Was The American Revolution Inevitable

The American Revolution was inevitable. The French and Indian War had much to do with this, impacting the colonies in a such a way that they were destined to rebel. This war lead to certain actions by Britain that greatly upset the colonists. First, Britain upset the colonists through modes like taxation, which caused the colonies to work together and realize they could survive as an independent nation. This was by far the largest contributing factor. Second, the colonists used Locke’s social contract theory as support for their rebellion. Locke’s theory also supports the colonists’ views on taxation. Third, the British and the colonies had opposing views as to the nature of their relationship. The French and Indian War was fought

The colonists had to buy a stamp to put on paper documents. This tax was strictly to raise revenue from the colonies, which angered them because they did not want to pay for the French and Indian War through taxes in which they had no input (“The Seven…”). Some of the colonists met to write a document to send to Parliament to protest the Stamp Act. According to The Stamp Act Congress, Britain had no right to tax the colonies because they were not represented in Parliament. They could not be represented because there was an ocean separating the two parts of the empire. Therefore, the colonists asked for Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act (“The Declaration…”).

The Townshend Act was a tax on glass, paint, lead, paper, and tea. British Chancellor Charles Townshend crafted the act, believing that the colonies would be a good opportunity to raise money for the British government and help reduce land taxes in Britain. The Townshend Act was disguised as a regulatory tax so that the colonists would not resist paying it. However, colonists such as Benjamin Franklin, in examining the tax, figured out that it was actually a revenue tax. The colonists resisted this tax until it was eventually repealed (“The

There were four parts to it: The Boston Port Act, The Massachusetts Government Act, The Administration of Justice Act, The Quartering Act, and The Quebec Act. The Boston Port Act closed the Boston port until the colonists paid for the damage done during the Boston Tea Party. This punished everyone in Massachusetts, regardless of their contribution to the damage. The Massachusetts Government Act controlled who the government officials in the colonies were by making them appointed, rather than popularly elected, officials. This was in order to prevent the government officials from disobeying orders from Britain. The Administration of Justice Act allowed the British government to control the court trials of British officials taking place in the colonies. This act led to even worse behavior by the British officials, as they did not fear going to trial over their misdeeds. The Quartering Act ordered colonists to let British soldiers stay in their houses and other buildings they owned, in effect controlling individual landowners’ property rights. The final act, the Quebec Act, was an attempt to give Britain more control over the region by pacifying the catholic French population. These acts were known to the colonists as the Intolerable Acts for a reason. They did not like how the British were trying to control the colonies, especially after such a long time