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Paper Abstract: Examines British-Amer. economic, legal & political differences, British mishandling of problems, inevitability of revolution. Paper Introduction: PRIMARY CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND ITS INEVITABILITY This research paper examines whether British mishandling of the American colonies during the period 1763-1776 was the primary cause of the American Revolution and whether American independence was inevitable. By the end of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), deep geopolitical, political, economic and other external and internal factors had developed which would have, sooner or later, led to a fundamental reshaping of the relationship between the colonies and the mother country and probably to full independence. A more enlightened policy by Great Britain toward the colonies would have slowed the patriotic movement. The actual policies pursued by Britain aroused nationalistic passions and produced an unprecedented degree of colonial unity. Political instability in Britain in the 1760s and Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. . According toCountryman, they were "vastly different: in their economic lives, in theirpolitics, in their cultures."[vii] They were largely self-governing, exceptfor periodic attempts by the crown to curtail the prerogatives of localassemblies. Toohey, Liberty & Empire British Radical Solutions tothe American Problem, 1774-1776 (Lexington, KY: University ofNebraska Press, 1978), 2.I. R. . According to Leach, "it was easy to perceive astanding army as a repressive instrument of tyranny, a constant threat tocivil liberties."[xvii] A series of confrontations occurred between the legislatures andgovernors, all up and down the Atlantic seaboard and as did some clasheswith troops, the most serious of which was the Boston Massacre of May 177 .In 1772 patriots seized a royal revenue cutter off the Rhode Island coast.After Parliament granted the East India Company a monopoly over the NorthAmerican tea trade, thereby excluding American merchants from participatingin it, patriots dumped over 1 , pounds worth of tea over the side in theBoston Tea Party of December 1773. New York: Hill and Wang, 1964.-----------------------Paul Johnson, A History of the American People (New York: HarperCollins, 1998), 125.Clarence Ver Steeg, The Formative Years 16 7-1763 (New York:Hill and Wang), 1964.Ver Steeg, 171.Johnson, 94.Johnson, 93.James L. Christie, Crisis of Empire Great Britain and the AmericanColonies 1754-1783 (New York: W. . of the governors.[viii] Britain's national debt mounted to 133 million pounds by 1762.[ix]After William Pitt resigned as Prime Minister in October 1761, a successionof Prime Ministers in the 176 s sought to raise additional revenues fromthe colonies through increased customs duties and new taxes and to enforcemore strictly the trade and navigation laws. A rash of legislationwas enacted by Parliament which became known as the 'Coercive' or'Intolerable' Acts, the Boston Port Act of 1774 which closed the port ofBoston to commercial traffic, the Massachusetts Bay Regulatory Act whichmade the Council there appointed by the Crown and no longer elected by theAssembly and the Administration of Justice Act, which called for trial inBritain (instead of before colonial juries) of British soldiers or othersaccused of capital crimes committed by them in the line of official duty.General Thomas Gage arrived in Boston in late 1774 with reinforcements andinstructions to reimpose order. Norton, 1983), 111.R. New York: William Morrow, 1991.Toohey, Robert E. Primary Causes of Serious Colonial Discontent Great Britain's victories in North America, at sea and elsewhere leftit as the dominant world power, but it was still engaged in world rivalrywith France. The actual policiespursued by Britain aroused nationalistic passions and produced anunprecedented degree of colonial unity. A Struggle for Power The American Revolution. The causes of that Revolution were deeply embeddedin long term factors but also in a series of incidents, inflamed passionsand misunderstandings. The patriots were mistaken in believing thatthere were serious differences of opinion among the King, Parliament andinformed sectors of the public in Britain. Norton, 1964.Christie, Ian R. Stokesbury, A Short History of the American Revolution(New York: William Morrow, 1991), 23 & 2 .Edward Countryman, The American Revolution (New York: Hill andWang, 1985), 5.I. Political instability in Britain inthe 176 s and inept monarchical and ministerial leadership there, whichcompared unfavorably with the high calibre of colonial leadership,accelerated the collision, which was further intensified bymisunderstandings and inflamed sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic. Prelude to Revolution 177 -1774 The British government sent the colonists conflicting signals byadopting restrictive legislative and administrative measures and thenbacking down while insisting as Parliament did in passing the DeclaratoryAct of 1766 on its right to impose whatever taxes or other measures itwished on the colonies. New York: W. A History of the American People. A more enlightened policy by Great Britain toward thecolonies would have slowed the patriotic movement. The 1767 Townshend Acts imposed a new series of customsduties and taxes which were designed in part to pay the salaries ofgovernors and other royal officials and to reduce their dependence oncolonial assemblies. TheChancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, emerged as the strong manin the government. A Short History of the American Revolution. Grenville'ssubsequent laws, the Sugar Act of 1764, the American Act of 1764 (taxes fordefence and quartering of British troops) and the Stamp Act of 1765 metwith a storm of opposition in the colonies which quickly spread fromMassachusetts to New York, Virginia and elsewhere. R. To hold over them a government made up of nothing but restraints and penalties and taxes in the granting of which they can have no share, will neither be wise nor in the long run practicable.[xx]Johnson's view is "there was arrogance, and arrogance bred mistakes, andobstinacy meant they persisted to the point of idiocy."[xxi] The movement for revolution to independence gathered momentum fromthe formation of the Committees of Correspondence in the spring of 1773,the rejection of the plan of federation (something akin to commonwealthstatus) offered by Pennsylvanian moderate Joseph Galloway at the FirstContinental Congress in September 1774, the shot heard 'round the world atLexington and Concord in May 1775 and the Declaration of Independence onJuly 4, 1776. Knopf, 1949.Simmonds, R. Christie, 89.Toohey, 5.J. it was steadilycatching up in manufactures . R. According to Johnson, the removal of the French threat inNorth America reduced the colonies' dependence on Great Britain because"the fear of France was the great factor that bound the American coloniesto Britain in the mid-18th century."[i] Since the mid-17th century, whenBritain first enacted the Acts of Navigation and Trade, its economicpolicies toward its colonies had been governed by mercantilism, which VerSteeg defined as based on the assumption that "nation-states shouldregulate their economic life to strengthen themselves in competition withother nation-states."[ii] The American colonists were required to export along list of agricultural staples only to the British Empire and to importonly from Great Britain textiles and other manufactured goods. Wars and Revolutions Britain 176 -1815. Still, some room for maneuver inthe early 177 s is suggested by what is known about the divisions in theAmerican public in 1776. Endnotes BibliographyChristie, I. New York: David McKay, 1976.Stokesbury, James L. ; and one thirdwere actively for the King . Mistakes by British policy makers undoubtedlyaccelerated the movement toward independence but were not its primarycause. According to Stokesbury, "one third of thepopulation were active supporters of the revolution . Additional defense burdensflowed from the need to quell Pontiac's Indian uprising of 1763-1764.Christie noted, "to the politicians in London the equity of placing part ofthis defence expenditure on the shoulders of the colonists seemedindisputable."[x] British Blunders and Colonial Reactions in the 176 s The government headed by George Grenville employed various measuresto tighten the enforcement of the customs laws, one of which was the use ofgeneral warrants to search the warehouses and homes of Boston merchants.The latter practice provoked the immediate opposition in 1761 of Bostonlawyer James Otis who proclaimed the warrants violations of the unwrittenBritish constitution and invidious instruments of tyranny. New York: Alfred A. Theinevitability of revolution exploding in 1775-1776 is gainsaid by the thinmargin of mass support for the War of Independence within the colonies.Given the temper and commonly held attitudes at the time, revolution andcomplete separation became the only possible outcomes. Bythe end of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), deep geopolitical, political,economic and other external and internal factors had developed which wouldhave, sooner or later, led to a fundamental reshaping of the relationshipbetween the colonies and the mother country and probably to fullindependence. Christie, Wars and Revolutions Britain 176 -1815 (London:Edward Arnold, 1982), 87.Countryman, 56.I. According to some observers, such as Toohey, "the colonial crisis ofthe 177 s could not have been resolved easily by even the most capablestatesmanship."[xxii] Draper correctly observed that the goals of the twosides were in the long run irreconcilable: "the one wanted to keep whatseemed essential to its welfare [imperial unity and regulated trade] andthe other wanted to break away to release itself from external restraintsand prohibitions."[xxiii] England's leaders were wrong in thinking theCoercive Acts would work. New York: Hill and Wang, 1985.Draper, Theodore. The American Revolution. Conclusion American and British goals and policies came into sharp conflict inthe 176 s and 177 s producing the American Revolution and eventuallyAmerican independence. Hoffman, & Paul Levack (Eds.). New York: Harper Collins, 1998.Leach, Douglas Edward. Simmons, The American Colonies From Settlement toIndependence (New York: David McKay, 1976), 292.Ian R. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1986.Ross, J., S. Knopf, 1949), 52-53.Johnson, 127.Toohey, 5.Theodore Draper, A Struggle for Power The American Revolution(New York: Random House, 1997), 516.Stokesbury, 67.Draper, 516.Draper, 517.----------------------- 12 The Formative Years 16 7-1763. London: Edward Arnold, 1982.Countryman, Edward. . . Numerous incidents had occurred during the Seven Years Warbetween British regulars and local militias, between civilians andsoldiers over the forced quartering of troops in civilian homes, sceneswhich were repeated in the late 176 s and early 177 s in Massachusetts andNew York and over the impressment by the Royal Navy of men on the streetfor involuntary sea duty. Crisis of Empire Great Britain and the American Colonies 1754-1783. ., with the other third wanting to be leftalone as much as possible."[xxiv] Draper estimated the Tories or Loyalistsdid not exceed 2 percent.[xxv] Draper probably came close to the truthwhen he said there is no telling what the Americans would have done if the British had left well enough alone after 1763 or even after 1765; but it is almost certain that the Revolution would not have come when and how it did. The movement for separation and independence was spurred by thedecision of the North administration with the King's full support to dealfirmly with the mutinous province of Massachusetts. The new government formed by Pitt, dubbed the Earl of Chatham, waslargely rudderless after he suffered a mental breakdown in 1767. As thePitt term waned and as Lord North consolidated power from 177 onward, theKing received conflicting advice from his ministers. R. Christie, 64.Douglas Edward Leach, Roots of Conflict British Armed Forces andColonial Americans, 1677-1763 (Chapel Hill: University of NorthCarolina Press, 1986), 24.I. Roots of Conflict British Armed Forces and Colonial Americans, 1677-1763. According to Christie, these Acts "posed a far moreserious threat to colonial self-government than Grenville's measures."[xii]The colonists reacted with another boycott against goods imported fromEngland which, Christie said, "had almost complete success."[xiii] TheTownshend Acts were repealed in 177 , but the duty on tea remained as aconstant irritant to better relations. The net effect of these and other restrictivelaws was to discourage American industry and to bind its economy to thesupport of the Empire.However, Ver Steeg said "the Lords of Trade were unable to curtail the mostflagrant violation of the mercantilist spirit and policy --the semi-independence of the corporate colonies of New England from England."[iii]By the third quarter of the 18th century, Johnson said that the Americaneconomy had begun to outgrow its imperial straitjacket. W. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky Press, 1978.Ver Steeg, Clarence. The American Colonies From Settlement to Independence. W. Liberty & Empire British Radical Solutions to the American Problem, 1774-1776. Christie, 73.Simmons, 243.Robert H. According to Christie, All through the eighteenth century the colonists, cushioned by immense distances from intermeddling by the central government, had been developing a lively sense of their own political self-sufficiency, attaining in their own assemblies a high degree of political sophistication, and chiseling with great success at the remnants of imperial authority . Countrymansaid "Britain achieved something quite remarkable in 1765; it brought itssubjects closer together than they had ever come before."[xi] The Stamp Tax controversy, which might then have led to armedconflict, petered out after commercial interests in England as well as inthe colonies opposed the tax. C. ."[v] According to Stokesbury, thepopulation of the colonies had also rapidly risen, from 25 , in 17 to2,5 , in 1775, as compared with 11 million in Great Britain.[vi] Politically, also, the colonies were maturing. Ross, S. He was at timesimmobilized by attacks of porphyria, a serious urinary disorder, and atothers blocked attempts to revoke royal charters of some colonies because,Christie said, "he had no desire to widen the breach."[xvi] The Royal Navyand the new Board of Customs enforced the duty on tea. Customs duties wereimposed on other imports. . R. American output,five percent of Britain's in 17 , reached 4 percent in 1775, "one of thehighest growth rates the world has ever experienced."[iv] And, "thoughAmerica's was largely an agricultural economy . Simmons referred to this period of politicalinstability "as a succession of short-lived and divided ministries."[xiv]This confusion encouraged the colonial leaders in the belief that theycould yet succeed if only they could tap more reasonable men in Parliamentor at Westminster or even George III to whom many of their petitions weredirected. Their reactions includednot only petitions by colonial legislatures to Parliament, but also an anti-importation agreement, riots by Sons of Liberty in Boston and the Stamp ActCongress which 9 colonies attended in New York City in 1764. Army reinforcementswere sent but in sufficient numbers only to enrage but not to cow thepatriots. The results were not what London expected.According to Christie, "a massive movement of support for Massachusettswelled up in the other colonies."[xviii] Of these measures, Toohey said "shortsighted and tactless, they (theKing and his ministers) failed to foresee the results of their policies.They lacked the insight, magnanimity and the sense of history to govern agreat empire successfully."[xix] Edward Burke cautioned that a strongadverse reaction by the colonists to coercion should be anticipated: the people who are to be the subject of these restrictions are Englishmen, and of a high and free spirit. PRIMARY CAUSES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND ITS INEVITABILITY This research paper examines whether British mishandling of theAmerican colonies during the period 1763-1776 was the primary cause of theAmerican Revolution and whether American independence was inevitable. . The new government of the Marquis deRockingham repealed the Stamp Tax after Pitt denounced it in January 1766.Henceforth, no taxation without representation would be a major rallyingcry of the patriots who largely took control of colonial assemblies. . C. All intra-imperial trade was to be carried in British ships. Christie, 71.I. In fact, Toohey said "limitations on the authority of Parliamentin the empire of the post-1763 world were simply not envisaged by thecrown, Parliament, or the great mass of Englishmen."[xv] The period 177 -1773 probably represented the last time during whicha settlement of outstanding differences was realistically possible. R. The struggle for power might have been delayed, but it could not have been indefinitely postponed.[xxvi] Perhaps a clue to what might have happened 'if' is thatGreat Britain did not grant any of its colonies dominion status until thelate 19th century (Canada in 1867). Hoffman, & Paul Levack (Eds.), Burke's Politics:Selected Writings and Speeches of Edmund Burke (New York: AlfredA. New York: Random House, 1997.Johnson, Paul. Burke's Politics: Selected Writings of Edmund Burke. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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