Welcome to Advanced Level History Unit One Facilitator- Alicia Palmer

The American Revolution

Course Introduction.Welcome to Advanced level History Unit One. This course is a paced course with an eight week time limit. Your syllabus outlines specific requirements for you, so please review your syllabus regularly..During this first module I will talk you through the causes of the revolution. This is done to give you a feeling of comfort in the online environment.

Causes of the American Revolution

Heavy Taxation Taxation without representation Neglect by the mother country Need for control of their own country Militarism

Heavy Taxation Britain’s constant wars had placed the American colony in a very vulnerable state. The colonies were being taxed excessively by Britain because she had wasted money in unnecessary wars. Visit the following websites for extensive information about the taxation of the American colonies.

Heavy Taxation Cont’d Taxation to fund war debt was the first and largest issue that radicals could latch onto to engender popular support. The colonist thought it was very unfair to tax them for wars that they were not directly involved in. Mercantilism was an economic practice that meant that the first reason for colonial existence was to amass riches for the mother country.

Heavy Taxation Cont’d The Colonies had been a strong source of wealth for Britain. Mercantilism was a very successful practice and Britain relied on this relationship with the colonies. The very purpose for the war expense that Great Britain was trying to recoup with taxation was to preserve this valuable resource. The colonies were not happy with the increasing unreasonable taxes that Britain was levying on the colonists.

Guiding Questions 1. Based on the information provided from the two websites explain two taxes that you have learnt about. 2. Why did Britain seek to tax her colonies so heavily? 3. How did heavy taxes seek to isolate the colonies from Britain?

Taxation Without Representation. The websites below details taxation without representation. Read the information listed and explain what the term taxation without representation means to you.

One Penny Stamp Act- Stamps -1765

Taxation without representation –Cont’d People - like James Otis - raised the issue of taxation without representation. Why should American colonists pay taxes to England when they had no representation in the English Parliament?James Otis But England was just getting started with colonial taxes. By the following year, Parliament (for the first time) imposed a tax (the Stamp Act) which required Americans to pay duties directly to England, not to local legislatures.Stamp Act

Taxation without representation Cont’d The law required Americans to buy stamps for ALL printed material (including playing cards, newspapers, dice, and legal documents), thus taxing the most mundane aspects of daily life.for ALL printed materialtaxing The people were outraged. To make matters worse, George III expected "his" colonists to house and feed British soldiers (the Quartering Act of 1765).peopleoutraged Source:

Neglect by the Mother Country Britain had neglected her colonies for along time. The colonies were autonomous. They resented the fact that Britain was not concerned about their welfare but only sought to tax them. The colonies had no representation in the British parliament and so they did not have a say in how they were being taxed. This was unfair because they were more successful than the mother country.

Websites : Neglect of Mother Country This website defines salutary neglect. ‘ This websites an over all view of the revolution and it also gives a possible reason why the colonies were neglected.

Control of their own country American colonists were tired of paying heavy taxes that did not benefit the colonies. The only way they could achieve this was by gaining control of the 13 colonies. Revolution seemed to be the only practical decision.

Militarism - Activity After visiting the following website : Write a poem explaining why militarism was a cause of the revolution. Definition :militarism a political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests. Source: word reference.com

Summary This module examined five of the major causes of the American Revolution. They are as follows: Heavy taxation, Taxation without representation, Neglect by the Mother Country, Need to control their own country and Militarism. The websites provided in this module provides detailed information on the causes. The aim is to get you involved in your own learning. By visiting the websites you will learn additional information about the causes of the revolution.

References