By Bob Rebers
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around in the program.
Begin
Causes of the Revolutionary War
Click on a cause to find out more.
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Independent feeling of Colonists
French and Indian War
Mercantile Policy
Taxes
Neglect
Go to
Boston Massacre
The End
Boston Tea Party
Independent Attitude
The reason many colonists came to North
American was for freedom, religious or
otherwise.
Frontiersmen’s
Attitude
British response
The British felt colonists owed them greatly for the
financial help to start colonies and for the
protection England gave them. This became
especially true after the French and Indian War.
What if…
French and
Indian War
Frontiersmen had a very independent attitude.
They traveled west into lands claimed by the
Indians and the French causing disputes which
lead to the French and Indian War.
What if…
French and
Indian War
French and Indian War
Because frontiersmen kept moving west
and French fur traders kept expanding
their fur trade east. The two groups
eventually started claiming the same land.
War ensued, England won, but had huge
war debts. Who would pay?
Colonists
British
• What if the British had started the colonists
out and then gradually allowed them selfgovernment?
• Would the War have been avoided?
• Would England have lost money or had a
better trading partner in the colonists?
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Causes
• What if the frontiersmen had set up boundaries
with the French and Indians?
• Would they have carried on prosperous trade?
• Would there still have been a war with the
French and Indians eventually?
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Causes
If the colonists should pay for the war debts, how
should they pay?
Taxes
Trade
What if…
British felt colonists had to support some of their
own costs for defense by paying taxes.
To taxes
• What if England said we can’t take care of you
any more, you, colonies need to be selfsufficient? You, colonies need your own army?
You need to support yourself?
• Would the colonies have flourished?
• Would trade have increased?
• How would expenses be paid?
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Causes
Colonists could pay the war debt through taxes.
The easiest way to tax colonists was through the
products sold to colonists.
Taxes
Colonists could pay the war debt by continuing to
trade with England. This trade could also raise
money by the customs taxes or tariff charged for
products.
Mercantile Trade
Mercantile Trade
The British believed in the Mercantile
Trade Policy. This simply stated that the
colonies existed for the benefit of the
Mother Country.
Agree
Disagree
The British controlled trade with the colonies and
already in 1650 started the Navigation Laws.
Colonists were prosperous because of British
trade, especially the merchants in New England.
Eventually caused
the Boston Tea Party
This control led
to other laws to
control income
Colonial merchants, mainly in New England,
wanted more control of trade. They felt they could
make more money trading with other nations and
not following British trade laws.
Colonists action
Some colonial merchants broke the trade laws and
smuggled goods into and out of ports not
controlled by the British. These actions led to the
Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.
Boston Massacre
Boston Tea Party
Taxes
The British tried to raise revenue and control
trade through the following laws or acts. Click
on them for more information.
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Sugar Act
Stamp Act
Quartering Act
Townshend Acts
Tea Act
Coercive or Intolerable Acts
Colonists view
British view
Neglect
Colonists felt the British had neglected them
after starting the colonies.
Colonists view
British view
Boston Massacre
A riot breaks out in Boston where tensions are
high between British soldiers and colonists. Five
colonists are killed. This causes more
disagreement and anger between the two sides
leading to war.
Colonists view
British view
Boston Tea Party
The Tea Act gave the East India Tea Company
the right to sell tea to the colonists directly but
with a tax. Colonists were angered by the law
and threw 342 cases of tea into Boston Harbor
bringing both sides closer to war.
Colonists view
British view
What if…
Sugar Act
Passed in 1764 to raise money by taxing
molasses from the West Indies, this law was
also known as the Revenue Act. George
Grenville pushed this act through Parliament.
The Sugar Act also gave the British the right to
search for smuggled goods.
Back to laws
Stamp Act
George Grenville pushed for this law in
March of 1765. It taxed all legal
documents, such as, marriage licenses
and wills. It also required stamps on
newspapers, playing cards, calendars,
dice, and other items. The Stamp Act lead
the “Sons of Liberty” to boycott British
goods.
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Quartering Act
In May 1765, 10,000 British troops were sent the
colonies. This law required colonists to house
and feed these troops in their own homes. The
troops were in the colonies to protect the
colonists. The colonists hated having to house
the soldiers.
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Townshend Acts
Passed in 1767, this law taxed paper,
lead, glass, paint, and tea. Named after
Charles Townshend, head of British
Treasury. This law lead to an even
stronger boycott by the Colonists.
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Tea Act
To help the East India Tea Company, Parliament
passed this law in May 1773. It allowed the East
India Tea Company to sell directly to colonists
with a tax on tea after Townshend Acts were
stopped.
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Coercive Acts
Also called the Intolerable Acts by colonists,
these laws came as a result of the Boston Tea
Party. It shut down Boston Harbor until lost tea
was paid back. It also was supposed to stop the
colonists from meeting. This law led to the
formation of the First Continental Congress.
Back to laws
Colonists claimed “taxation without
representation”. They felt they had no voice in the
government that controlled them.
British neglect
Colonists didn’t want taxation with representation.
British tax laws weren’t greatly oppressive until the
Intolerable Acts. The Intolerable Acts were a result
of the Boston Tea Party.
Boston Tea Party
Colonists claimed they had no voting rights in
Parliament, were treated like second-hand
citizens, and were being used by British for
England’s profit.
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British felt they had paid to start the colonies and
had protected them at a great cost. Colonists
should be loyal to the king.
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Colonists are outraged as soldiers open fire on
unarmed citizens. Propaganda was used by
colonists to gain sympathy for their cause.
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British soldiers were harassed by a mob of
colonists who threw snowballs and ice. Colonists
had provoked the soldiers with names, like
“redcoats” and “lobster backs”. Soldiers felt they
were only doing their jobs.
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Colonists felt their protests were getting nowhere.
They needed to take action, even if it was
destructive. They needed to show the British they
were to be taken seriously.
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The British lost goods and money. They felt the
colonists had gone too far. The British responded
with the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. Even Ben
Franklin agreed that the colonists should pay for
the lost tea. The British felt they had to take
control. War was close.
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• What if colonists had continued to boycott British
products?
• Could the colonists have held out long enough?
• Would the British have repealed their laws?
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The End
You have now reached the end of your
review. Be prepared to write an essay on
the causes of the Revolutionary War
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beginning