The United States is the third largest country in the world by land size and population. Every continent and nation on the planet recognize America’s flag, while possessing their own thoughts and opinions about the superpower and its culture, though many, including Americans, do not fully comprehend the numerous causes for the Colonists’ declaration of Independence that brought this nation into existence.
The complete list of reasons for separating from Great Britain is far too extensive for this post, however, I will share several of the most prominent reasons. Let’s begin with the origin of the Thirteen Colonies.
The Pilgrims’ Settlement
By the year 1608, England required its citizens to belong to the Church of England, imprisoning those who attempted to join or form any other church. This strict law was disturbing to some citizens, who wished to worship God freely. These citizens were persecuted for their defiance to this condemning law, which lead a group called the Separatists to leave England and seek refuge in the Netherlands where they were more free to worship God and form their own beliefs.
Though they experienced more religious freedom in the Netherlands, the Separatists, better knowns as the Pilgrims, experienced new challenges, especially poverty. The Pilgrims worked long hours weaving, spinning, and making cloth with little pay; their financial situation was less severe back in England where they farmed. It seemed as if they were constrained by a tradeoff: the Separatists enjoyed more wealth in England, but more freedom in the Netherlands.
Eventually, the pilgrims found a means to break away from this unforgiving compromise, they decided to build a settlement in the New World with its fresh opportunities. England had been attempting to establish colonies in North America for a few decades; England’s first successful colony had only been establish a year prior to the Pilgrims’ leaving England.
The Pilgrims gained a patent from the Virginia Company to establish a settlement within the company’s jurisdiction. London businessmen, known as Merchant Adventurers, supplied the finances for the Mayflower, the crew, and a year’s worth of supplies; the Merchants invested in the Pilgrims’ voyage as they were expecting a profit due to the requirement that the Pilgrims would work for the company during the first seven years.
The Pilgrims set sail in the year 1620, however, things would not progress according to plan. The intension was to land near the Hudson River, modern day New York, within the boundaries of the already established Virginia Colony, but they veered off course and landed further north at Plymouth Rock, modern day Massachusetts. Economic migrants that the Pilgrims were forced to take aboard the Mayflower argued that they were no longer bound by the Virginia Company’s charter since they landed far north of their target. Realizing the necessity of rules for self governance to avoid the potential of rebellion, Pilgrim leaders wrote the Mayflower Compact to address the issue.
The site where the Pilgrims had landed became a new English colony: Plymouth Colony. The colony’s first winter was brutal, 49% of the people that boarded the Mayflower died within the first year, leaving only 52 people to inhabit the colony. In addition to such hardships, the colony struggled to make any profit at all; it took 28 years for the Pilgrims to repay their debt. Finally, Plymouth Colony gained financial stability when they exported beaver pelts to England, which were in great demand, though, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established near Plymouth, which began competing with the Pilgrims for beaver pelts. Ultimately, the more successful colony of Massachusetts Bay consumed the struggling colony of Plymouth.
Colonial Development
After the Pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock, the English Colonies continued to be founded and developed for nearly 140 years in relative peace until Britain became officially involved in a conflict with France in the year 1756. The war that would ensue is known as the French and Indian War, or the Seven Years’ War; it began when France expanded its territory into the Ohio River Valley which was encroaching on the British Colonies.
In the early stages of the war, Britain suffered a series of quick, humiliating defeats, until the new British leader William Pitt borrowed a large amount of money to fund the war effort; Pitt used this money to persuade Prussia and the Colonists to fight against France.
This European war fought for the control of North American territory in the Colonies’ backyards ultimately drug Colonists into the conflict, the most distinguished of which is arguably British Colonel George Washington. Britain’s hiring of foreign allies assisted in their success, leading them to conquer much of France’s territory in North America, which prompted Spain to join France in the fight against Britain. The French and Indian War ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1763 wherein Britain seized the French territory of Canada and the Spanish territory of Florida.
Britain’s acquisition of these new territories secured the Colonies’ borders; permanent British army units were placed in the Colonies to defend the newly won territory, or so King George III claimed.
Frustrations and Usurpations
The British war effort during the French and Indian War placed the kingdom in severe debt, and the British troops stationed in the Colonies were an ongoing cost. King George III deemed it was fair to impose taxes on the Colonies without their consent, arguing that Britain bore the debt for the Colonies’ interests. One of most infamous of such taxations was the Stamp Act, where the Colonists were taxed on all paper documents; this taxation roused the Colonists to unrest, they responded with the phrase No Taxation Without Representation as they thought it was unfair to levy taxes on the Colonies without allowing them to elect representatives into Parliament.
The military presence in the Colonies further raised the Colonists’ concerns and distrust of Great Britain; they questioned the British Parliament’s intentions for placing a garrison within the Colonies to defend the new territory after the threat of the French had already been removed.
A few years after the stamp act was passed, two thousand British soldiers occupied the city of Boston, attempting to enforce Britain’s tax laws, and on the fateful night of March 5, 1770, a crowd of furious Colonists gathered around a lone, British soldier on King Street in Boston.
During the confrontation, the soldier reacted to their anger by striking a Colonist with his bayonet, which provoked the crowd to throw snowballs, ice, and stones at him in retaliation. The frightened and angered soldier cried out for reinforcements; his plea was answered by Captain Thomas Preston who brought seven more soldiers to his aid. The violence continued to escalate, Colonists began striking the soldiers with clubs and sticks until a shot rang out, followed by several more. Five Colonists lay dead, six wounded; this was the Boston Massacre.
Captain Preston claimed that he ordered the soldiers to hold their fire, yet they fired on their own accord. Two of the soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and branded on their thumbs, according to English law. Preston and the other soldiers were found not guilty; future US president John Adams defended the British in court. The massacre transformed the Colonists’ unrest into outrage.
Only a few years after the Boston Massacre, the British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which taxed the Colonists on the tea they consumed, after the repeal of other taxations such as the Stamp Act. This new taxation sparked Patriots, Colonists rebelling against Britain’s tyranny, to sneak aboard ships carrying tea and dump 342 crates, about 90,000 pounds or 45 tons, of tea into the harbor; perhaps the Bostonians were still fueled by their rage from the massacre. This event was later called the Boston Tea Party, and it is the event that greatly popularized coffee in America as Patriots switched from tea to coffee. King George III retaliated by increasing the military presence in Boston and shutting down the harbor, while demanding the Colonists to reimburse him for the tea.
Tensions between Britain and the Colonies continued to rise, King George III would seemingly not budge, and neither would the Patriots. Some Patriots gave fiery speeches, one of which was famously given by Patrick Henry during Virginia’s colonial leaders meeting in March of 1775 when he boldly spoke Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death!
In April of 1775, British troops landed in Boston to march into Concord with the intent to seize and destroy a cache of the Colonists’ arms, which would render them defenseless; the Colonists would be incapable of resisting any form of tyrannical rule, therefore King George III could oppress the Colonies at his whim.
News of this intent had reached some Patriots before the troops’ arrival, and as a countermeasure, Paul Revere and William Dawes were dispatched to alert residents of the attack and to call militiamen to arms once the British had landed.
At daybreak, 700 British troops arrived in Lexington, halting to face 77 defiant militiamen that had been awakened. A British major yelled to the militiamen Throw Down Your Arms! Ye Villains, Ye Rebels. As if the man who seeks to deprive another man of his right to self defense is not a villain himself. Captain John Parker gave the militiamen the order Don’t Fire Unless Fired Upon, But If They Mean To Have A War, Let It Begin Here. At some point, someone had fired a shot that was followed by several British volleys, which dispersed the militiamen. Eight Patriots had been killed and nine were wounded; only one British soldier was wounded. The war had begun, and it began where Parker demanded.
The British continued to Concord, falsely assuming the Patriots were defeated. The Patriots confronted the British who fired first, only to retreat from their position after a retaliating, Patriot volley crashed through their ranks. The British eventually retreated to Boston with a few thousand Patriots firing on them constantly for the entire 18 miles. These battles officially started the American War for Independence, or the Revolutionary War.
The Revolutionary War ended when King George III reluctantly recognized the United States’ independence in 1783, which only lasted until the War of 1812, but that is a story for another day.
The Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, written by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, particularly describes the challenges and tyranny that the Colonies suffered, especially Massachusetts Bay, and the necessity of fighting back, hence the title of the declaration.
After the first two paragraphs, the Declaration of Independence clearly lists 27 grievances which the king committed against the Colonies.
What is your favorite event or who is your favorite person from the Revolutionary War?
Onward American 🇺🇸
Source: Why Pilgrims Came to America
Source: The French and Indian War
Source: The Battles of Lexington and Concord
Onward American 