What Are The Causes Of The Revolutionary War Dbq

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Revolutionary War Essay Due to Parliamentary taxation, British military measures, and restriction of civil liberties, colonial rights activists were prompted to rebel against the Tyrannical British government. Parliament believed they had a right to tax the colonies and placed several acts on them restricting their civil liberties. After all, the French and Indian War had just come to an end and Britain was in debt, and because of the peace conference in 1763, Britain was able to rid the colonies of their rivals North and South of them, opening up the Mississippi River, so to Parliament, that was the least the colonists could do. On the other hand, this meant that they were taking away Salutary Neglect within the colonies after 89 years, meaning …show more content…

In document C, John Dickinson explains to his fellow colonists that Parliament never considered imposing taxes in the colonies until the period following the French and Indian War. Document A implies that the reason being was simply because Britain had dug themselves into a pile of debt due to aid from other countries and the expenses of war, and because the British felt that the colonies owed them for enabling them to freely use the Mississippi River, Parliament believed that imposing taxes for revenue from the colonies was just. However, Patriots believed otherwise. Salutary Neglect has been an active law in the colonies since 1696, and up until now they have been perfectly fine not enforcing British acts and policies, but all of a sudden colonists are forced into paying revenue on everything from paper (Townshend Act) to stamps (Stamp Act). Parliament even placed tax on British tea imports. The Stamp Act caused a major uproar among colonists and was the reason for the forming of the Sons of Liberty; a querulous group of protestors who violently harassed British tax collectors, posted many broadsides and propaganda, hosted the British Tea Party, and many of the organizations leaders would soon become generals in many of the leading battles in the …show more content…

As explained in document B, The colonists pushed for freedom and separation from Britain due to their natural rights being restrained. The belief of natural rights developed during the American Enlightenment period. The beliefs were that everybody is born equally and the motto for colonists was “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In his pamphlet, “Common Sense”, Thomas Paine explains to his fellow colonists that King George III is to blame for restrictions of their rights and he advocated for Independence from Great Britain. Immediately following the eradication of the Stamp Act, Parliament enforced the Declatory Act which forced Patriots to feel the need to loosen Britain’s reign even