Were The Founding Fathers Justified?

Great Britain went into debt after the French and Indian war causing them to have to find some way to make more revenue. In order to try to climb out of debt, Britain started to enforce new taxations and regulation such as the sugar, currency, and stamp act and the internal and external taxes (Brinkley, 112-113). With the taxations placed on the colonists there was a new found argument of “taxation without representation.” That was one of the main arguments for breaking away the Great Britain. Without that argument, the argument of the colonists separating from Great Britain might not have ever occurred. Another reason the French and Indian war helped start the oncoming American Revolution was all of the boycotts as a result of Britain trying to increase its revenue from the colonists and crawl out of debt.

The issue that angered colonists the most in the New World was Britain’s taxation. Towards the beginning of 1700’s, most taxes in the colonies were based on settlement assemblies and land ownerships, but the addition of taxes on trade only created more tension. Before colonists could unload the docks, they had to pay the taxes before they were allowed to get the items off the ships. Whenever someone bought goods that were traded, they were paying an unintended tax from London which was not tolerated by Americans. The distance between Britain and the colonies gave Americans more independence giving them the advantage.

The squabbling between the Natives and the colonists continued, and was simply tacked onto the already massive debt accumulated by the British Empire after the end of the Seven Years War. Victory has a price tag, and British did not have the money to pay. With nowhere else to turn, Britain looked to its North American colonies to uphold their end of the deal. To Parliament, this decision fit into the system of mercantilism which defined the relationship between Britain and her colonies. Crippling debt or not, wealth was a resource to be extracted like any other, and the purpose of these colonies was first and foremost to enrich their mother

The Townshend Acts of 1767 were also a large part of taxation. Imports of lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea were taxed; the British government wanted the colonists to pay so they created punishments for colonists who

(America Past and Present, P. 108) These two decisions irritated the colonist because having British troops in the colonies made the colonist feel that, one they were being controlled, and two being obstructed from legitimate economic development. (America Past and Present, P. 108) After the war, Britain was also left with an overwhelming national debt. Because Great Britain had contributed so generously finically (so generously that they were left in debt), to a war that gained the British colonist territorial right to long disputed regions in North America. Britain shortly after felt that it was only fair that the colonist start raising revenues (through increased taxation) for the debt Britain was left with. Despite the common belief that taxes were what led to the American Revolution.

Since trade was boosted, Americans came to accumulate a large amount of debt to the British creditors. (Henretta & Brody, 2010) In order to extract money from the colonist to repay their debt, the British then began to place tariffs on many common items that had no reason to be taxed. The colonies felt the same way and even though they had an underlying debt, they felt that this was the improper way to go about

British armies but with a sense of discomfort and distrust (“Unit III” 12). The casualties of war severely affected the American civil morale (“Unit III” 13). 5.1 The implications of the financial acts forced upon the colonies by the crown The implications of the financial acts among the colonies of the crown were a series of rebellion and the growing sentiments to gain liberty (“Unit III” 10). 5.2 The violent and nonviolent reactions to the crown’s authority on the brink of war The rallies of the American Patriots were a successful rebellion that led to the end of the European colonial invasion. Nevertheless, the success of a republic needed more efforts and support, along with leadership and social order.

There are many events that caused the American Revolution. It would be hard to mark to anyone’s action that peculiarly led to the colonial break with the American colonists. There is also no doubt that from the American view, the American colonies existed to be used and oppressed to fulfill Great Britain’s mercantile policy. The American revolution was imminent. The British victory in the French and Indian War, which was also known as the Seven Year’s War, had a great impact on the British Empire.

Task 4 Amanda Diesing Survey of World History C375 Western Governors University  A The economic causes of the American Revolution stemmed from the Seven Years War fought in Europe. The cost of the war in England was immense, with borrowed money covering the cost. In order to repay the debt, England composed a plan to not only recoup money but to also assert its power over the American empire: levy taxes upon the colonists. Colonists were taxed on everything from paper to tea and were prohibited from importing goods from anywhere other than England. The taxation by the crown caused a political problem between the American colonists and British authority.

Rejecting the rule of Britain the colonists overthrew their monarchy to gain independence and founded the United States of America as a democracy. Events such as the Intolerable Acts and the Stamp Act, along with taxation without representation, caused the colonists to break from British control. The relationship between Britain and the thirteen colonies consisted of an ongoing pattern between conflict and support. After The Seven Years war Britain was left with French’s land in the Americas and a large amount of debt. The war produced a very contradicting effect.