Out Break of the American Revolution

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The connection between Britain and the English colonies was that of the ruling of the colonies by the king of Britain, King George III and his parliament. The king’s ruling was very unfavorable for the colonists because of his tyrannic dictatorship and unjustly taxations. The mere thought of an island ruling an entire continent thousands of miles away with poor communication and lack of supervision of the colonies by the king, did not work in favor of the colonies nor for Britain. Three contributing factors for the outbreak of the American Revolution were (1) the king’s taxes, (2) neglect of the 13 colonies and (3) England’s mercantilism policy. King George III and his decisions were one of the major causes that had the English colonists fumed with anger towards Britain and this eventually led to the American Revolution.

King George’s Taxes

The most fundamental reason for the American Revolution was the colonist’s outrage over taxation which led to a tax revolt launched by people who were tired of the burden of paying unfair taxes. The king placed taxes known as Townsend Acts, on the colonist’s tea, paper, paint, lead, glass, and many other items that were used daily and the colonists were against this taxing. The purpose of the Townsend Acts was to help pay the cost of government in America. Lawyer James Otis and other colonist rebels referred to King George as a tyrant. As stated by James Otis in The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (1763), . . . “The very act of taxing exercised over those who are not represented appears to me to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights as freemen, and if continued seems to be in effect and entire

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disfranchisement of every civil right.” James Otis’s point of view seemed to express concerns for the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of the colonists.

The problem for many American colonists was not that taxes were high (the taxes were actually quite low, particularly compared with those paid by ordinary citizens of Britain), but that the colonies were not consulted about the new taxes, as they had no representation in Parliament. The colonists did not have any voting rights with regards to the taxes and so in order to avoid having to pay the taxes imposed on them the colonist’s boycotted British goods. This eventually led to the Boston Tea Party and other boycotts.

Neglect of the 13 Colonies

The colonists were displeased with the king’s neglect of their colonies. King George took away their rights to self-government in America and the colonists were treated unfairly in comparison to the British people. Thomas Jefferson’s “Original Rough Draught” of the Declaration of Independence (1776) clearly states in his document over fifteen reasons to why the king has neglected the thirteen colonies. One of the reasons was: “he has refused his assent to laws for the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Because of the king’s refusal to abide by the laws, it made it easier for the colonists to rebel against the king and the Parliament. The colonists were not offered the same rights and privileges as the English citizens in Britain. The English citizens from

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Britain were offered appropriate taxation, benefits of trial by jury, control over private homes as in where a soldier could not barge in to sleep and much more. The pamphleteer and journalist Thomas Paine published his widely influential pamphlet, Common Sense. Paine’s piece became a success in large part because Paine, fully acknowledging the constitutional context of the dispute between Britain and the colonies, crushed that perspective because he acknowledged that, as long as Americans remained within it, it would imprison them and prevent them from