The American Revolution was not just the idealistic fight for liberty and freedom as it is usually portrayed; it was also a widespread conflict that resulted in numerous casualties on both sides. However, this conflict could have been avoided in many cases. The Revolution was the result of decades of poor decisions by the British government in its efforts to govern the colonies. The American Revolution occurred due to cultural differences, the ineffectiveness of England's colonial policies, and the effects of the French and Indian War. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay One of the main causes of the American Revolution was the cultural differences that had developed between the British and American colonies. One obvious difference between the two cultures was the popularity of liberal and republican ideas in the colonies of the time. Before the revolution, Enlightenment writers such as John Locke became extremely popular among colonists who sympathized with these ideas of opposition to tyranny. Additionally, Locke's idea of ​​government with the consent of the governed greatly influenced our founding fathers. Adopting these ideals in the colonies would be a first place to start as the colonies moved forward on the path to freedom. Another main cause of the American Revolution was the ineffectiveness of England's colonial policies. One mistake made by British policymakers was the Proclamation of 1763. This proclamation prohibited settlers from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort to stabilize relations with Native Americans whose lands were being encroached upon by settlers. The colonist of the time viewed this proclamation with genuine indignation. They viewed this act as a restriction of their right to land, which was a fundamental ideal of the settler at the time. This proclamation constituted in the minds of many colonists a blatant restriction of their freedoms and the first strike by English policymakers. The next mistake in English colonial policy was the taxes they began to levy on the colonists after the French and Indian War. They began with the Sugar Act of 1764, which actually lowered the tax on molasses, but severely punished any colonial smugglers caught transporting molasses. Although this tax did not provoke the widespread outrage of subsequent acts, it was the first step on the road to taxing the colonies. The first widely hated tax passed by the British Parliament was the Stamp Act of 1765. This law imposed a tax on all official documents, including: wills, birth certificates, playing cards, etc. This law was the first of the taxes to arouse widespread public outrage. The reason this act was so widely hated was because it affected almost everyone living in the colonies. Everyone needed these documents which were taxed and the law immediately sparked outrage. The Townshend Acts are another widely contested set of laws. This act taxed a plethora of goods destined for the colonies in an attempt to raise enough money to pay local colonial governors and judges. This was done in the hope that it would free these officials from colonial control, making them more likely to carry out the crown's policies. These acts were considered particularly heinous because they paid for royal authorities in the colonies that many colonists consideredas almost useless. One important thing about these new taxes is that we must remember that before this, settlers were rarely taxed and if they were, tax enforcement was minimal to non-existent. So when these taxis began to be levied and taxed against them, there was generally a public outcry. These taxes in particular are said to be among the main factors that led to the revolution and the creation of the phrase "no taxes without representation." Despite the widely hated Stamp Act, the colonists were still not ready to sever ties with England. The breaking point for many colonists was the passage of the Intolerable Acts. Passed in response to the Boston Tea Party, this law severely limited the rights of settlers, particularly those in Boston. The Intolerable Acts were a set of four acts that seriously hindered the ability of the colonists of Massachusetts, and to some extent, the other colonies, to live their lives in the manner to which they were accustomed. In Massachusetts alone, these acts not only closed the port of Boston, which was greatly detrimental to the city's entire economy, but they also placed the entire colonial government of Massachusetts under royal control by ensuring that all official appointments are made by the king or royal governor. Additionally, the Administration of Justice Act allowed royal authorities to move trials to other colonies and even Britain if they did not believe a fair trial would take place in Massachusetts. However, certain other intolerable acts affected all of the colonies. The main one was the Quartering Act which allowed British troops to be housed in colonial buildings. Although this would lead to the adoption of our own Third Amendment, at the time it was the least contested of the intolerable acts. Together, these acts would inflame settlers from Massachusetts to Georgia. However, the mistakes made by British officials in their colonial policies were not limited to taxes. They also made a serious error in their handling of the Gaspée affair. This incident occurred when a British customs ship ran aground while attempting to pursue colonial smugglers off the coast of Rhode Island. In order to obtain supplies, the soldiers on this ship essentially plundered a nearby colonial town. In response, local members of the Sons of Liberty then boarded the ship and burned it to the ground. After being arrested, these men were informed that they would not be tried by the Rhode Island authorities, but that the British would send them to an English court. This outraged many settlers who believed it was a sign that their justice system was not good enough. This was just another example of how ineffective British colonial policies angered the colonists to the point of pushing them into rebellion. The final cause of the American Revolution was due to the effects of the French and Indian War. The main consequence of the French and Indian War was to leave Britain on the verge of bankruptcy. The war had taken away so much of Britain's wealth that it had fallen into serious debt. To solve this problem, they began to tax the colonists heavily. These taxes, as mentioned above, would be one of the main causes of the anti-British sentiments felt around the colonies before the Revolution. However, there is another important question regarding the relationship between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The problem is that many settlers felt betrayed and abandoned by.