Taxation was clearly one of the major factors that led to the colonists' rebellion. In 1763, George Grenville became the prime minister of England. While in office, he noticed that England was spending four times more in the colonies than it collected from them. Also, England was in debt due to the French and Indian war. He felt taxes should be collected from the colonists. He passed the Sugar Act in 1764, which put a tax on foreign sugar and molasses. He also set up the Stamp Act in 1765 that required the colonists to purchase stamps for anything written or printed on paper. The Townshend Acts also put a tax on glass, lead, tea, paper, and dyes.

The colonists were not pleased with these new taxes. Before, the British policy was one of salutary neglect, which meant that they left the colonies alone and did not interfere with their affairs. Now, not only were the colonists being taxed but they were also not fairly rep

Because the British had previously left the colonies alone, people were unhappy with the sudden change in British military involvement. Britain began to send soldiers to the colonies in order to make sure that the laws were being enforced and that the taxes were being collected. In order to pay these soldiers, the Quartering Act was passed in 1766, which required the colonists to set up accommodations for these British soldiers. The colonists strongly resented this new plan. They were completely against having to live with the British soldiers, whom they didn't like in the first place. This act also went against the colonists' civil liberties, but since there was no constitution at the time, the colonists could declare that this was wrong. Their only choice was to rebel against these soldiers.

In conclusion, by 1776 the colonists were more than ready to rebel against their mother country. Fueled by a history of political and religious ideas thanks to the Enlightenment and their beliefs, the colonists only needed a spark to convince them that what they needed was to break away from England. This spark, of course, came from the new and unfair military measures and the various laws that wer

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Approximate Word count = 806
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)