Revolutionary War: Similarities Between The British And The Colonists

In 1763, the British and the colonists emerged victorious from the Seven Years’ War after the signing of peace terms at Paris, granting Britain a colonial empire in North America and an end to control of North American lands by the French and groups of Native Americans. These similarities did not last long, however. On October 7, 1763, the British Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1763, prohibiting colonial settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains, a frontier which the colonists believed they could explore after defending and securing a New World empire. This angered the colonists, and their bitterness toward their mother country would become significantly stronger over the following twelve years leading up to the inception of war with Britain. Over the course of these years, colonists moved from

The colonists may have refused to accept the responsibilities of being Englishmen, however, the American colonists were reasonably justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain. The increasing distrust of and resentment toward British officials, the unfair and oppressive taxes imposed by Parliament on the colonists, and the restriction of colonial freedoms all contribute to the colonists’ justification of secession from Great Britain. Some may believe the colonists’ rebellion against British authority was not justified. The British Parliament had appropriate motives for imposing the laws they did on the colonists in the 1760s. The Seven Years’ War was “a war undertaken for [the colonists’] defense only,” to which Britain had devoted a large proportion of its resources. Therefore, Parliament believed that the