American Colonial Rebellion: American History

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Causes of the American Colonial Rebellion
The Seven Years’ War and Events Leading to Policy Changes
Reasons behind the Laws
Prompt to Independence
Conclusion
Work Cited

Introduction

The British rule at its height was the largest empire and remained a global power for over a century, with millions of people under its governorship. Its steady expansion and rising authority were attributed to its maritime and technological supremacy. Its mercantilist philosophy led to its assertion of significant religious and legal obligations leading to its domination of indigenous people’s culture, land, and resources. Nevertheless, just like in its other colonies, there was a rebellion in America against its rule leading to its eventual independence. Therefore, this essay looks at the causes of the rebellion, including the final prompt to the attainment of independence by the United States.

Causes of the American Colonial Rebellion

The American colonial rebellion was a culmination of multiple factors and events. Primarily, people were inspired to push for their liberation because of the increased attempts of the British authority to exert greater authority over colonial affairs by making them make payments to the Crown for protection. This was seen when multiple unpopular taxes and laws were initiated, like the Stamp Act (Foner 173).

With such violations, the people felt an increased need to rule themselves as they felt that what they were being made to pay for, they could effectively and efficiently execute by themselves under their own independent rule. It is also argued that the reasons provided herein were just proxies, yet the Americans at the time wanted to enjoy the control and domination embodied by the British authority. All they needed was a good reason to start a revolution to earn them such power.

The rebellion was also inspired by a lack of representation and violence that targeted the natives, like the case of the Boston Massacre. In this regard, Americans felt there was no need to make payments, yet no one amongst them had the significant authority to tend to their rights and requirements (Foner 179). Moreover, the harsh treatment they got whenever they tried protesting or held alternate views to the authority made them feel like rebels, causing the rebellion to be unavoidable. This is why when King George III gave his speech, they got inspired to push for liberation even more challenging as their efforts were significantly attracting attention from the Crown, which is all they needed for their rebellion to be fruitful.

The Seven Years’ War and Events Leading to Policy Changes

The Seven Years’ War was the center of the rebellion, which the British won. Despite the victory, the aftermath cost the British to rule its colonies. The war had plunged British rule into a massive war debt they had to offset (Foner 174). As such, they had to abandon the salutary neglect to recoup their high costs while purporting to defend the colonies with its forces. This led to renewed laws and taxes as they felt a heightened need to enact revenue-generating trade restrictions. Moreover, by winning the war, the British thought that they had gained a higher authority over the colonies, and the best way to do this was by exerting more power. Besides, they thought it was only fair to depict domination over those they had defeated during the war by embodying a higher authority and having a significant number of people under its direct rule.

Additionally, Native Americans also fought actively in this war. As such, they felt there was no need for external forces to embody authority in their land, yet they had proven that they could defend themselves (Foner 171). With the already existing estranged and uneasy relationship, they felt that the victory provided a perfect basis for them to acquire complete rule over themselves, making ‘salutary neglect’ unviable.

Reasons behind the Laws

Nonetheless, apart from raising money for the Crown and limiting representation for the people, the laws imposed by the British Empire were also linked to power limitation. They directly prevented the natives from governing themselves, giving absolute power to external forces (Foner 184). Additionally, high taxation meant very little money left flowing into the economy, meaning that the colonies would plunge into an economic dilemma if they severed their ties with the British authority. In line with this argument, the laws acted as security for the British government.

Prompt to Independence

Despite the various tactics used by the British government to gain absolute control and limit the power of the people, the colonials eventually declared their independence. Even though it was attributable to various aspects, it was considered mainly a result of the need by the people to enjoy their freedom and operate freely in a manner synonymous with the American mind without any external interference. This was because, in the years before the declaration, the people felt that they were being oppressed significantly and that corruption was at its height. Yet, they had no benefit since they were denied any representation.

As such, there was a need to get absolute governorship so that they could trade freely with countries like France to build their unique power and authority. With the enforcement of the declaration, the United States of America was adopted as a new name putting to rest the years of disputes on political representation and taxation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, multiple factors and events were in play to ensure that the American colonies became independent states. Even though most of it is attributable to the Seven Years’ war, most people had started showing signs of resistance, and alterations made by British authority after its success in the war only cemented the desire for ultimate control and self-governance. It can thus be considered a process that went through multiple stages leading to the eventual birth of the United States of America.

Work Cited

Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty! An American History. 6^th ed., vol. 1, W.W. Norton & Company, 2020.

Click Here To Order Now!