Factors Leading To The American Revolution

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade September 2001

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Factors Leading To The Formation of the Declaration of Independence I wish to investigate the reasons for independence, leading up to the Declaration of Independence, and the unified feeling of separation from the motherland, Great Britain. The main arguments that initially started the friction was the sudden series of acts that were passed in England's Parliament but were never properly debated because of the lack of any participation or representation on behalf of the American Colonies, in the English Parliament. Many, if not most of the Tax Commissioners appointed by the crown did not actually ever set foot in the colonies. Most of them lived in England, enjoyed their pensions, and executed their jobs by means of paper being shuttled back and forth across the Atlantic. In 1763, The First Lord of the Treasury, George Grenville said that the customs revenue in America amounted to less than one-quarter the cost of actually collecting it.

In return, Grenville and the parliament tried to remedy the revenue problems by creating the Sugar Act, the Currency Act, and by reinforcing Naval strength in the colonies in order to assure payment of the taxes. This resulted in much friction and in the following is a list of actions by the British government that lead to the continued insistence, but first reluctance, to separate from the colonizing mainland and to declare this country free and independent.

Following the grim realities of the brutal French and Indian War, the American Revenue Act lead to the creation of the Sugar Act of 1764. This was the first law specifically formed to fund the Crown of Britain, so they taxed the sugar forcing the colonials to support something they didn't believe in. The Currency Act prohibited American colonies from issuing their own currency, this did not settle well.