The revolution began in 1775 as an open war between Great Britain and the 13 colonies in North America. The war ended in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris in 1783. There was no single event that caused the event. It was a series of events that caused the revolution. It was a series of disagreements regarding how Great Britain treated the colonies that caused the war ( Bemis, 2013) . Americans believed that they were supposed to possess all the rights of Englishmen while Britain wanted to treat them in ways that suited the crown and parliament. One of the rallying cries during the American Revolution was “No Taxation without Representation.”
It was an era of enlightenment, and most Americans were becoming free thinkers. Most people questioned the governance of overreach of their British government. It spurred the "republican ideology" that strongly opposed the tyrannical treatment. Most people were reading the major writing of enlightened people such as Baron de Montesquieu and Thomas Hobbes ( Bailyn, 2017) . The writing made the country believe that all men were created equal. The other major reason was the restrictions and freedoms of location. Their distance from the Great Britain created a feeling of independence that was difficult to overcome. Most people desired to make their own decisions without the influence of a king who was thousands of miles away.
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Moreover, the control of the government was also a decisive factor. The existence of colonial legislatures meant that the colonies could govern themselves independent of the crown. The legislature could pass laws, levy taxes, and muster troops. The British government attempts to curtail the powers and freedoms of these legislatures were futile. They tried to ensure the legislatures did not acquire autonomy. However, from the legislatures that represented the colonists, some of the great founding fathers were born and mentored ( Washington & Army, 2014) . The economic troubles in Great Britain made the crown to enforce new taxes on the colonists through the Currency Act and Sugar Act that prohibited printing money in the colonies and restricted some exports to Great Britain alone. The colonists were unable to take part in free trade, they felt underrepresented, and overtaxed. The rallying cry became “No Taxation without Representation.”
As the British government presence became more apparent, British soldiers and officials acquired more power and control over the colonies resulting to immense corruption. The British soldiers have the power to control trade, and they could search and seize any goods or property that they believed was illegal or smuggled. They were allowed to enter, search and seize ships, warehouses, and even private homes. Most of the British soldiers abused their power. Furthermore, the colonists were forced to put up with a crooked justice system, and political protests became quite common. Even worse, six British soldiers were acquitted of their role in the Boston Massacre while two were dishonorably discharged. All British soldiers accused of any crime could be sent to England for trial, therefore, resulting in fewer witnesses and even fewer convictions ( Bemis, 2013) . The crooked justice system was made up of judges who were selected, paid, and supervised by the British colonial government. Few people could attain the right to a fair trial.
All the grievances discussed above caused the American revolutions. They were composed of colonists’ grievances against the British government. Most of their grievances had a direct effect on what the founding fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence and the US constitution ( Bailyn, 2017) . Their actions and words were carefully selected and written so that the new government made up of American would not subject its citizens to the same problems they experienced during the reign of the crown.
References
Bailyn, B. (2017). The ideological origins of the American Revolution . Harvard University Press.
Bemis, S. F. (2013). The diplomacy of the American Revolution . Read Books Ltd.
Washington, G., & Army, C. (2014). The American Revolution: 1775-1783 . Vol. II. Boston: Little, Brown.
