The cause of the War for American Independence was not simply one event. War resulted from a combination of happenings that built up a rebellious spirit inside the colonists. To be brief, the overall cause of the War for American independence was the fact that the British constantly enforced upon the colonists that which they did not want, such as taxes and regulation. As time went on, the fact that the colonies were thousands of miles away from England cause each respective society to evolve very differently. This created a rift between the colonies and Britain, eventually leading to the Revolutionary War.
The vast increase in population between 1750 and 1755, to the tune of 1.5 million new colonists, was a contributing cause of the war. Many of these newcomers came from non-British origins. Therefore, they had no loyalty to the Crown. Many of the Scots-Irish who came to the colonies had settled past the Appalachian Mountains and came to resent the British even more as they tried to stop the Scots-Irish's expansion.
Boston Tea Party ("Americans throwing Cargoes of t...
"The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor", lithogr...
English: A commemorative plaque at the site of the...While there were many civil and political disagreements within the colonies, colonists soon began to feel a sense of unity and uniqueness. Bonded by war and by their resentment of the Crown, they knew that they were Americans, not British. They felt a definite sense that they were different from the people of England.
The Navigation Acts, passed during the 1650's, regulated the trade of the colonies. These acts ensured that business between the colonies was carried on by British merchants and ships rather than the Dutch or any other party not affiliated with the Crown. While the colonies did tolerate these acts, this was largely due to the fact that the acts were not enforced too competently. After the transfer of power of the Glorious Revolution,