American Colonists: The Most Important Factors Leading To The American Revolution

The American colonists had a large amount of causes for rebelling against the British, as King George III was acting in his best interests as a dictator, not in the interests of the colonists. The British, including King George, had no right to force the colonists to pay taxes. At the time, Britain was the most powerful country in Europe, it could have easily gained money another way. It also became evident that many colonists were no longer loyal to the British crown, and that colonists were unhappy under Britain. Many former loyalists now recognized the potential of America, that Britain was no longer needed to rule over the thirteen colonies. Along with all of these problems, the British government was not protecting the rights of its American citizens, only its citizens that lived in Britain under Parliament.

Keeping all of the above points in mind, taxation was surely one of the largest factors. After Britain

had gotten itself into some debt after the French and Indian War, the government decided to pass the Stamp Act of 1765. This Act placed taxes on every single piece of paper a colonist bought. This included newspapers, legal documents, and even playing cards. This act, along with the Townsend Acts which forced colonists to pay taxes on tea, threw many into poverty. Ultimately, the acts were either harmful to the British or didn't help much. Colonists ran out of money quickly, therefore not paying taxes to relieve the war debt. Next, a group of colonists dumped a vast amount of tea into the Boston Harbor, costing Britain even more money. Yet, there are still people that bring up the fact that British citizens had much higher taxes. To dismiss this, in early 1700, the population of America was roughly 251,000, while in Britain, 8.2 million people resided. Sustaining millions of people was certainly more costly than a few hundred thousand. It was simply for the good of its people that Britain had higher taxes than America, as this would tremendously decrease the amount of debt. There was no need and no reason other than debt to tax the colonists. The colonists had not been involved with the war and were not at fault. This unfair taxation provided a solid reason to rebel against the tyrannical Britain.

A second important factor in justifying the Founding Father's actions where America rebelled against Britain was that not many colonists supported British rule, and most likely, almost all were unhappy.

A popular saying during this time was, "No Taxation Without Representation". The colonists were being heavily taxed for such small colonies, and the British Parliament seemed to only apply to the citizens in Britain. Under Parliament, the colonists should not have to pay a tax that they did not consent to. Due to this, the colonists felt as though Parliament did not represent them at all. However, there are some that disagree with this, and say that Parliament did in fact act on the behalf of the colonists. There aren't many reasons to support this claim, it seems to be an empty statement. Without any reason to prove Parliament represented the colonies, it is logical to respectfully disregard the argument. Due to being minimally represented by their own government, the Founding Fathers were largely supported by under-representation to

rebel.