Cause of the American Revolution

I think I get this now. It was not so much the American elite wanted more power but they realized they were going to lose power. The issue was taxes. Not that the taxes were too high. They were reasonable. The problem was that up to that point, in order to do anything most royal officials had to be funded by the colonial assemblies. If money could be raised to fund them directly by the British, those assemblies would become irrelevant. If a standing British army were stationed in the colonies this would mean that all power would be based on orders coming out of London. Hence the local elite would face a total loss of status, even if they were represented in the British parliament. Odd that I didn't realize this before now.

Just thinking of what causes a revolution as a student of history, here are three things I've come up with. Notice that all involve the elite initiating it.

1. When one part of the elite tries to disenfranchise another part of the elite too fast.

2. When technology renders one part of the elite obsolete and empowers another part of the elite.

3. When one elite funds an underclass against another elite.