Sara Masler
APUSH
9-14-14
Justification of the American Revolution
The British has power over the 13 colonies and helped them prosper; however, Britain would not let them expand westward, taxed the colonies without representation, and did not give the colonies a representative in the parliament therefore, the Americans had plenty of justification for initiating the revolution against Britain.
The colonies were beginning to get crowded and many time the colonies pleaded with the British to allow them to go west. The French were the ones stopping them in the Ohio River Valley but Britain continued to say no and not try anything against the French to prevent any wars. This tactic did not work because soon after came the French and Indian war (7 years' war) which had no effect on the British stance either because of the Proclamation acts that were installed right after winning this war. Britain continued to insert their political dominance over the colonies and this was unfair to the people of America who needed breathing room.
After fighting the French and Indian War the British were low on funds which led them to tax. This taxation became unavoidable for the colonies who were only allowed to buy British goods at extremely unfair prices. These taxes were put in place to help Britain out economically. Taxes were placed on everything from all paper goods (stamp act) to indirect taxes through the Townshend acts. This taxation without representation was unfair and the colonist believed that Britain had no right to enforce such taxes. As said by John Marshall," The power to tax is the power to destroy".
A simple way Britain could have avoided this revolution was by giving the colonies representation in their parliament. The Colonies felt like their views were not being heard and asked...