Title The American Revolution Causes.pdf ✅

1 The American Revolution The American Revolution is the most important event in the history of America. It created the United States. It also defined most of the persistent values and aspirations of the American people. The noblest ideals of Americans such as freedom, equality, constitutionalism and the welfare state first defined in the revolutionary era. Although its origin went back to the 17th century settlement and its consequences are with Americans still. The origins of the American Revolution lay deep in America‟s past. A century and a half of dynamic developments in the British continental colonies of the new world had fundamentally transformed inherited European institution and customary patterns of life. It had created the basis for a new society which was waiting for a revolution. In the 1760s Great Britain thrust its imperial power into this changing world with a thoroughness that had not been felt in century and precipitated a crisis within the loosely organized empire. The complicated American Revolution developed through several phases. Since the formation of the empire in the late 17th century, the relationship between Britain and American colonies was based on inefficiency of the imperial system. Somehow the colonial functional setup in all areas of economy, religion and society was also dominated by loopholes and corruption, preventing the imperial authority to interfere substantially with the colonists. By the middle of the century however new circumstances compelled the mother country to control the colonies more tightly than before. On the other side the Americans were becoming increasingly unwilling to accept a subordinate position within the British Empire. The result was a conflict between Britain and American colonies called as American Revolution. In this way, we can classify the causes of American Revolution in 3 categories for the comfort of our study- 1. The Development in Colonies 2. The Reorganization of the Empire 3. The Reaction of Americans 1. THE DEVLOPMENTS IN COLONIES Many changes have taken place in American society and economy from the day of the establishment of colonies in America by Great Britain. All together these developments increased the importance of American colonies and compelled the mother country to avail more benefits through the setup of efficient administration. a) POPULATION GROWTH Throughout the whole English speaking world, the population in the middle decades of the 18th century was increasing at unprecedented rates. North American colonies were growing even faster than Britain and had been doing since the beginning of the settlements. Between 1750 and 1770 they doubled in numbers from one million to over 2 million and thereby became an even more part of the British Empire (Beylin, p.176). A farsighted colonist Benjamin Franklin truly predicted that sooner or later the centre of the British Empire would shift to America. b) THE MOVEMENT OF INCREASED POPULATION Everywhere the virtually exploding population was in motion for a settled life. They were moving from village to village and from continent to continent in search for land. Between 1764 and 1776, 125000 people left Britain for the American colonies. Now in the
2 middle decades of 18th century, American colonies began to feel the pressures from the increasing density of population. Young men could no longer count on obtaining parcels of land. All of this movement had far reaching effects on American society and its place in the British Empire. The fragmentation of households, churches and communities increased and the colonial government lost control of mushrooming new settlements. In the backcountry, lawlessness and vagrancy became more common and disputes over land claims and colonial boundaries sharply increased. So momentous was this explosion of peoples in search of lands that British and colonial authorities could scarcely comprehend what was happening. Now that the French had been conquered people eager to take advantage of the newly acquired land in the interior set out in all directions. In 1759, settlers moved into the area around Lake Champlain and westward along the Mohwak into central New York‟s population grew from 73348 to 168007 (Beylin, p.176). New towns were created by the founding of new settlements and the division of existing ones. Many farmers gave up searching for opportunities within established communities and set out for distant places on the very edges of the extended empire. c) PROBLEMATIC INDIANS The most immediate effect of this rapid spread of people was the pressure the migration placed on the Indians. Land speculators wanted to push back the Indians like Senecas, Delawares, Shawnees, Mingos etc and open the West for settlement. Confused, lied to and cheated of their land and their furs by greedy white traders and land hungry migrants, the Indians retaliated with atrocities, raids and sometimes full scale war. Britain now had sole responsibility for regulating the lucrative fur trade and for maintaining peace between whites and Indians. Altogether this native population formed an imposing barrier to British western expansion after the elimination of French authority from Canada and Spanish authority form Florida. The end of the Seven Years War did not end violence on the frontier because of the white encroachments on their lands and the deceitful practices of the traders. The biggest Indian uprising of the period occurred in 1763 following the British take over of the former French forts in the West. In just a few weeks Indians under the leadership of Pontiac destroyed three British posts west of the Appalachians and killed more than 2000 colonists in the backcountry. No wonder then that many royal authorities in the 1760s concluded that only the presence of regular troops of the British army could maintain peace in the American borderlands of the empire. d) BACKCOUNTRY DISORDER Everywhere in the backcountries the rapid influx of people weakened the legitimacy of existing authority. In the rapidly growing interiors of both Pennsylvania and North Carolina settlers in 1760s rose in arms against what they believed was exploitation by remote eastern governments. Sometimes out of necessity frontiersmen in these Trans- Appalachian areas joined to form compacts of government for their raw societies which often consisted of little more than stations or primitive Palisades‟s fortes surrounded by huts. Indeed these westerners were only voicing toward their own colonial governments the same attitudes American in general had about British power.
3 e) INCREASED ECONOMIC VALUE OF AMERICA Not merely demographic forces were at work reshaping British attitude toward the colonies and transforming American society. Equally important was the related expansion of the Anglo-American economy that took place in the middle decades of the 18th century. Americans were deeply involved in the sudden economic expansion of the mother country through the industrial revolution. In the years after 1745 colonial trade with Great Britain grew dramatically. Nearly half of all English shipping was engaged in American commerce. The North American mainland alone was absorbing 25% of England‟s exports. From 1747 to 1765 the value of colonial exports to Britain doubled from about £1500000 while the value of colonial imports from Britain rose even faster from about £900000 to over £ 2 million (Beylin, p.183). For the first time in the 18th century Britain‟s own production of foodstuff could not meet his demand of the rising population. By 1760 Britain was importing more grain that it exported. This increased demand of foodstuffs resulted in the soaring prices for American grain and encouraged more and more farmer s into producing for distant markets. Now it was not the big merchants of the cities who were getting richer but ordinary Americans too were now buying luxury items. The growing population better roads, more reliable information about markets and the greater variety of towns all encouraged domestic manufacturing for regional and international markets. f) THE GROWTH OF RELIGIOUS DISSENT During the middle decades of the 18th century, the ordinary people of Virginia left the established church of England in growing numbers and formed new evangelical religious communities that rejected the high style and luxury of the dominant Anglican gentry. Within a few years succeeding waves of enthusiastic New Light Presbyterians, Separate Baptists and finally Methodists swept up new converts from among the common farmers of the Chesapeake. Between 1769 and 1774 the number of Baptist Church in Virginia increased from 7 to 54. 2. THE REORGANISATION OF THE EMPIRE It was a serious problem for the imperial state Britain to control these powerful social, economic and religious forces at work in the Anglo-American world. The most immediate of these problems was the disposition of the new territory acquired from France and Spain and settling the war debt. Indian trade had to be regulated, land claims had to be sorted out and something had to be done to keep the conflicts between land hungry white settlers and the restless Indians form exploding into open warfare. This in 1763 the British government was faced with the need to overhaul its empire. No wonder it took only a bit more than a decade for the whole shaky imperial structure to come crashing down. A) THE PROCLAMATION OF 1763 The government began its reform of the newly enlarged empire by issuing the Proclamation of 1763 aimed to maintain peace in the West and to channel the migration of peoples northern and southward into the new colonies. It created 3 new royal governments East and West Florida and Quebec and enlarged the province of Nova Scotia. It turned the vast trans-Appalachian area into an Indian reservation and prohibited all private individuals form purchasing Indian lands. The demarcation line along the Appalachians that closed the West to white settlers was hastily and crudely drawn and some colonists suddenly found themselves living in the Indian reservation. The new trading regulations and sites were widely ignored and created more chaos in
4 the Indian trade than had earlier. The British government finally tried to steady its dizzy western policy with parliament help in the Quebec Act of 1774. This act transferred the land and the control of the Indian trade in huge area between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to the province of Quebec and allowed its French inhabitants French law and Roman Catholicism. It frightened American Protestants into believing that Britain was trying to erect in a hostile popish province in the North and West. B) THE PLANTATION ACT OR SUGAR ACT OF 1764 The Plantation Act or Sugar Act of 1764 was a major successor to the great navigation acts of the late 17th century designed to tighten the navigation system and in particular to curb the colonists‟ smuggling and corruption. The navy and the custom officials were granted greater powers. To the earlier list of enumerated colonial products like tobacco and sugar that had to be exported directly to Britain were added skins, iron, timber and others. The Sugar Act imposed duties on foreign cloth, sugar, indigo, coffee and wine imported into the colonies and eliminated the refunds of duties hitherto made in England on foreign goods re-exported to America. The Sugar Act also reduced the duty of sixpence a gallon on foreign molasses, set by the Molasses Act of 1733, to three pence a gallon; in 1766 the duty was further reduced to one penny a gallon on all molasses. The government assumed that with the smaller duty it would be cheaper for American merchants to import molasses legally. These British reforms could be regarded as part of Britain‟s traditional authority over colonial commerce. C) THE STAMP ACT OF 1765 Greenville‟s ministry convinced that the customs reforms could not bring into the needed revenue was determined to try a decidedly different method of getting at American wealth. In March 1765, the Parliament by an overwhelming majority passed the Stamp Act, which levied a tax on nearly every paper used in the colonies. Such a parliamentary tax directly touching the everyday affairs of Americans exposed the nature of political authority within the empire in a way no other issue in the 18th century ever had. D) THE TOWNSHEND DUTIES In 1767, the contemporary finance minister Charles Townshend imposed a number of new duties on colonial imports and new administrative machinery was setup to make sure that they would be paid. Townshend was also responsible for the suspension of legislature of New York because it had refused to provide supplies for the troops stationed in the colony. E) STATIONING REGULAR ARMY The army was now to be stationed in the coastal cities, where according to the new parliamentary Quartering Act of 1765, the colonists would be responsible for housing and supply. A standing army in peacetime amid civilians heightened the colonists‟ fear of British intensions. By 1769 there was nearly 4000 British armed force crowded Boston to prevent smuggling. Since the colonists shared traditional English fears of standing armies, relations between townspeople and soldiers deteriorated. The Sons of Liberty did everything possible to arouse hostility to these unwanted guests and finally on March 5, 1770 British troops fired upon a threatening crowd and killed 5 civilians. The Boston Massacre aroused American passions and inspired some of the most sensational rhetoric heard in the Revolutionary era.