To what extent did economic issues provoke the American revolution? The American revolution was almost completely fueled by economic issues like taxation through the Stamp and Sugar acts and the limitation of sugar trade causing the economic downfall of the colonies and tension between the colonists and British.

Due to England's economic issues from their wars, the British struggled to find a way to pay off their debt. Their solution to their problem was to tax their colonists. The implication of the stamp, Townshend, tea, sugar, and currency act led to not only the Boston massacre, but also to the Boston tea party and ultimately the battle at Lexington and concord.

The stamp act “For every skin or piece of vellum or parchment, or sheet or piece of paper, on which shall be engrossed, written, or printed, any declaration, plea, replication, rejoinder, demurrer or other pleading, or any copy thereof; in any court of law within the British colonies and plantations in America, a stamp duty of three pence.” – a passage from the stamp act. This is one of 54 items on the list of things that need to stamped Showing that the colonists were hit quite hard all at once and without a say. This is on top of the sugar act and the currency act leaving the colonists in a large economic downfall and rising Tension between the colonists and British.

The Tea Act “for all teas… at the public sale of the united company of merchants of England trading to the East Indies, or which after that time shall be imported, by licence, in pursuance of the said therein and hereinafter mentioned act… which shall be exported from this kingdom, as merchandise, to Ireland, or any of the British colonies or plantations”- Passage from the tea act The British government allowed the East India Company a monopoly on the importation and sale of tea in the colonies, making all the merchants selling tea in the colonies lose money causing more economic issues and tension.

Without the multiple examples of taxation without representation the colonists would have continued to live under very limited British rule, or statutory neglect. Though one could argue that the without the taxation great Britain would have gone bankrupt due to war debts, Britain wasn’t a great power over the colonies at the time and would have affected them quite little.

The Boston Massacre On March 5, 1770 tensions rose high due the taxation the colonists began to throw rocks at the red coats who proceeded to fire into the crowd. This shows how the economic issue of taxation plagued the colonists five years before the American Revolution even started.

The Tea Act lead to the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain the sons of liberty dressed as Indians and dumped the British tea into the harbor.

Eventually after must conflict on April 19, 1775 the battle of Lexington and Concord happened between the colonists and British redcoats.