Causes of the American Revolution During the late seventeen hundreds, many violent events resulted in Colonial opposition to Great Britain. The conditions of rights of the colonists will slowly be changed as the constriction of the parliament becomes more and more intolerable. During the Seven Years' War England was not only alarmed by the colonists' insistence on trading with the enemy, but also with Boston merchants hiring James Otis in order to protest the legality of the writs of assistance (general search warrants) used to hunt out smuggled goods. "let the Parliament lay what burdens they please on us, we must, it is our duty to submit and patiently