In my previous blog post How NOT to write a term paper on the American Revolution I suggested that you narrow the focus of your American Revolution term paper in order to have a topic that is more manageable. In future blog posts I will suggest manageable research topics that you can explore and write about. In this article I will address the American Revolution Term Paper topic of the causes of the Revolution.
Seeds of the American Revolution were planted in the hearts and minds of American political leaders such as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison by the teachings of European philosophers such as Britain’s John Locke and France’s Voltair. Locke and Voltair, among other “Enlightenment” teachers, had written eloquently on liberalism, equality, republicanism, and freedom of religion. American leaders, and subsequently the American people, began to reject the oligarchies and aristocracies typical in Europe in favor of more democratic government.
America’s objections to aristocratic government started to become more serious after Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War in 1763. Britain, who became interested in expanding her influence in the Colonies, announced the American colonies should pay a larger proportion of the costs associated with their defense, and began imposing a series of direct taxes and other laws. Beginning with the Stamp Act of 1765, and continuing with the Quartering Act, The Townsend Duties, and finally a series of laws that became known as the Coercive Acts, the decade after the end of the French and Indian War became one of increasing animosity between Great Britain and her citizens in the American Colonies.
Most American colonists considered themselves British in the early 1760’s, and believed as British citizens they should be appropriately represented in Parliament. However, they had no elected representatives in Parliament, and this lack of official representation caused many colonists to consider these new laws to be an outrageous violation of their rights. Colonists also became increasingly hostile to the actions of British-appointed governors and judiciary, who seemed to set up separate judicial standards for Royal Governors and anyone else appointed to office in America by the King. The influence of the Church of England was also seen as unfair, and American Baptist, Congregationalist, and Presbyterian churches became more outspoken in their criticism of government-favored religion.
Unable to get satisfaction from either Parliament or the Royal Governors, American colonists formed the First Continental Congress in 1774 and appealed to King George III for his intervention. Instead of intervening with Parliament on their behalf, George III declared the colonies “in rebellion” and announced that the members of Congress were traitors. Britain believed that Boston was the primary source of rebellious sentiment in America, and re-enforced its army in Boston in order to better impose British authority. When the British commander, General Thomas Gage sent a column of troops towards Concord, Massachusetts to find some munitions hidden by American militia, the first shots of the Revolution were fired in Lexington, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.
See the Outline of the American Revolution for additional resources on the causes.
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