Holland-+Causes

The 3 most prevalent causes of the American Revolution are imperialism, social tradition, and the Age of Enlightenment.

Imperialism Imperialism is the theory that any given colony (in this context America) exists for the sole purpose of bettering, helping, and enhancing the “mother” country, or country of origin (Britain). This idea  was the most important cause of the American Revolution because it created a political and economic rift between Britain and the American colonists. Imperialism creates a political rift because to the people of England, the colonists in America are not considered people and  have no voting rights or any form of influence on British parliament. As a result of having no voting rights and having no influence on the ﻿ rulers (tyranny, as John Locke would say) the Americans felt they did not have to pay taxes, and so did not have to for a while with English approval. The Americans were also angered by the British returning the Ohio Valley (which the Americans just won a seven year long war to gain) to the French and the Native Americans . T his brings up the issue of the Americans having no representation or opinion on the British parliment <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">and their decisions <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The major economic rift between America and Britain stems from Britain’s economic crisis. Britain was severely in debt <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">from war <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">and they turned to America for tax money. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">At this time the Americans were not paying taxes, <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">so <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"> after the British instilled taxes <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">( <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">beginning with the stamp act <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">) <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;"> Americans were irritated to the point of some radicals tarring and feathering the tax collectors, leading to the idea of “no taxation without representation”. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The entire declaration of Independence was based around the lack of representation. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The idea of “No taxation without representation.” was a central rallying point in the Declaration of Independence, as was the idea of no representation at all, specifically around the laws imposed on the colonies. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">These ideas led to anger and talk of revolution. <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Sons of Liberty was formed by and for the angry colonists to share ideas and to discuss matters about the rebellion against Britain, their mother country.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Social Tradition

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The social tradition in America was one of general dislike for Britain, as all of the colonists were disaffected British people. The colonists were mostly, Irish, Scottish, Puritan, or simply people that did not want to live in Britain. <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The Stamp Act further angered the colonists, as now they were taxed to help pay for the wars they had fought (in vain, as now the Ohio valley was once again the Natives and French). <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The Proclamation Act of 1763 returned the Ohio Valley to the Natives and the French, the same Ohio Valley that was fought over in the Seven Years war. By giving the Ohio Valley away to the French and the Natives, the British alienated the colonists even more. This also brings about the lack of representation as seen in imperialism. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Through all of the colonists being disaffected British, the absence of taxation, and the return of the Ohio Valley to the Natives and the French, the British broke the colonial social tradition and this resulted in anger and talk of revolution. Tarring and Feathering, what the Americans did to the tax collectors

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The Enlightenment

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The Enlightenment was a significant cause of the American Revolution because it gave the colonists the ideas and theories necessary to the revolution. The two most important of these ideas were Montesquieu’s social contract and John Locke’s idea of liberty <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">with <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">a government’s responsibility to its people. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The American colonists agreed with Montesquieu’s social contract because it gave everyone (specifically the government) responsibility to do operate effectively, which the Americans thought the British were not doing. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">This idea is further explored in John Locke’s idea of tyranny and government <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">al <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">responsibility, namely that the British imposed taxes on the Americans without giving them representation in government. According to Locke’s idea, this is considered tyranny and should be rebelled against. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Another concept of Locke’s was the idea of liberty, life, and property, Locke believed that these were all fundamental rights to all people. These ideas were a large part of informing the Americans of some of the rights that they did not have, despite the fact that the social contract applies to all people, colonial or European.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">These three reasons, imperialism, social tradition, and The Enlightenment, are the three most important causes of the American Revolution, in that order. <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">These ideas started the <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">anger and <span style="color: #808080; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">interest in <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">the Americans to the supposed injustice, and also alerted the colonists that these injustices must be rebelled against.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Pictures and sources of information: <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Pictures: <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">[] <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">[] <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Sources of information: <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">In-class notes <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Text-book