Speaking about what led to the revolution in the United States – the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, or the Stamp Act – the most rational reason seems to be the result of all these events. All of the mentioned examples of the cruel and imperialistic approach of the London metropolis to their colony make a terrific impression. Thus, it was the sum of all the events that took place and the public reaction to them that led to the revolution.
Great Britain’s tariffs on colonists were eventually repealed, except for the duty on tea. They had no desire to forego the almost 1.2 million pounds of tea the colonists consumed annually in tax income (Lombardo, 2021). The British East India Company had millions of pounds of excess tea, thus, it was forced to file for bankruptcy due to the colonists’ boycott of the British East India Company’s tea sales and smuggling of Dutch tea.
American colonists and British soldiers entered a street brawl in Boston on March 5, 1770. The brawl, known as the Boston Massacre, started when a group of insurgent colonists, angry at the presence of British soldiers on their streets, threw snowballs, ice, and oyster shells at a British sentinel manning Boston Customs (Lombardo, 2021). When reinforcements came, soldiers started firing in the crowd, wounding six people, and murdering five colonists. The Boston Massacre and its repercussions heightened colonists’ resentment of Britain.
It could be said that the first shots fired at Lexington and Concord were the point of no return. However, the Draconian laws, both the law on stamps and the absurd taxes on tea, became their foundation. The real Rubicon of the American Revolution was the Boston massacre, when the empire, which itself forced people to rebel, shot a crowd of citizens. At that moment, everyone finally understood British tyranny and that it was worth fighting for their freedom and independence.
Reference
Lombardo, J. (2021). American: Revolution and everything You should know through the narrative of markers: Battle of Washington ultimate general. Independently Published.