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Research Paper - The American Revolution

Introduction

The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a major milestone in the history of the United States

that changed its landscape forever (York). Just like other historical events, the revolution had its

prerequisites, consequences, development characteristics, and reasons. Various reasons

motivated the American Revolution. The citizens inhabiting the American colonies during that

period were driven by many issues to declare their independence from Great Britain, including

political, economic, and social factors, among others. The revolution can be interpreted in two

main ways. First, some scholars judge the event as a new order proclamation-independence and

freedom, which is the colonists’ right to gain sovereignty (decide on their behalf). Second, some

interpret the event as a breach of every tie with the mother country and a mutiny from the

perspectives of the old-fashioned royal rule as well as modern law (York). Thus, this implies that

while the facts of the American Revolution remain the same, people judge its motives and

reasons in various ways. While many reasons abound for the event, this research paper delves

into the primary reason for the event with special attention to conditionality of the rulers’

(colonialists’) behavior and social mood regarding the imposition of particular legislation by the

Crown. Hence, the paper argues that while the American Revolution had varying prerequisites,
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the underlying reason for its occurrence was the inconsistency between British rule and

colonists’ lifestyle, as the Stamp Act demonstrates.

Perceived Causes of the American Revolution

One way of comprehending the underlying reason for the occurrence of the American

Revolution is to accentuate each side’s interests and explore the suppression of American

colonists by the Continental rule. This would involve comparing the main cause of American

colonialism and the British Crown colonialism and vision. To begin with, each entity operated

using a different development philosophy and ideology. The new settlers and the colonizers

dreamed of building a new order and commenting a new life- that was the main motive for

colonization. That notwithstanding, the British Crown had strategic plans that conflicted with the

above desires because it perceived America’s colonization as a spread of influence towards

another part of the world and continent. The British Crown viewed colonization as a major

gateway to enriching themselves via tax imposition on their overseas subjects, diversifying

products, and improving foreign trade. Consequently, since the start of colonization, the motives

of the Crown and actual settlement were conflicting; hence, the clash or conflict of interests was

inevitable- it was just a matter of time before it manifested.

Some researchers posit that the geographical location between the mother country and

colonies was the primary reason for the American Revolution. However, this is only partly true

for one main reason. Due to the geographical distance, the influence and control of the British

over the remote and vast territory decreased; nevertheless, it was hardly the main cause. That

notwithstanding, the geographical distance can be perceived as one of the reasons that the

American Revolution succeeded. The distance made it virtually impossible for the British forces

to monitor the occurrences on the ground and react instantly. Besides, England was not in a
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position to provide urgent support on time. Other scholars suggest that the independence of

colonial legislature was the main motive for the American Revolution because thirteen colonies

favored sovereignty (independence and autonomy) in legal matters. It is noteworthy that such an

assertion is arguable in the sense that the independence of such legislatures is a consequence of

colonialism essence-the desire to free themselves from the British Crown rule. Hence, the

inconsistency of the British government and settlers’ motivates predicated and conditioned the

American Revolution.

Another touted reason for the Revolution was a weakness of the British Empire following

the Indian and French was that preceded the Revolution. The wars had exhaustive impacts

regardless of their perceived success, forcing the British Crown to employ colonies to resolve

their immediate and long-term problems. Such decisions culminated in discriminating acts

against local colonists that limited their civil, financial, and productive capabilities. Some of the

Acts included Sugar, Currency, Quartering, Stamp, and Intolerable Acts enacted between 1764

and 1774. The Acts were the final straws that culminated in public anger and the Revolution;

however, they were not the primary reasons but a chain reaction for the discontentment with

British governance orchestrated by the British Parliament overseas. Thus, the general

dissatisfaction and desire for freedom was evident in the thirteen colonies and preceded the

imposition of the Acts.

How the Stamp Act led to the American Revolution (Prerequisite)

The various acts instituted by the British Crown between 1764 and 1774 will help in

understanding their contribution to the American Revolution because they provide a practical

analysis of social dissatisfaction with the rule. The French and Indian wars were very taxing for

the British Empire economy; thus, it was in urgent need of financial and economy recovery.
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Consequently, it turned to the imposition of economic and financial burden on its colonies as a

means of recovery. The Molasses Act (1733) and the Sugar Act (1764) were less efficient

economic initiatives. The Molasses Act imposed a 6 pence per gallon of molasses coming from

overseas into the British colonies while the Sugar Act aim to resolve problems and reduce the

above taxation to 3 pence for every gallon (Passant).

However, the two Acts provide inefficient in gaining fast and substantial profits from

taxation on essentials, forcing the British Crown to change tact via the introduction of the Stamp

Act (1765). The Act targeted political and administrative aspects of colonists’ life and imposed

direct taxation on all printed materials. The Crown required all semi-official and official

documents to be printed on special stamped papers sourced from England besides being stamped

in London for the government to consider them functional and legal (Bouton). The government

required all paper sheets to have an embossed stamp; otherwise, they were illegal and void,

making them unavoidable by the colonists. Another important feature of the Stamp Act was the

payment method instituted by the Crown: the government only accepted the British Sterling

method as the acceptable payment currency. The imposition culminated in the loss of financial

reserves by the colonies because they had to buy the British pound to enable them transact. It is

worth noting that the British Crown resorted to this tactic to maintain the superiority of the Royal

Treasury while enabling them gain hard currency to settle their huge wage bill for armies that

participated in previous wars.

Despite the tax burden placed on colonies, the colonists were ready to pay any additional

taxes; however, their reluctance emerged from the fact they it caused them to lose the autonomy

they already enjoyed. Firstly, the Stamp Act bound the American economy to that of the British

economic and financial environment. The implications of the decision were the substantial
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increase in import-export transaction quotas and price of essential, and the return of the Sterling

pound as the official currency in all its colonies (Bouton). From legal and political viewpoints,

the imposition of the Stamp Act was unjustified and illegal because the British law, it could only

impose such taxes on the colonists if they had information about it and had proper representation

in Parliament (Galiani and Torrens). In this case, there was no representation. Secondly, the Act

threatened the colonies’ religious independence because it affected bishops’ paper procedures in

the long-term. Since the colonies had no institute of bishops, Britain wanted to anglicize

colonists to reform colonial societies and make them favorable for their rule by using it as a vital

asset (Bell). Another far-reaching effect of the Act comprised the break of law and the

Metropolis subordination by the colonies because of colonists’ statuses as subjects and lack of

representation in Parliament. While the colonial society via upper classes and political

representatives sought legal redress on the matter, colonists resorted to radical actions through

massive turmoil and street riots in Massachusetts, especially Boston, culminating in the murder

of English officials responsible for distributing the stamps.

The major reason why the Stamp Act provides an excellent example of a reasonable

prerequisite for the Revolution was the unity of purpose among the colonists. Following the

institution of the Stamp Act, all societal classes collaborated against the British Crown and the

social readiness conditioned the idea to revolt against its rule. The Act interfered with personal,

political, and administrative liberties of the people, making it a fertile ground for the conflict

(Bouton). The imposition of wider and stricter limitation prompted dissatisfaction with colonial

rule and catapulted the revolutionary spirit among the locals. It is worth noting that if the British

had imposed the taxes on different items other than administrative and political issues, it would

have been possible to avert disruption of the existing relations between colonies and the British
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Crown and military conflict in the long-term. Although such acts would not be as straightforward

and immediate as the Stamp Act, they would have been efficient in achieving their intended

outcomes because they respected the autonomy of the colonies and affected local consumption

market and trade. However, the Stamp Act insinuated and alluded to the fact that their autonomy

was not a guarantee and that their independence was implausible. Another miscalculation of the

British Crown was the ill-advised idea of returning the institute of bishops and religious

influence on locals, which caused them to escape from England. Due to the above reasons and

the application of draconian methods, it became evident that the Crown never intended to grant

independence to the colonies, making the American Revolution inevitable.

Conclusion

Overall, the paper demonstrated that several factors favored the eruption of the American

Revolution. The British Crown could not control most of its colonies because of geographical

remoteness of its Empire and colonies. The colonies wanted independence and autonomy in

various issues including trade preferences and legislatures. Thirdly, the Crown weakened

because of the Indian and French wars. Despite the contribution of the above reasons, it was

evident, throughout this research, that primary reason for the war was the fundamental the

inconsistency between British rule and colonists’ lifestyle, as the Stamp Act demonstrates.

Hence, the inconsistency culminated in different surviving interest that resulted in the

Revolution.
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Works Cited

Bell, James B. “The English Church, a Cause of the American Revolution.” A War of Religion,

Springer, 2008, pp. 211–21.

Bouton, Terry. Community without Consent: New Perspectives on the Stamp Act. JSTOR, 2016.

Galiani, Sebastian, and Gustavo Torrens. Why Not Taxation and Representation? A Note on the

American Revolution. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2016.

Passant, John. “Taxation and the American Revolution.” Australasian Accounting, Business and

Finance Journal, vol. 11, no. 3, 2017, pp. 20–29.

York, Neil L. The American Revolution, 1760–1790: New Nation as New Empire. Routledge,

2016.