American Revolution Inevitable Essay

This is definitely one of my personal favorites to write about so let's just hop right to the question. So as some may ask, what is the American Revolution? Well, I would like to say it is pretty self explanatory, but that would be irrelevant and most of all incorrect for me to even gesture that. The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy. Now some may ask, was the American Revolution inevitable? Now based on research, John Adams, one of the central figures in the American Revolution, recalled that Americans were committed to independence in their hearts long before war broke out in America in 1775.

Adams comment suggests that American independence was inevitable: this was not the case. In 1763, American's celebrated the British victory in the Seven Years War, revelling in their identity as Britons and jealously guarding their much celebrated rights which they believed they possessed by virtue of membrship in what they saw as the world's greatest empire.
Now as some people may know, Americans had contributed significantly to the recent victory both militarilly and financially, yet within a dozen years of the British victory war broke out between British soldiers and Massachusetts militiamen at Lexington and Concord. Between 1763 to 1775, successive British governments took decisions which resulted in the loss of the 13 rebellious colonies in America. Of course, The British victory in the Seven Years' War had been costly in human and financial terms. So basically a lot this had to do with a rebellion for a wrong and a right reason, but that is just to my understanding. Plus, In 1763, George Grenville, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reckoned that Britain's budget deficit was in excess of L122 million. Desperate to find new sources of revenue, Grenville looked to the colonies and viewed from, what was called, “cash-strapped" London, the North American settlements were very attractive.
During the American Revolution there was something called the Stamp Act which was basically a law that required all colonial residents to pay astamp tax on virtually every printed paper including legal documents, bills of sale, contracts, wills, advertising, pamphlets, almanacs, and even playing cards and dice.

On the average Briton paid 26 shillings per annum in taxes whilst a Massachusetts taxpayer contributed one shilling each year to imperial coffers. Americans, British officials concluded, benefited from the protection afforded by the British army and the Royal Navy, and it would only be fair if they contributed to their own defence. Unsurprisingly, like was stated before with the rebellion, Americans responded negatively to the Stamp Act, arguing that they had contributed to their own defence during the late war by providing manpower, money and supplies to the British war effort. So they generally argued that they already paid taxes which were raised locally - each colony had its own assembly which levied local taxes. What was considered colonists in America felt that they discharged their obligations when they paid colonial taxes and they resented being compelled to pay taxes levied by a Parliament in which they were not represented. Moreover, they contended, the distance between America and Britain precluded American representation in Parliament. And so, in the spring and early summer of 1765, most of the colonial assemblies adopted resolutions condemning the Stamp

Act.
Of course with the Stamp Act the people were definitely upset therefore, based on my research, they put that anger into action. With that being said, on 14th August, an angry mob attacked the house of Andrew Oliver - the local man rumoured to be responsible for collecting the tax. Then on the 26th they damaged the houses of colonial officials and completely destroyed the home of the colony's Lieutenant Governor. The demonstrations spread throughout the colonies and, through threats, intimidation and violence, American opponents of the Act rendered it a dead letter by the autumn. After all this trauma something was held called the Boston Tea Party which was in summary was a political protest by the
Sons of Liberty in Boston, on December 16, 1773. As a result of the Boston Tea Party, the British shut down Boston Harbor until all of the 340 chests of British East India Company tea were paid for. This was implemented under the 1774 Intolerable Acts and known as the Boston Port Act.
In conclusion, it is seeming that by the late eighteenth century, Americans enjoyed more liberties than most people in the world, and they paid lower taxes than the subjects of any other European state. Even as they declared their allegiance to the British monarch, they tarred and feathered his royal officials; though they professed loyalty to the rule of English law, they boycotted imports, defied taxes, and burned ships that docked in their ports. They came together from very disparate regions and societies because they found common ground in their grievances, their concerns about tyranny, and their notions of self-determination. They were defiant protestors but reluctant revolutionaries; in the beginning, the Americans sought reconciliation with their sovereign along with recognition of their rights. So they basically did what they felt they had to get what they should've rightfully had from the start which was freedom pretty much.