Taxation Was One Of The Reason Leading To The Revolution

The British had spent large sums of money fighting the Seven Years' War and the French and Indian War in the years leading up to the Revolution. Furthermore, they possessed a 10,000-man standing army in North America. The British Parliament determined that the Americans should share some of the burden, and as a result, a series of tax acts were created. The British Parliament continued to impose additional laws and taxes on the American colonies. The taxes were not high, and after the Constitution was adopted, the Americans taxed themselves at much higher rates than the British.The Sugar Act, for example, was enacted by the British government in 1764, increasing the tax on sugar and other imported items such as textiles, coffee, wine, and dyes. The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax on the American colonies, levying a duty on all printed publications such as newspapers, pamphlets, bills, legal documents, licenses, almanacs, dice, and playing cards. The American colonists met these two actions with the most vehement opposition.

Furthermore, after American protests, the majority of these levies were removed. The issue of contention was that the colonies were taxed by a British parliament that they did not elect members to. One of the fundamental reasons for the American Revolution was the issue of "no taxation without representation." Furthermore, the colonists knew that if they did not resist the aggressive British tax policy, the level of taxation would rise dramatically in the future. This has been identified as the Revolution's fundamental economic motivator. Despite colonists' lobbying, petitions, boycotts, and violence, the British Parliament was adamant in its right to tax the colonies, which inevitably led to war.