Final answer:
The French and Indian War led Great Britain to tax its American colonies, resulting in strife and the imposition of the Coercive Acts after the Boston Tea Party. These British attempts to control the colonies ultimately fueled the revolutionary spirit, leading to armed conflict at Lexington and Concord and the beginning of the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Prelude to the American Revolution
The war preceding the American Revolutionary War was the French and Indian War, which ended in 1763. The enormous cost of this war prompted Great Britain to seek additional revenues by taxing the American colonies, leading to substantial tension and resentment. This fiscal strain and the perceived overreach of British authority culminated in numerous colonial protests, including the destruction of tea during the Boston Tea Party, an act leading to harsh reprisals from the British government in the form of the Coercive Acts. These acts were intended to punish and control the colonies but instead further inflamed colonial resentment and ultimately contributed to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.
Among the Coercive Acts were the Boston Port Act, which closed Boston Harbor, and the Massachusetts Government Act, which altered the colony’s government structure. These punitive measures were deemed intolerable by the colonists and prompted the organization of the First Continental Congress, which unified the colonies in their opposition to British policies. The situation escalated to outright rebellion when Massachusetts militias and British troops exchanged fire at Lexington and Concord, heralding the start of the Revolutionary War.