Cause of US Revolution

American Revolution There were a number of causes of the American Revolution, both short-term and long-term. The colonists were mainly of British descent, and so they had roughly the same culture as the ruling English, but over time there were enough differences and disagreements that ultimately would lead to the Revolutionary War. At the core of the disagreement was the economic status of the colonies and the people that lived in them. This was the primary long-run tension that led to the revolution.

Great Britain was the world's most powerful nation at the time, and was in the process of building an expansive empire, all over the world. The empire was still rising at the time of the revolution, and would only peak in the 19th century. Great Britain essentially saw its colonies as a source of wealth. The people that lived in those colonies were British subjects.

Both Crown and Parliament felt that the colonies were tremendous sources of wealth for the mother country, and viewed the resources of those lands as their own. The people who lived in those lands, however, did not agree with this view. They saw themselves as having effective control over the lands and felt that they were not being granted enough power over those lands. That included the power to make laws and the power of taxation.

This created tension between the colonists and the mother country, as the colonists increasingly saw themselves more as American than British, but just as important they saw themselves as building a future in their land, and that Great Britain was increasingly an impediment to that future. As the colonies began to gain their own powers to pass laws, and of taxation, they started to function increasingly as independent governments. With these governmental capabilities, the colonists began to be more functionally independent from Great Britain than they had in the past.

While during this period in the mid-1770s the colonists were not as vehemently pro-independence, there was definitely a sentiment arising that the colonies were doing just fine running things for themselves. With these overarching tensions in mind, the short-run causes started to emerge. The French and Indian War saw a change in the dynamic between Britain and the Colonies. First, Britain saw itself in debt from the conflict, and sought to recover that money from the colonies it was collecting. This increased the tax burden on the colonists.

In turn, the colonists had less to fear from either French or Indians, after this conflict. As such, the saw Great Britain as being more expensive and less useful. Britain passed several acts that inflamed the people in the colonies. The Currency Act removed the ability of the colonies to issue their own currency. The Stamp Act increased taxation, adding new items to the list of things taxed, and defense of the colonies was specifically cited as a reason.

Britain drew a direct link between taxation and its protection, the latter of which as we know the colonists were starting to feel was not necessary, especially as they had rights to raise their own armies. The Boston Massacre further lent support to the colonists. By the time the Tea Act was passed, many colonists were opposed to the English and saw rule from Britain as a strong negative element. The British response to the Tea Party.