Why The Colonies Revolted

In the words of John Adams from the play, 1776, “For ten years King George and his Parliament have gulled, culled, and diddled these Colonies with their illegal taxes -- Stamp Acts, Townshend Acts, Sugar Acts, Tea Acts -- and when we dared stand up like men they stopped our trade, seized our ships, blockaded our ports, burned our towns, and spilled our blood -- and still this Congress won’t grant any of my proposals on Independence even so much as the courtesy of open debate!” Essentially, my point is that the British were overtaxing the colonies. In the monologue, Adams lists four of the most famous taxes the British imposed unto the colonies. Although, there are many more taxes that are much less well known, but still played a major role contributing to the writing of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolutionary War. The Currency Act was a devastating law enacted to prevent the colonists from using paper money. Printing it, spending it, or using it as a form of currency was completely banned. This coupled with the quartering act, which was enacted one year later, stated that colonists were required to house British soldiers, feed British soldiers, and make sure British soldiers have their own bed in which to sleep. Many of the colonists resented this because they believed that the British soldiers were only there to prevent the colonists from breaking these, in their beliefs, unjust laws. My point being, the main reason for all of the rebellion that led to independence is taxes. This may be an overly simplistic way of saying it, but it is true.