Paper Topic:

Causes of the War for American independence

The three general causes of the United States ' desire for independence from Britain are viewable in three areas : 1 .Growing independence of colonial governments 2 . The growing interaction of the colonies due to trade and wars and 3 . The reaction of colonies to Britain 's desire to organize and regulate colonies . All of these aspects are covered in depth individually in this essay

Growing Independence

Life in the British Colonies in America was a complex situation . The reason for this complexity was rooted in the fact that while there were many

loyalists who were content to live under British rule , there were anti-loyalists and separatists who desired freedom and independence This attitude was based on the fact that , for them , there were far too many inequalities and injustices present under British rule . A grea deal of this injustice was centered on the taxation without representation ' which refers to the situation where colonists were heavily taxed by the British , but held no sway or authority in regards to the writing of the laws that impacted colonial life . In time sentiment towards the British rulers began to sour . This , of course eventually led to the Declaration of Independence and the Revolutionary War

Growing Interaction Due to Trade and War The relationship between the British and its colonial subjects contained a series of ups and downs ' although the early years of colonial North America were not as volatile as relations would eventually devolve into in subsequent years . Relations between the British and the Colonists was at their strongest during the early days of the Seven Years ' War as the colonists were loyal to the British and many individuals allied on the British side to fight in the war . Of course this relationship would eventually fall apart and collapse leading to colonial revolution

From the Seven Years ' War , the colonists noted that the westward expansion of North America was a primary concern of world powers . After developing the experience in warfare that the Seven Years War , the seed of military prowess was planted in the heads of the colonists and furthermore , it was understood that if the colonists did not make a move towards ascertaining their own claim to western territory , another nation would take that land for itself . The colonies did not , however foresee the British impediment to the colonies ' own personal expansion plans which is an aspect of the desire for independence that is often overlooked by historians

Cromwell had instituted certain navigation acts in the 1650 's that were designed to restrict trade to the benefit of the mother country of Great Britain . However , this would slowly fall apart as time moved onwards and when additional immigrants from countries such as Holland , France and Germany began to appear in the New World . From this introduction of new peoples into the area , trade began to expand and the ambitions of the colonists started to become more brazen . Most notably , the colonists sought to expand their sphere of influence west of the Appalachians...

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