Dbq Summary: The Cause Of The American Revolution

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What caused the American Revolution? Patrick Henry, an American attorney and politician, stated in a speech in 1775 his most famous words, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” This quote captures the essence of the American Revolution, a war fought by the American colonists to gain their freedom and independence from the British Crown. It was through this war that the colonists obtained their political independence from Great Britain and formed a new nation, The United States. The war was influenced by both political and economic factors. The Stamp Act, The Intolerable Acts, The Boston Massacre and the other acts passed by Parliament caused the American Revolution. One of the factors that caused the American Revolution was the Stamp Act. …show more content…

This event had a major influence on the colonists. In 1768, Parliament sent a several hundred British troops to Boston due to the colonists’ refusal to buy imported goods from England. Their purpose was to protect tax collectors and other officials. The colonists resented the troops. On March 5, 1770, a group of colonists started throwing snowballs at the British soldiers and insulted them. Eventually, the situation escalated and the British soldiers shot into the crowd killing 5 men. Paul Revere, one of the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, engraved a picture of the event. The news of this incident was spread throughout labeled as “The Boston Massacre” (Doc 4). This increased the anti-British sentiment in the colonies and further the push for …show more content…

These acts create a large amount of opposition towards Parliament because negative consequences on Massachusetts. It was a response to the Boston Party in which a group of colonists dumped 300 cases of tea overboard When Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts; it closed the port of Boston, preventing all shipping until they paid the lost teas and taxes and banned town meetings throughout Massachusetts. It also forced colonists to provide housing and provisions for British troops. The other colonies reacted by sympathizing with Boston and supporting the city. They called for the meeting of a Continental Congress in which they discussed how they should respond to the actions by Parliament. They viewed these acts passed by Parliament as a violation of their rights. This can be supported by the resolutions passed by the First Continental Congress. From the excerpts of the resolution states that, “…the following acts of Parliament are infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists; and that the repeal of them is… necessary in order to restore harmony…” (Doc. 5) These were the feelings and sentiments during this time