Restriction of civil liberties, parliamentary taxation, British military measures, and legacy and colonial religious ideas were the four main factors culminating in the American Revolution. Each factor contributed more or less than the others towards the rebellion of the colonists. .
Parliamentary taxation, which Britain used through the many different "Acts", was the main factor prompting the Americans to rebel in 1776. In August of 1764 Boston merchants united in a protest against the Sugar Act with an organized boycott on imported English luxury goods. The idea of non-importation quickly spread. The mechanics of Boston joined the protest by refusing to purchase their leatherwork clothes from any source except the manufacturers in Massachusetts, and by September the mechanics in New York join the boycott as well. On May 29th, 1769 the 29 year old Patrick Henry presented 7 resolutions that condemned the attempts of Parliament to tax the American colonies. The next day, most of Henry's points were found to be legitimate and were adopted by the House of Burgesses. The Sons of Liberty formed in 1765 to go against supporters of the Stamp Act. The Colonel Isaac Barre, who opposed the idea of Greenville's Stamp Act, adopted the name, "Sons of Liberty". Between October 7th and 25th of 1765, the Stamp Act Congress was formed of delegates from nine of the colonies. They were united in opposing the Stamp Act, but had different reactions to it. Eventually, on March 4th 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed by Parliament in London. .
The restriction of civil liberties caused the colonists to rebel almost as much as the taxation in Parliament. The colonists grew attached to the chant, " No Taxation without Representation," which became James Otis's favorite phrase when he spoke out against the Sugar Act at a town meeting on May 24th, 1764 in Boston. The key words to the chant are "Without representation," because the colonists would not have minded taxes as much as long as they had a say in Parliament.
