What were the Causes of the American War of Independence?

The main causes of the American Independence war were as follows:

(a) The main underlying cause was Britain’s attempt to tighten imperial con­trol in the economic field by regulating American commerce and industry to suit British interests (by policy of Mercantilism).

(b) English Navigation or Trade Acts required goods to be shipped to and from America, only in English ships.

(c) Many goods like tobacco, cotton, sugar could be sold only in England, where they were taxed.

(d) European goods sold to America had to be landed first in England, taxed and then transported in English ships.

(e) Americans were discouraged from manufacturing iron and textiles, which were supplied from England.

(f) Colonists were prevented from settling in West America as these lands had been bought by the English aristocracy.

(g) The Stamp Act increased the tension, as colonists were forced to pay a tax on stamps which were to be fixed on many kinds of documents. This led to the demand ‘No taxation without representation’.

(h) Americans objected to British taxation on consumer goods, particularly tea that led to the Boston Tea Party and the beginning of the revolution.