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Introduction

Use sources A, B and C and your own knowledge. How far was the outbreak of the war of American Independence due to the lack of willingness of the American colonies to compromise in the years 1770 to 1775? (24 marks) The outbreak of the War of American independence was partly due to the lack of willingness of the American colonists to compromise in the years of 1770 to 1775 but there were also a variety of other reasons. Some reasons include that Britain was too harsh to the colonies, the colonies were unreliable and untrustworthy and causes such as the first continental congress in 1774 and the Boston massacre also helped build up to the War of American independence. Firstly, it could be argued that the colonies lack of willingness to compromise in the years of 1770 to 1775 was the cause of the outbreak of the War of American independence. The American colonists were not open to any of Britain's policies and they spent a majority of the 1770's resisting against Britain's solutions to the problems in Britain and America. ...read more.

Middle

only a reason for causing the War of American independence but also were risking an the French threat and not preparing for that. In addition, another reason for the outbreak of the War of American independence was that the British made some drastic mistakes and the colonies misunderstood what the British were trying to do and therefore retaliated more brutally than they should have. Firstly, there was the Boston massacre which was a big mistake from the British and the American colonists were not at all happy with the British after that happened in 1770. The Bostonians saw the 'massacre' as a huge attack from the British and retaliated as strongly as they could. They turned the funerals of the men who were shot into political demonstrations and made sure that the soldiers were put on trail for murder. This caused a great deal of tension between the British and the American colonies and the British believed that the colonists were taking it too far. ...read more.

Conclusion

While acknowledging alliance to the crown, the declaration of rights and grievances, agreed on October 14th 1774, denied that colonies were subject to Parliaments authority. This was the start of American independence and lead to the War of American independence. Moreover, source C suggests that Britain was convinced that a dominant minority in the colonies was aiming at independence and that, if Britain didn't reassert her authority in the colonies then the empire would dissolve and Britain would revert to being a minor power. This worried Britain greatly and therefore they were more forceful then they should have been and this may have lead to the War of American independence. In conclusion, using all the sources and my own knowledge I have concluded that the most important cause of the War of American independence is a mix between the fact that the colonies were not willing to compromise with the British policies and that the British were too harsh on the colonies and therefore forced them to fight for independence in the end. ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level History of the USA, 1840-1968 section.