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American War of Independence
Why was there a War of Independence? To what extent was it caused by British expectations and to what extent was it caused by American attitudes?
In 1775 American and British soldiers took place in a war because of a conquest for American Independence. The ‘War of Independence’ lasted for eight years, ending in September 1783. Over this time the War tore both American and British ties apart and internal American relations. Many factors contributed to this war, two being British expectations and American attitudes towards both each other and their respective enemies.
Directly after the British in the French-Indian War there were already problems arising in Britains’ affairs. The treaty that ended the war gave Britain almost all of France’s territory in North America. Most American colonists took pride in being part of the British Empire – at that time the most powerful empire. Britain's king, George III was determined to play an active role in governing the nation. Due to the king's naiveté, however, the result was political insecurity and a lack of direction in national affairs was at the same time as Britain's crisis with its American colonies was developing.
In 1763 several Indians attacked settlers in the West. Britain was forced to send 10,000 troops to America to defend the settlers. The Quartering Act of 1765 ruled that colonists must provide British troops with living quarters and supplies. This was a decision that Colonists were not happy with. This contributed to conflict between the English and Americans substantially. Britain decided that all Americans should pay a tax that would contribute towards the defense of the settlers. Americans did not embrace this decision on the principle of “no taxation without representation”. This meant that without representation in the British Parliament the Americans would not pay taxes.
British officials soon recognised the Americans' disregard for the imperial authority. During the conflict, colonial merchants continued to trade with the enemy and smuggle goods, while colonial assemblies repeatedly refused to provide military officials with men and supplies. The war left Britain with a considerable debt and expensive responsibilities to administer newly acquired territory in North America. Believing that Taxation Acts should be enforced strictly and that colonists should pay a share of the empires defense costs.
In order to get around the American attitudes but still receive their taxes the British Parliament formulated numerous ‘Acts’ to raise revenue. They put heavy taxation on numerous popular and necessary items. In 1764 The Sugar Act was formed which put a tax on sugar and sugar products. This proved to be quite unsuccessful as smuggling had a huge increase, especially the smuggling of rum, which was very popular during this time. After the failure of the Sugar Act the Stamp Act of 1765 was enforced. This act required the colonists to purchase and use specially stamped paper for all official documents, deeds, and newspapers. Violators would be prosecuted [next page]