BASICS: 

BACKGROUND

• Before 1492, the entire focus of history was limited to the ‘Old World’ .The quest for colonies in the ‘New World’ started after its discovery by Columbus in 1492. By the end of the 17th century, different European powers had established their colonies in America.
• Different colonies like French in the north (Canada), Spanish in Mexico and Central America, and British in the East Coast of America.
• The factors behind the American Revolution could be traced back to the year 1763.
• By the mid eighteenth century, the English had established their thirteen colonies along the Atlantic coast.
• Landless peasants, people seeking religious freedom and traders had settled there. Initially the relationship between the colonies and British Government was cordial.
• Although these colonies were controlled through the governors, they enjoyed political freedom.
• Each colony had its own assembly elected by the people. It enacted laws concerning local matters. However, the policies followed by the home government (Britain) had resulted in the confrontation.
• During this period British leaders began to strengthen their imperial desires. This resulted in disruption of once harmonious relations between Britain and its North American colonies.
• Britain’s Land Policy prohibiting settlement in the west irritated the colonists.
• The most serious issue was the need for money to support the Empire. This led them to pursue harsh taxation policies. Attempts through the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts to raise money rather than control trade met with growing resistance in the colonies.
• Tensions increased further after Parliament passed the Coercive Acts and the First Continental Congress took the First steps towards independence from Britain. Before the colonies gained independence, they had to fight a long and bitter war.
• Between the years 1764 and 1774, the crown and his majesty’s legislature passed a number of tax measures, which the colonists fiercely opposed.
• Outspoken American leaders took a principled position against taxes because the government that created the laws offered no representation for those being taxed.
• At the same time, only propertied, upper-class men could vote in England and in most elections within America. But even the American voting class could not express on ballots their views on the actions of Parliament.
• The ideas from the age of enlightenment influenced the Americans profoundly and the idea of staying as an independent nation gained traction.