Britain’s coercive laws drove the Continental Congress toward armed and economic separation.

Evidence

In February 1776, delegates learned that, in response to continued armed resistance by patriots and the edict by Congress restricting commerce with Britain, Parliament had passed the American Prohibitory Act. This act removed the colonies from the Crown’s protection, blockaded trade with them by any nation, and authorized the seizure of any American ship and cargo breaking the blockade “as if the same were the ship and effects of open enemies.” … At the time, Congress struck back with two half-steps toward separation. On March 22, it passed a measure authorizing colonists “to fit out armed vessels to cruise on the enemies of the United Colonies … [and seize those] belonging to any inhabitant or inhabitants of Great Britain.” Two weeks later, it opened American ports to trade with “all such countries as are not subject to the King of Great Britain.” — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 128

Categorization

• XREF: The causation here (British overreach creating independence momentum) links to larger questions in the reader’s course about how external legal acts of a sovereign power trigger foundational constitutional break. — connects to: British atrocities and Paine’s pamphlet jointly pushed colonists toward separation — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 48; British military and commercial aggression, not ideology, converted colonists to independence. — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 157

Broader Connections

• British military and commercial aggression, not ideology, converted colonists to independence. #corroborates (0.90) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 157
• British atrocities and Paine’s pamphlet jointly pushed colonists toward separation #corroborates (0.85) — Edward J. Larson, Declaring Independence, 48