America’s descent into full-blown revolution against England began with the Sugar Act-which introduced to the colonists, a trade tax. Next was the Stamp Act; this act introduced proposed duties on twelve items commonly used by the colonists. Then came the Quartering Act-which forced colonists to pay for British soldiers accommodations in America. Following the Quartering Act came an increasing number of British customs agents at American ports. Then the Currency Act, which restricted issuance of paper money in the colonies and forced American money to have the same value as the pound that circulated in England.10 The
Coercive Acts, which stripped Massachusetts of self-government following the Boston Tea Party, pushed the colonies even more, which in-turn caused them to organize an opposition which then lead to the key battles at Lexington and Concord
Massachusetts in the spring of 1775.11
When the British Parliament enacted the Stamp Act of 1765, it was the first time Parliament had attempted to directly tax the colonists.12 Although many colonists questioned some of the other imposed taxes, “nothing in fact that the parent state (England) had ever done in one hundred and fifty years provoked such widespread fury as the Stamp Act.”13 Economically linked merchants and workers shared similar concerns about the new tax.14 They combined to adopt and enforce embargoes of British trade vessels; these embargoes were designed to force the
British Parliament to repeal the Stamp Act.15
At their root, the American colonies originated independently from the
British government; they were also physically separated by the vast Atlantic Ocean.
Thus, they flourished in local self-determination.16 Overall, it was the British Parliament’s desire to dominate the colonies and extract more taxes from them that lead to extreme actions, then war, in America.
Although the Revolutionary War ended the regular flow of English immigrants to America, it did attract foreign adventurers and dreamers from various countries who were keen on joining the war effort however; not all of them originally sided with the Americans. After France recognized American independence in late 1777, more than four thousand French volunteers came to the aid of America; in 1781 the French fought alongside George Washington’s troops in the Battle of Yorktown. In addition, a French naval fleet prevented the British from providing support to ground troops in this battle which aided in
Washington’s victory and ended the fighting. Very few, possibly none, of the Frenchmen who survived the battles of this war remained in the American colonies, however.
Two Germans and two Polish also came to the aid of America. The first
German was Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben. Von Steuben arrived in America in
1777; he was appointed as inspector general and was assigned to train the American troops that formed the early Continental army. Von Steuben fought with valor during the war; after the war, he became an American citizen and lived in New York until his death in 1794. The second German was Johann Kalb. Kalb fought with distinction and was killed in battle by the British in 1780. Thaddeus Kosciusk was an engineer from Poland; he built fortifications at West Point from 1778 to 1780; he died in Switzerland in 1817. Count Casimir Pulaski, also from Poland, joined the American army in 1777. He received a commission as a general in 1778, and was killed in battle in 1779.
As for the British army, they heavily recruited German troops to their side. Fortunately for the American colonies, although the Germans were well trained in classical military maneuvers, they were not overly interested in this war and thus they did not fight with staunch fervor. Nevertheless, the huge number of Germans recruited and brought to America by the British army alarmed the Americans. To induce them to desert the British army, the 1776 American Congress passed a bill that offered free land to any member of the British army who chose to switch sides. Additionally, in December of 1776, after a short but victorious battle with German forces who were aiding the British, General George Washington captured the Germans who survived the battle. Many of these German prisoners chose to support America; and at the end of the war, they joined their fellow immigrants and blended into German communities in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
After the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the American Revolution officially ended and to a certain extent normal immigration to the United States of America resumed. However, by this point, not all Americans were thrilled about having open borders or allowing just anyone to become a United States citizen. Some Americans felt strongly about establishing guidance in the form of laws for immigrants who wanted to become a naturalized citizen.
By the time England had enacted new tax laws in the American colonies the colonies themselves had matured. They had grown into an entity of their own; and to such an extent, they had become self sufficient and wanted independence from the English Monarchy. So when Great Britain actively tried to collect the taxes, the colonies rebelled and pushed back; their defense- the authority by which the tax was levied in the first place.17 The American Revolution did not start because of one incident; it was a culmination of incidents; and another tax was one of the last straws. Bottom line- the American colonies wanted to be free from ties to Great Britain.