One of the reasons that the colonists decided to break from Great Britain was because they believed that they were not given certain political rights that every person should be given. Another reason that the colonists decided to break from Great Britain was because they felt that Parliament was denying them of basic economic rights such as putting restrictions on trade and imposing unfair taxes upon them. Finally, another main reason that the colonists decided to break from Great Britain was because they believed that they were not being given the respect that they deserve by the people of Great Britain, especially the aristocrats and members of Parliament.

For a long period of time Great Britain did not pay much attention to their colonies in America. This was due to the fact that Great Britain was in the midst of a civil war and then later on the French and Indian war. They devoted most of their time, effort, and money into the wars so they did not have a lot of time, people, or money left to govern the colonies and keep them under their control. The distance across the Atlantic Ocean and the size of America also made it difficult for the British to control due to the amount of time it took to travel and get messages back and forth. This period of time when Great Britain did not enforce much control is known as the Period of Salutary Neglect. During this period the colonists began to learn to govern themselves. They had many economic and political freedoms that they otherwise would not have had if the British enforced control. They became used to these freedoms and that is part of what set the revolution in effect. When the British were finished fighting the wars, they were able to focus back on their control of the colonies. Since the colonists were used to economic and political freedom they had during the period of Salutary Neglect, when the British started cracking down and creating policies to limit the colonists they became angry.

One reason the colonists decided to break from Great Britain was because they believed that they were being denied of certain political rights. Before the period of Salutary Neglect, the colonists had a lot of political freedom. They basically had the power to govern themselves through colonial assemblies with a few exceptions. the French and Indian war Parliament began passing laws like the Proclamation Line and the Declaratory Act which began limiting the colonists political freedom. The Proclamation line was an act that forbid the colonists to move west of the Appalachian Mountains. Most colonists saw this as a violation of their rights and became angry. Many colonists continued to move past the Appalachian Mountains and because the British were still in debt from the war they did not have the money to enforce the Proclamation Line strictly. The Declaratory Act was another act past by Parliament that led the colonists to believe that the British were denying them political rights. The Declaratory Act stated that parliament retained total control over the colonies. This enraged the colonists because it took away a lot of their power to make their own laws. The final event that led to the colonists feeling that they were being denied of political rights was when Parliament passed the Coercive Acts. One of the things these Acts did was it banned all colonial assemblies in the colony of Massachusetts. This left the colonists of Massachusetts with absolutely no political rights at all.

Another reason the colonists decided to break away from Great Britain was because they felt that Parliament was denying them of their basic economic rights. During the Period of Salutary Neglect the colonist had a lot of economic freedoms. Since the British were not enforcing things like Mercantilism too heavily the colonists could trade anything they wanted with whomever they wanted. After the French and Indian war the British began to crack down on the Mercantilism policy. The British banned the colonists to trade with anyone but Great Britain. The British also banned the colonists from mass producing their own goods so this forced them to buy a lot of their things form Great Britain.

Another way that Great Britain limited the colonists' economic rights was that they imposed unfair taxes on the people. During the Period of Salutary Neglect Great Britain did not impose many taxes on the people. After the French and Indian war however the British were in a lot of debt. They needed to tax the people to pay for the war so they started enforcing a tax more harshly. Parliament passed the Stamp Act which put a tax on all printed goods. The colonists were angry with this and responded with the phrase "No taxation without representation". This statement expressed the colonists' desire to tax themselves. Parliament responded to this by telling the colonists that the members of Parliament kept the colonists best interests in mind when making laws. The colonists were not satisfied with this and they began to boycott British goods. Another event that caused the colonists to feel that Great Britain was denying them economic rights was when Parliament let the British East India Tea Company import their tea into America without paying a tax but American merchants still had to pay the tax. The colonists were so enraged that they went onto the ships caring the British East Indian tea in Boston harbor and they threw the crates of tea into the sea. This even is known as the Boston Tea Party. As a result of the Boston Tea Party the British passed the Coercive Acts that shut down Boston Harbor. The shutting down of Boston Harbor eliminated any economic freedom that the city of Boston had left.

Finally, another reason the the colonists decided to break from Great Britain was because they felt that the people of Great Britain, especially the aristocrats of society, were not giving the colonists the respect they deserved. The aristocrats of society were the people that were born into their wealth and power. They were the most respected people in society because they were the ones who had wealth and power in their family for generations. The rich and powerful people in the colonies were considered to be "new money". They were the people who were not born into wealth and power but achieved it through work and determination. These type of people were considered insignificant in the eyes of the British aristocrats therefor the British aristocrats thought that the colonists were insignificant. They felt that the colonists power did not really matter. They did not usually send the colonists the best in goods or services because they felt that the colonists did not deserve the best. The British grew to hate the colonists because they felt that the colonists were not doing enough for their cause like paying or fighting. The majority of British people totally disregarded the colonists and thought of them as insignificant ignorant people. The colonists became very annoyed with the lack of respect that they were receiving from the British people. The felt that they were hard workers that deserved to be recognized. The fact that the British turned their noses up toward the colonists enraged them to the point where they felt the need to break away.

The colonists were denied political rights such as making their own laws. The colonists were denied economic rights like taxing themselves and trading with other nations. The colonists were not given the power and respect from Great Britain that they felt that they deserved.These are just a few of the many reasons that led the colonists to break away from Great Britain. Despite all these reasons it was not easy to break away from Great Britain. The colonists were tied to the British in many ways. They loved British culture and they loved being part of such a powerful nation. Partially they did not want to break away from Great Britain because they were so attached to the culture. Other reasons that the colonists were hesitant to break away were because they felt that they needed Great Britain for things like protection and trade. Eventually, with the help of strongly written articles convincing the colonists to break away like Common Sense by Thomas Paine, the colonists decided to break away from Great Britain. They got together a committee to write the Declaration of Independence and form an army and thus the American Revolution started.