for
products.
Mercantile Trade
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Mercantile Trade

• The British believed in the Mercantile Trade
  Policy. This simply stated that the colonies
  existed for the benefit of the Mother Country.

Agree
Disagree
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The British controlled trade with the colonies
and already in 1650 started the Navigation Laws.
Colonists were prosperous because of British
trade, especially the merchants in New England.
This control led to other laws to control income
Eventually caused the Boston Tea Party
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Colonial merchants, mainly in New England, wanted
more control of trade. They felt they could make
more money trading with other nations and not
following British trade laws.
Colonists action
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Some colonial merchants broke the trade laws and
smuggled goods into and out of ports not
controlled by the British. These actions led to
the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
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Taxes

• The British tried to raise revenue and control
  trade through the following laws or acts. Click
  on them for more information.
• Sugar Act
• Stamp Act
• Quartering Act
• Townshend Acts
• Tea Act
• Coercive or Intolerable Acts

Colonists view
British view
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Neglect

• Colonists felt the British had neglected them
  after starting the colonies.

Colonists view
British view
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Boston Massacre

• A riot breaks out in Boston where tensions are
  high between British soldiers and colonists.
  Five colonists are killed. This causes more
  disagreement and anger between the two sides
  leading to war.

Colonists view
British view
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Boston Tea Party

• The Tea Act gave the East India Tea Company
  the right to sell tea to the colonists directly
  but with a tax. Colonists were angered by the law
  and threw 342 cases of tea into Boston Harbor
  bringing both sides closer to war.

Colonists view
British view
What if
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Sugar Act

• Passed in 1764 to raise money by taxing
  molasses from the West Indies, this law was also
  known as the Revenue Act. George Grenville
  pushed this act through Parliament.
• The Sugar Act also gave the British the right
  to search for smuggled goods.

Back to laws
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Stamp Act

• George Grenville pushed for this law in March
  of 1765. It taxed all legal documents, such as,
  marriage licenses and wills. It also required
  stamps on newspapers, playing cards, calendars,
  dice, and other items. The Stamp Act lead the
  Sons of Liberty to boycott British goods.

Back to laws
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Quartering Act

• In May 1765, 10,000 British troops were sent
  the colonies. This law required colonists to
  house and feed these troops in their own homes.
  The troops were in the colonies to protect the
  colonists. The colonists hated having to house
  the soldiers.

Back to laws
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Townshend Acts

• Passed in 1767, this law taxed paper, lead,
  glass, paint, and tea. Named after Charles
  Townshend, head of British Treasury. This law
  lead to an even stronger boycott by the Colonists.

Back to laws
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Tea Act

• To help the East India Tea Company, Parliament
  passed this law in May 1773. It allowed the East
  India Tea Company to sell directly to colonists
  with a tax on tea after Townshend Acts were
  stopped.

Back to laws
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Coercive Acts

• Also called the Intolerable Acts by colonists,
  these laws came as a result of the Boston Tea
  Party. It shut down Boston Harbor until lost tea
  was paid back. It also was supposed to stop the
  colonists from meeting. This law led to the
  formation of the First Continental Congress.

Back to laws
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Colonists claimed taxation without
representation. They felt they had no voice in
the government that controlled them.
British neglect
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Colonists didnt want taxation with
representation. British tax laws werent greatly
oppressive until the Intolerable Acts. The
Intolerable Acts were a result of the Boston Tea
Party.
Boston Tea Party
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Colonists claimed they had no voting rights in
Parliament, were treated like second-hand
citizens, and were being used by British for
Englands profit.
Return to Causes
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British felt they had paid to start the colonies
and had protected them at a great cost.
Colonists should be loyal to the king.
Return to Causes
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Colonists are outraged as soldiers open fire on
unarmed citizens. Propaganda was used by
colonists to gain sympathy for their cause.
Return to Causes
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British soldiers were harassed by a mob of
colonists who threw snowballs and ice. Colonists
had provoked the soldiers with names, like
redcoats and lobster backs. Soldiers felt
they were only doing their jobs.
Return to Causes
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Colonists felt their protests were getting
nowhere. They needed to take action, even if it
was destructive. They needed to show the British
they were to be taken seriously.
Return to Causes
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The British lost goods and money. They felt the
colonists had gone too far. The British
responded with the Coercive or Intolerable Acts.
Even Ben Franklin agreed that the colonists
should pay for the lost tea. The British felt
they had to take control. War was close.
Return to Causes
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What if...

• What if colonists had continued to boycott
  British products?
• Could the colonists have held out long enough?
• Would the British have repealed their laws?

Return to Causes
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The End

• You have now reached the end of your review.
  Be prepared to write an essay on the causes of
  the Revolutionary War

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