Why was there a revolutionary war?

Question

the REVOLUTIONARY WAR PERIOD

Answer 1

It was a bundle of political and economic factors -- from the restrictions caused by the British mercantilist system (and esp the British competition with France) to the fact that American colonists who had long been allowed to handle local affairs themselves, including legislating for themselves (something Edmund Burke dubbed a "wise and salutary neglect") were suddenly being told, after the French & Indian War, that Parliament was now in charge.

But one overarching issue or set of issues that must not be forgotten is the colonial BELIEFS about their RIGHTS and how they were being usurped -- and what Bernard Bailyn called "The ideological origins of the American Revolution" [see his classic book with that title]

Here are are some specific ways this worked out

One writer's suggested list of the "Top 10 Civil Liberties Violations That Helped Cause the American Revolution"

1) Taxation Without Representation
2) No Free Trade
3) Unlimited Search and Seizure
4) Destruction of Colonial Government
5) Oppression of Political Protesters
6) Immunity for Corrupt and Abusive British Officers
7) Direct Control of the Criminal Justice System
8) Guilty by Parliament - no guarantee of trial by jury
9) Forced Quartering of Soldiers
10) Closure of the Boston Port
http://civilliberty.about.com/od/historyprofiles/tp/independence.htm
(the page includes an explanation of each point)
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The BEST source is the things the founders themselves wrote on the topic

Specific enumerations of the liberties the colonists believed had been violated are found in the various written complaints by individual colonies and by the Second Continental Congress at the beginning of the Revolution. The best known of these is, of course, the list found in the Declaration of Independence (as THE reasons for which they were declaring independence), but there were many others. One of the most helpful might be the "Declarations and Resolves" by the FIRST Continental Congress (October 1774). You can read it here:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/resolves.htm

And here is the text of the Declaration of Independence
http://www.law.indiana.edu/uslawdocs/declaration.html
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For some further historical perspective on these complaints, and the history behind the ideas of the people's rights, note the observations about the "Declaration of Rights on 1689" and the declarations of the states (colonies) here:
http://www.saumag.edu/edavis/AmLit/2004/DeclarationofIndependenceMaierNotes.html

There are clearly economic issues involved -- taxation, for instance, can have major economic impact, and the effects of limitations on free trade (esp.since this was a change in practice/enforcement after the French & Indian War) certainly hit the colonists' pocketbooks. But these things were not enough in themselves -- it was the conviction that their prior rights as Englishmen were being trampled on that finally sparked Revolution.
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Another excellent place to go for perspective on which "civil liberties" the American colonists felt had been threatened or violated is the"Bill of Rights" (the first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution), The first EIGHT of these enumerate and guarantee what we would recognize as civil liberties. And many if not all of these were specifically in response to the sorts of rights the colonists believed they were supposed to have as Englishmen, but which the King and Parliament had not been honoring.

I - no national establishment of religion, or prohibition of free exercise, freedom of speech and of the press; the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances

II -right to keep and bear arms

III - no quartering of soldiers without owner's consent and by law

IV - no unreasonable searches (warrants required)

V - cannot be held for crime without indictment, nor put in double jeopardy; cannot be compelled to testify vs. oneself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

VI -right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury. . . must know charges, be confronted by witnesses. . . able to defend self

VII - right of trial by jury in larger civil cases

VIII - no excessive bail or fines imposed, no cruel and unusual punishments
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html

Note that several of these are related to judicial protection -- to be fairly tried, etc. and by one's peers. This all brings to mind some of the "Intolerable Acts" passed by Parliament as punishment for the Boston Tea Party. These included the "Quartering Act" and the "Administration of Justice Act" which took away the local administration of justice in Massachusetts. (It was THESE acts that were specifically laid out in the "Declarations and Resolves" mentioned above.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intolerable_Acts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administration_of_Justice_Act_1774

Answer 2

For a specific answer, you'll have to give us a specific revolutionary war.

In general, revolution occurs when some or most people dislike their current government to the point that they will fight a war to change it.




Revolution: (Politics) A fundamental change in political organization, or in a government or constitution; the overthrow or renunciation of one government, and the substitution of another, by the governed.

The violence of revolutions is generally proportioned to the degree of the maladministration which has produced them. --Macaulay.

Note: When used without qualifying terms, the word is often applied specifically, by way of eminence, to: (a) The English Revolution in 1689, when William of Orange and Mary became the reigning sovereigns, in place of James II. (b) The American Revolution, beginning in 1775, by which the English colonies, since known as the United States, secured their independence. (c) The revolution in France in 1789, commonly called the French Revolution, the subsequent revolutions in that country being designated by their dates, as the Revolution of 1830, of 1848, etc.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Answer 3

Read an interesting book called:

'A GREAT IMPROVISATON: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America' (2005) by Stacy Schiff.

Where the author alluded to France's 1765 promise to England after the Seven Years War (French & Indian War) to return the favor and use 'agent provocateurs' to institigate rebellions within British colonies.

French agents in 1765 went out to some of Britain's 56 colonies to foster discontent and initiate rebellion just like the British did to France in some of her colonies during the war. French agents would locate the disaffected and ambitious to rabble rouse against their British government and supply these colonial dissenters with money, materials, and motivation.

Answer 4

because people wanted change. usually a revolution occurs when people are tired of the way they are and they want change.