Immediate Causes of the Revolutionary War
Parliamentary Measures that Created Colonial Conflict After 1763
Jan 2, 2009
The causes of the American Revolution are many and involve commercial, ideological, and political factors. Some of these causes can be traced back to colonial development in the 17th century while others are more immediate. Those immediate “causes,” often extensions of a more universal, ideological cause, tend to fall after the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763 and usually begin with the Proclamation Line. Within twelve years, colonists and British troops would battle at Lexington, Concord, and Breed's Hill.
The Proclamation Line of 1763
The Royal Proclamation Line was designed to eliminate frontier Indian attacks on white settlements by limiting westward expansion. With the Appalachian Mountains as the buffer, colonists were restricted from crossing into Indian Territory. Although this produced outrage among Frontiersmen and land speculators, there is strong evidence that Parliament also sought to ensure justice for the Native Americans.
1763 was also the year of Pontiac’s Uprising or “Conspiracy” that began in the Detroit area. A charismatic Indian leader, Pontiac spawned a frontier rebellion in which many settlers were killed and British forts taken. Although Pontiac has been viewed as the chief protagonist in these events [1], modern scholarship suggests a more spontaneous uprising by the disparate Native American tribes.
The cause of the war may have been the policies instituted against Native Americans by General, Sir Jeffrey Amherst after the French and Indian War. Amherst was recalled a year after Pontiac launched the rebellion. The Indian uprising caused the British government to conclude that the colonists were unable and unwilling to maintain their own defense. Hence, Britain deployed troops to the colonies.
The Cost of Empire and Colonial Security
Parliamentary measures between 1763 and 1776 had many goals but chief among them was to force the colonies to pay for their own defense as well as retire the national debt incurred by the recent war. Thus, in 1775, Parliament broadened the Stamp tax by applying it to the colonies through the Stamp Act (Englishmen were already subject to a stamp tax). Enforceable in England, the Stamp Act was completely unenforceable in the colonies. By targeting all classes, the act only succeeded in generating ire among colonists from all walks of life.
Repealed in 1766, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act (March 18th) the day after. This Act, more of a resolution, proclaimed Parliament’s “full right and authority to make laws and statutes…in all cases whatsoever.” Section II of the Act declares null and void any colonial attempts to pass laws limiting Parliamentary prerogatives enumerated in Section I.
The Countdown to the Shot Heard Round the World
Various British administrations amended and altered revenue measures yet each one was met with resistance, chiefly in New England. The Townsend Revenue Acts were replaced in 1770 although, significantly, leaving the tax on tea. 1770 was also the year of the Boston Massacre. In 1773 Parliament passed the Tea Act. This led to the Boston “Tea Party” and Lord North’s punitive Coercive Acts.
By now, leaders in other colonies were transfixed by events unfolding in Boston. Samuel Adams’ committee of correspondence as well as newspapers, pamphlets, and other propaganda had united certain elements in the thirteen colonies against so-called British aggressions.
The escalation of tensions, tied to the short term and immediate causes of the war, eventually led to the confrontation between Minutemen and British regulars at Lexington and Concord. Followed by a disastrous British defeat at Breed’s Hill, the war for independence had begun. The Second Continental Congress began plans for waging war in May 1775. The war had come.
Sources:
[1] See Francis Parkman, France and England in North America
Robert Harvey, “A Few Bloody Noses” The Realities and Mythologies of the American Revolution Woodstock & New York: Overlook Press, 2001)
Declaratory Act of 1766
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