The American Revolution is debatably the most prominent defining moment in American history. The separation of the colonies from Britain was inevitable, but the way in which the colonies separated was radical and bloody, not gradual and peaceful. This revolution was a culmination of events and policies. The Seven Years War, Stamp Act and Townsend Acts, Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, and Battle of Lexington and Concord all played a part in the beginning of the war. The colonists, in each instance, can be blamed for the conflicts between themselves and Britain and are entirely at fault for the long, enduring war. .
The first instance when a divergence between the colonies and their mother country became apparent was the Seven Years War. This war, in which Britain and the colonists fought the French and Native Americans, was clearly instigated by the colonists. Many of the colonists were voracious merchants who were focused on gaining land and goods. This greed led them to unjustifiably attempting to expand into land owned by the Native Americans and French. War became the only option for the colonists and the French, as the French could not continue to allow the atrocities of the British colonists to continue. Since the colonies were incapable of fighting the war that they had provoked, Britain had to take almost full responsibility of providing ammunition and soldiers to fight the war. The colonists had caused not only grief, but a large debt for their mother country. .
To attempt to start paying off the considerable debt created by the war, Britain began directly taxing the colonies. This was the first time they placed a direct tax on the colonies as they had previously practiced salutary neglect, which was a policy of noninvolvement. It allowed the colonies to have a lot of freedom, but with the new circumstances, a different approach was necessary. Britain had to make up a two million dollar debt and since the taxes in England were already extremely high, they had to tax the colonies as well.