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"How far do you agree that the cause of the American Revolution was the introduction of the Tea Act in 1773?" , Essay Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire, £4.96
"How far do you agree that the cause of the American Revolution was the introduction of the Tea Act in 1773?" , Essay Unit 35.1 - Britain: losing and gaining an empire,
A* gained in the essay , "How far do you agree that the cause of the American Revolution was the introduction of the Tea Act in 1773?" for the Option 35: Britain Losing and Gaining a Empire EDEXCEL A-Level exam series (Paper 3).
How far do you agree that the cause of the American Revolution was the
introduction of the Tea Act in 1773?
[19/20 in History Edexcel: Britain Losing and Gaining an Empire]
The American Revolution, April 1775 to September 1783, ended with the formal independence of
the USA from British control. The colonists desire for the American Revolution comes from a
multifaceted range of reasons. One reason being the Tea Act of 1773 which the colonists saw as an
unfair attempt to tax them without their consent and its impact in harming colonial merchant
trading. The American settlers had a strong sense of independence and self-reliance which directly
contrasted the British attitudes causing tensions between them. However the most important reason
for the Revolution can be seen through the British attitudes, their imposition of taxes and oppressive
rule sparked the revolution and birthed the colonists desire for an independent sovereign nation.
This means it was not the Tea Act rather the British attitudes/ government's refusal to recognize the
colonists' rights which led to the outbreak of war.
The Tea Act, 1773, was a British law which granted the British East Indian Company a de facto
monopoly over the sale of tea in the American Colonies. The British East Indian Company was
suffering massive amounts of debts incurred primarily from annual contractual payments due to the
British government totalling £400,000 per year. The Tea Act primary goal was the save the EIC from
bankruptcy, by allowing them to lower the tea tax paid to the British government they were able to
sell tea more cheaply to the colonies. This would give them greater profits and make them more
competitive in the market. With the passing of the Tea Act, the seventeen million pounds of unsold
surplus tea the British East India Company owned could be sold to markets in the American colonies.
The aim of the act was not to raise revenue from the colonies but to save the EIC. The Tea act was
significant as it was a catalyst for the American Revolution as it angered the Americans who believed
it was another method of British oppression and was a direct threat to colonies markets. It was
crucial in reigniting the revelation as many pro-revolutionaries used this to justify the need for a
revolution, Samuel Adams said it was “plainly a trojan horse designed to seduce us into accepting
Parliament right to impose taxes”. This resulted in the Boston Tea Party, December 1773, where 60
Sons of Liberty boarded the tea ships (Darthmouth), in Boston, and threw £10,000 worth of tea into
the sea. This act showed an act of defiance and was a major cause in the creation of the coercive acts
as well worsening the rallying cries by the Americans of, “No taxation without representation”. The
Tea Act evidenced the need for a revolution. However, the Tea Act was not the main cause for the
American Revolution, as it acted as a catalyst used to escalate the existing conflict. The fundamental
cause of the conflict came from the British attitudes and oppression they inflicted on the Americans
through the Townhead duties, Stamp Act etc. In essence, the Tea Act was merely the spark that lit
the gunpowder of grievances that had been accumulating for years – a tipping point. The only reason
the Tea Act was as significant as it was because it was built upon years of anger caused by British
policies meaning it was the attitudes of the British that was the main reason for the Revolution.
One key cause of the American Revolution was the Americans themselves. The nature of the
Americans was at a conflict with the nature of the British treatment. The early Americans settlers
were British puritans who escaped the Catholic persecutions of the Protestant in the 1620s with the
aim of establishing an independent life in which they had autonomy. They were people who enjoyed
having ownership of their own land, voting rights and were skilled individualistic workers eg
farmers/fishermen in the North and Tobacco, Cotton workers in the South. This can be seen as in the
USA 50-80% of the adult population voted in lower house elections. Being puritans, they already had
a strong distaste for the monarchy and English government as they believed in self-governance. This
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