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Julia Camp

Justin Gadsden

History

17 October 2016

The Cause of the American Revolution

The American Revolution was Englands fault. England passed quite a few acts and taxes

for the colonies. However, there is a certain group of acts that mainly caused the rebellion. This

group is called the Intolerable Acts. These acts were the most harsh and caused the colonists to

revolt for freedom. The Proclamation Line of 1763 also caused a lot of impatience and

frustration with England. This was not a part of the Intolerable Acts, but it was just as bad.

The Boston Port Act, one of the Intolerable Acts, caused the most of the anger. This act

was passed a couple of years after the Boston Massacre. Once King George iii heard about that

event, he felt like he was losing control of the colonies: King George iii tightens control over

Massachusetts by closing Boston Harbor and quartering troops, (History Notes). He decided to

punish Boston and basically remind them that he is in charge, not them. He decided to shut down

the port completely. No one had any access to the port for any reason. This was terrible and the

worst because the Boston populations income is mostly based off of that port. Boston was a

major trading port and the king just shut it down; he took away the peoples entire lives. This was

a fairly harsh punishment for the Boston Massacre.

Another Intolerable Act was the Quartering Act, which also caused some frustration, but

probably not as much. This act allowed the British soldiers to stay in colonists homes and the

colonists had to take care of them. King George iii was trying to keep British soldiers interest in

fighting for the colony. This upset the colonists as well. They most likely did not want a soldier
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to stay with them. However, this happened before the rest of the Intolerable Acts, so the colonies

were still very loyal to England and vice versa. The colonists did not want to go to war yet, but

they still did not want any stranger in their private home.

The final Intolerable Act is the Justice Act; this act made colonists angry as well. This act

was passed before the Boston Port Act, but is one of the last acts passed upon the colonies. This

act basically forced duct tape over the colonists mouth. No colonists could meet about politics

without the permission of the governor. This was crucial because gives the colonists the

impression that something bad is going on, and England does not want any ideas spread about it.

This duct tape needs to be ripped off with this painful process called war.

Around where the disagreements started, the Proclamation Line of 1763 was passed. This

is another act that greatly upset the colonists. They had just finished fighting a nine year long war

for the Ohio River Valley. Once they were about to take the land, England said do not take it.

This was not fair. They had just fought nine years in a vicious war that used gorilla warfare (one

of the most vicious types of war), and right when the colonists are about to get it, England

ordered them not to. This is nine years worth of suffering, lives, and money gone to waste.

England just would not listen to the colonies no matter what they did. The colonists had

no representation in the parliament whatsoever. They then made the Continental Congress, which

included Christopher Gadsden, Edward Rutledge, John Rutledge, Henry Middleton, and Thomas

Lynch. This represents them meeting as not colonists, but as Americans, They were establishing

some sort of government without England. Colonial leaders form the first Continental Congress

and draw up a declaration of colonial rights, (History Notes). However, the Parliament still

basically ignored them. England was at fault for the great American Revolutionary war.