Living as part of the Crown for several decades, the people of America were unhappy with the British rule. As the crown was trying to control its subjects, the subjects realized that the crown was a threat to their freedom and economic prosperity. Also, due to the constant war between Britain, France, and India, the colonies in America were unhappy with the new policies. Many of the policies and events contributed to the dissatisfaction of the American people and made the crown unpopular among the people. The high taxes, constant wars, the killing of civilians, the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act, the Quarter Act, the Currency Act, and the Gaspee Affair led to the revolution by adding oil to the unpopular sentiments.
The French and Indian War was costly for the British government, which caused them to start increasing taxes in American colonies. The people of America, or the colonists, were unhappy with the rising taxes, and many of the acts confirmed the fear of the greater taxes; people grew dissatisfied. Moreover, the British government tried to oppress the dissenters by sending troops and forcing the people to pay taxes. Also, the constant war with the French and Indian War weakened Britain’s control over American colonies, and they were able to plan and fight Britain effectively. Also, France was helping the colonists fight Britain, as it was dissatisfied with the Indian and American War. Hence, all these events contributed to growing the dissent among Colonists.
The British had taken debts from Dutch and British Banks to fight the war, so several tax reforms were introduced in the colonies to pay the debts that enhanced the dissent. The Sugar, Stamp Townshend, and Tea Tax were all aimed at raising direct or indirect taxes to pay for British debts. However, people were unwilling to pay more taxes without representation. The people were not represented in the parliament, and they argued the government could not tax the colonies because they were not represented in the parliament. They demanded representation to pay the tax, but the government was not ready to give representation to the people Americans. This helped the dissenters to mobilize. Moreover, the taxes were unfairly high for the people who had left England for prosperity, and the government was trying to tax sugar, tobacco, and tea. For instance, although the Sugar tax did not increase the tax, it made the laws strict and made it necessary for everyone to pay the taxes. It gave customs officers powers to prosecute smugglers and to check the ships in detail. It also banned some of the goods from being exported to countries other than England. The producers were forced to sell their goods to a market that was not profitable for them. Similarly, the Stamp Act was taxing printed paper such as newspapers, official documents, or anything that was printed. The people feared that if they kept silent, the government might tax everything. The fear of being taxed took the Americans to the streets. The people protested against the taxes, but the government did not repeal the taxes that were costly for the people. To grow its control over the colonies, the British Empire increased its tax rights. They tax the people to raise the salaries of the governors and officials in Britain. The British shipped its tea to North America without the export duties through the Tea Tax. But it was not received well by the merchants and provoked the people. The British parliament responded with an intolerable act to punish the people involved in the Massachusetts revolts. The increased tensions between the colonies and the British Empire escalated and transformed into the War of Independence.
Apart from the taxes, Britain controlled and used coercive forces to further their agendas. For instance, the Quarterly Act through which the parliament was forcing the local colonial governments to provide housing to the British Soldiers. The act gave Britain the right to quarter the troops in public houses and barracks and to bear the cost of shelter and food for the troops. It also made it mandatory to house the troops in uninhabited private homes, inns, or outhouses. Britain was forcing people to house and provide food and shelter during the time of peace, which became the cause of discontent among the people. It also raised the cost of the local people because they needed to bear the cost of the British Army. Small tensions between the British and local governments arose, but it was suppressed. However, these acts added to the dissatisfaction of the people of America and helped them see the lack of freedom and agency in their country.
To top up all the dissents and lack of satisfaction in the 1970s, five of the civilians were killed at the hands of the British army in Boston. The event escalated an already strained relationship between the government and the people of America. It increased the dissents and the willingness of the people to stand up against the unfair treatment of the British colonies. As the presence of increased army personnel in America was unpleasant for the people, the killing of the five Americans dissatisfied the people greatly, and they grew apprehensive of the British rule in America.
The Son of Liberty, a group working against British rule, attacked the ship of the British army going to collect taxes, which created problems between the Government and the Americans. The Son of Liberty was dissatisfied with British brutality and unfair taxes, which provoked the American Revolution.
The British Army, to control the uprisings, sent troops to the Americans, and the Americans also gathered ammunition in case of a clash. As the problems between the two groups had escalated, in 1975, the clash at Lexington and Concord happened when the British Army, under General Thomas Gage, sent troops to catch the colonists who were collecting the ammunition to fight the army if necessary. However, when the troops reached there, the colonists were ready to receive them, and they confronted each other. Thus, the Revolutionary War began. It mostly occurred in the North initially but escalated to other states and France helped the Patriots in the war. Although Britain was a great power and had greater forces to fight the Patriots, with the help of France, the patriot gained ammunition as well as troops to fight Great Britain.
To conclude, a series of events occurred that made the colonists dissatisfied with Great Britain and its rule. One of the important events was the war that escalated dissatisfaction. The war also helped the people realize that they could be independent and survive without assistance from Britain. Moreover, the war played a crucial role because it threatened the economic security of the people. Britain increased taxes and controlled their American subjects to pay without giving them rights and access to the wealth of Great Britain. The dissatisfaction grew with the increased debts and taxes the people paid. Additionally, the parliament confiscated many of the freedoms and economic rights of the people for which they had come to the US. The people grew unhappy about the growing control without rights and representations, and the dissenting groups escalated the dissatisfaction among people. Hence, the people of America fought the war to be independent of British rule.
