American Motives to Revolt

The Declaration of Independence that was signed on July 4th, 1776 did not represent the culimination of a practical policy decision to separate from Britain. It was a response--an angry, desperate response--to British oppression of North American colonists. Here are ten specific British policies to which the signers of the Declaration of Independence were responding.

1. Taxation Without Representation

To fund its military projects, and to assert its control over an increasingly independent group of colonies, Britain began to enforce painfully high taxes and tariffs on such goods as molasses, paper, sugar, and tea. With no representation in Parliament, American colonists who felt the taxes to be excessive had no recourse other than civil disobedience.

2. No Free Trade

During the 18th century, Britain was an empire in competition, sometimes militarily and sometimes economically, with other empires. In order to prevent other nations from benefitting from the North American colonial market, Britain brought its navy to bear against U.S. attempts to purchase non-British goods. Given the prohibitively high trade tarrifs enforced by Britain (see below), this policy was for all practical purposes unenforceable.

3. Unlimited Search and Seizure

To discourage smuggling, the British government awarded Writs of Assistance to British officers in the colonies. The Writs gave officers the power to search any residence or building, without warning or supervision, and to confiscate whatever they deemed to be smuggled or otherwise improperly obtained goods. This widely abused policy would ultimately inspire the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

4. Destruction of Colonial Government

The governments of the colonies, unrepresented in the British system and remote from the imperial legislative process, began to create their own elected bodies. The British government did not care for this idea, and took extra measures to see to it that local elected colonial government did...