Since the Great War for Empire happened, a string of changes in the relationship between the British Empire and colonial America have laid the groundwork towards rebellion in the continent and eventual independence of the colonies via the American Revolution. The British sought to tighten their control on their American territories, with their driving point being more on material interests provided by vast resources within the vast tracts of continental lands rather than genuine ancestral networks with the people living there. The result led to circumstances that motivated an uprising aimed at secession and independence from British Rule, which is justified on the part of the Americans due to abuse of their rights under British law, self-preservation by means of armed struggle and the protection of blossoming progress in their land at the time (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
America’s objection against British rule was justified primarily in terms of the parliament’s desire to increase taxation in the colonies. The empire incurred great debt following the Great War for Empire, even though their colonial territories in the continent expanded. Citing strained relationships with the Americans, policymakers within parliament sought to apply taxation in the colonies in the process. While the empire has the power to tax the colonies as it yields power over the territories, the Americans contested such move because of the fact that they only have virtual representation in parliament. The Americans saw the move as a challenge to their constitutional rights, saying that taxation increase in that way cannot happen without proper parliamentary representation. The British rebuffed said argument and said that such only applies within Great Britain and absolute power over the colonies enable them to implement increase in taxation. American attempts, spearheaded by Benjamin Franklin, to gain proper parliamentary representation failed, as the British asserted virtual representation, which was not enough for the Americans to justify taxation increase that targeted them. The reaction of Americans towards the apparently unjust move by the British parliament gave them the reason to revolt (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
When the Americas manifested their dissent towards the British parliament’s decision to increase their taxes, the security situation within the colonies gradually became untenable. Civil unrest brewed within the colonies, and it is from that point where the British took off in deciding to augment its military presence. The increasing presence of British military forces sent chilling effects to Americans. Compromises on taxation policies between both parties failed, and soon the British sought to beat the Americans to submission through military confrontations. Trouble in the realm of debates in the constitutionality of the taxation issue and economic anomalies drove both parties in heated conflicts that cost several lives in the process. Violent struggles, which hampered the ongoing development in the colonies, urged Americans to secede from the British Empire (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
Not only did the Americans felt the need to separate from the British Empire just for the sake of ending repression, but also because they gained the confidence to establish independence from their colonizers. During their engagement against the British on the implementation of higher tax provisions to fund the previous war, they exhibited a degree of confidence to dissent using academic reasons such as the constitutionality of such move. The distance of America from Great Britain gave further conditioning to Americans that they are living independently and prosperously without their British colonizers. The Americans’ desire to establish their nation on their own without the trouble caused by British repression justified their cause for rebellion (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
In sum, the Americans in the Revolution possessed reasonable grounds to stage a rebellion against the British. Their cause towards an independent country eliminated damaging consequences that could have further delayed developments in the continent, most notably the military conflicts and policy disagreements on taxation that served as the causes of their secessionist motives. At the same time, the Americans deemed themselves fit to establish a new nation without the distant British, which could only grant them virtual, not full, representation in parliament – a factor that caused them to protest against their colonizers, instigating the revolution leading to independence (Henretta, Edwards & Self, 2011).
References
Henretta, J., Edwards, R., & Self, R. (2011). America’s History (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
