Revolutionary Movement

REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

The reasons for the American Revolutionary Movement are diverse and numerous; however, one reason stands above them all: economics. Ever since the first settlers began to colonize the United States, economics have been present as the foundation for the country. Our society today is derived from money matters just as it was in the time before and during the Revolution. The British fighting the French and Indian War was a base for strong financial changes that led to the Revolution. This was closely followed by the Declaratory Act that allowed the taxing of the colonies and the Intolerable Acts made by the British. They all had strong influences in the economics of the country that led to the Revolutionary War.

In 1754, the British fought the French for the final of four wars in what we know as the French and Indian War. It was a fight to see who would rule in North America, and it was eventually won by the British. Despite their victory, the British were forced into debt, and their solution to get out of it involved one thing: taxing the colonies. This led to the formation of the Grenville Taxes. Two of these, the Quartering Act and the Stamp Tax, brought uproar from the colonists. The Quartering Act forced the colonists to house and feed British Soldiers with no additional money given to them. Many of the colonists didn't have the money to feed the soldiers, so it caused them to go into debt, which affected the financial side of the communities because the people were becoming so poor. After the Quartering Act, the British brought on the Stamp Tax. This was the first direct tax on the colonists, and it got them all riled up. A group known as the Sons of Liberty was formed and they led a boycott against the British taxing claiming that there should be "no taxation without representation". The tax changed the economics of the colonies, causing them to lose money rapidly, but the boycott came back in retaliation against the British. Because the British were no longer getting money from the colonists to pay off their debt, their finances were suffering, triggering the repeal of the tax.

The Sons of Liberty appealed to the king about the Stamp Tax, so the king repealed the tax using the Declaratory Act. This act still allowed the king to tax the colonies, and he made full use of that fact. One year after passing the Declaratory Act, the king brought around the Townsend Act and put a tax on lead, paper, paint and tea, as these were the items most economically important to the colonists at the time. After much debate, all the taxes were revoked except for the one on tea. Nevertheless, the damage to the economy of New England was done, and the wealth of the country was declining rapidly, angering the colonists. The settlers in the colonies didn't agree with the British taking all of their hard-earned money, and so they were slowly building up to the American Revolution in retaliation. This led to the Boston Tea Party which was once again spear-headed by the Sons of Liberty. England grew very angry with the colonists destroying all their tea, and instead of giving the colonist what they wanted, they jacked-up the tax price on the tea and made them pay for what they had ruined. Once again the economy was