What were the causes of the American Revolution?

With strong
commitment and backing from Great
Britain, the British colonies won the French and Indian War in
1763. This
removed France from the borders of the thirteen original colonies and thus took
away
the threat of France conquering the North American seaboard. This
victory, ironically, removed
Great Britain's chief value to the
colonists.

Because they no longer needed
the British army
(to repel another power near their borders), the American elite began to see

the British control of the colonies as a problem. The British, naturally enough, wanted
the
Americans to help pay for a costly war that was fought, as far as the
British were concerned,
mostly for the benefit of the colonists. The
colonists, however, deeply resented the extra taxes
that the British started
to impose.

The colonists also feared that taxes,
such as
those on tea or stamps, would set a precedent for more taxation. They resented as
well
British intrusions into American affairs, such as the refusal to allow
the...