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How Did Natural Rights Cause The American Revolution

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Natural rights played an important role in causing the American Revolution. This was due to the ideas from the enlightenment which shaped colonists thinking. Ideas such as the natural right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. This arose feelings of tyranny in the colonists. The examples of “No taxation without representation”, the intolerable acts, and John Locke’s Theory were major causes of the American Revolution. The American Revolution began in 1775 as open conflict between the united thirteen colonies and Great Britain. The war began as a disagreement over the way in which Great Britain treated the colonies and the way the colonies felt they should be treated. “No taxation without representation” is a slogan that summarized a primary …show more content…

The Intolerable Acts were the American Patriots name for many laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea party. They were meant to punish the Massachusetts colonists for dumping a large tea shipment into Boston harbor. The king imposed the intolerable acts in response to the Boston Tea party. The intolerable acts included the Boston Port Act which closed the port of Boston until the Dutch East India Company had been repaid for the destroyed tea. Another act was the Massachusetts Government Act which put the government of Massachusetts almost entirely under direct British control. The Administration of Justice Act allowed royal officials to be tried in Britain if the king felt it necessary for fair justice. The Quartering Act ordered the colonies to provide lodging for British soldiers. Finally, the Quebec Act expanded British territory in Canada and guaranteeing the free practice of Roman Catholicism. The Quartering Act incensed the colonies most. The king and parliament revived an old law requiring colonists to house British soldiers in their homes. Hence, the Intolerable acts were also a major cause of the american

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