Causes+Of+The+Revolution

=**Causes of the American Revolution **= [|BrainPOP video: Causes of the Revolution] (username: wmslibrary; password: raiders)

**What was the American Revolution?**

 * The American Revolution was a war between the 13 colonists in America who wanted to be free from being controlled by England (Britain).
 * The Declaration of Independence was written by colonists as a way to join together saying they would no longer ruled by England.
 * The colonies became the United States of America.

There was many reasons why the colonies wanted independence from England. The events below were some of the reasons that forced the colonists to fight this England.

**Causes that lead to the Revolution**:

 * **The French and Indian Wa **r: British soldiers fought against French soldiers and Native Americans. Native Americans joined in the battle against the British because they were afraid the British would take over their land. In the peace treaty of 1763 the british got most of the French land in North America. Also as a result of the war, the British began taxing the colonists to pay for the war.


 * **Proclamation of 1763**: King George III of Britain made a law that kept the colonists from settling on the land captured by Britain from France during the French and Indian war (this was the land west of the Appalachian Mountains).


 * **The Stamp Act**: British tax on Colonists. Taxes on legal papers, ads, newspapers, almanacs, calendars, playing cars, etc. Everything was **stamped** as proof that it was paid for. The money was used to pay for British soldiers in the colonies.


 * **The Sugar Act**: British tax on Colonists. Placed taxes on sugar, coffee, indigo, and molasses.


 * **The Townshend Acts**: British tax on Colonists. Places taxes on imported goods like lead, paper, paint, glass, and tea. Money raised by taxes was used to pay for British soldiers in the colonies. These acts were later taken away.


 * **The Quatering Ac**t: Required the colonists to take British soldier (who had been sent to the colonies after the French and Indian War) into their homes. They had to feed and provide sleeping arrangements for these soldiers.


 * **The Tea Act**: After the Townshend Acts were taken back, the British made the Tea Act to symbolize British power. The Tea Act gave the British East India Company the right to ship tea directly from Asia to America. This lowered the price of tea in America since it did not have to go through Britain.


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The Boston Massacre**: In order to force colonists to pay taxes, British military troops were sent to the colonies. These military troops upset the colonists. In the winter of 1770 a small group of colonists in Boston gave the troops a hard time by throwing snowballs at them. The British soldiers then shot their guns and killed four colonits from Boston. This became known as the Boston Massacre.