It wouldn’t be correct to point to one event as the cause of the Revolutionary War. Rather the war marked the culmination of the tensions between the colonists and the British Empire. Below are some of the reasons that led to the disputes.
One of the issues was the growing independence of the colonists. The Empire was thousands of miles away and the colonists learned to live in a different manner. In America men and women were virtually equal. Both could run and manage properties as they saw fit.
The vast land meant unlimited resources for the colonists. Within a short time, the colonists became more prosperous than the people back home in Britain. So a major cause of the Revolutionary War was the feeling by the colonists they could go along without the Empire. The feeling was it was time to declare independence from them.
The French – Indian War & Higher Taxes
When the British got involved in a war with the French and Native Americans, the colonists fought with them. The British emerged victorious but they incurred debt, both local and foreign.
To pay for it, they imposed higher taxes on the colonists. Naturally they were outraged. Again the feeling was that there was no need to fight the wars of the British. What made it worse was that they weren’t even consulted on the matter.
Among the highest taxes were on sugar and paper, both vital to American life and business. These were just two of the main causes of the Revolutionary War.
The Incidents in Boston
Several events in the state of Massachusetts would also prove critical. The first was the Boston Tea Party. The British Parliament had recently passed a law that Americans could only purchase tea at the East India Company. The colonists responded by attacking the ship that carried the crates. They proceeded to throw hundreds of the crates into the ocean.
The Boston Massacre came about when British soldiers shot and killed unarmed civilians who were heckling them. To curb the growing protests in Boston, the Parliament passed a law. It stated that all officials in the city had to be appointed by the royal governor. Town meetings were also banned. When looking at the cause of the Revolutionary War, the events that took place in Boston cannot be ignored.
The Shots at Lexington
As tensions escalated, the Empire started to increase the number of troops in the colonies. They also imposed stricter controls. The colonists responded by taking up arms. When the British discovered that militias were gathering armaments in Lexington, they sent soldiers to arrest them. The colonists shot them.
Forced to retreat, the soldiers would later respond by sending in more troops. The US Congress created the Continental Army. It would be headed by a man named George Washington. The rest is history.
When looking at the cause of the Revolutionary War, it’s essential that all these factors are considered. Although they were diverse issues, it can be said that it was also about seeking freedom from oppression.