Question

explain the causes of the American Revolution beginning with the Proclamation of 1763 through the Declaration of Independence.

Answer 1

Throughout the war several native tribes had sided with the French, and they soon became unhappy with British rule. A pan-tribal confederacy led by Ottawa chief Pontiac rose up in rebellion in May 1763, just a few months after the formal end of the Seven Years 'War. His soldiers, capturing eight of them, attacked a dozen British forts and raided several frontier settlements. Hundreds of people died in the process. In response the British handed out to Pontiac's followers smallpox-infected blankets. In addition, 20 defenseless Native Americans were massacred by a group of whites known as the Paxton Boys who had little to do with the battle.

The British made a flagrant attempt to enforce the declaration, halting settlers regularly as they traveled west and forcefully removing others. Redcoats from Fort Pitt in present-day Pittsburgh also burned some nearby settlers 'huts on one occasion and escorted them back across the frontier. Colonists, however, disregarded the declaration largely without fear of retribution. Some wanted only enough land for themselves and their families, while others were speculators looking down the road to make a hefty profit. In 1767, for example, George Washington wrote to his agent in favor of unlawfully acquiring as much Native American land as possible.

The new acquisitions eventually failed to silence colonial frustration with the 1763 Proclamation. And while it would subsequently be overshadowed by other grievances against the British, such as the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the so-called Unreasonable Acts and the Boston Massacre, it remained so alarming that the Declaration of Independence blamed King George III for "the the requirements for new land appropriations."