One of the things that contributed most to America's rebellion was the fact that they were so very far away from Britain, which made the colonists think that they could do as they pleased. Another thing was mercantilism, which was a theory that said that a country's wealth was measured in silver and gold, which could be easily obtained from a colony, which could be used for raw materials, a market, or possibly even mining the stuff. This mercantilist policy prevented the colonists from trading with anyone besides Britain, and was made formal with the Navigation Laws, a series of laws designed to restrict American trade. For the most part, mercantilism just made the colonists mad.
Another thing that made the colonists mad was taxation. The British were looking for a way to keep the troops in America paid for, so they looked to the colonists. The Sugar Tax of 1764 was the first shot at it, quickly followed by the Quartering Act of 1765. However, the most hated tax of all by the American people was the Stamp Tax of 1765. This would have placed a tax on all documents and paper goods, even marriage licenses. The colonists would have none of it, and beat up tax collectors to prevent the tax from going into effect. The colonists defense was the cry "no taxation without representation." They said that they weren't represented in Parliament, and that they didn't want to be. They wanted their own parliaments in America that would tax them there. Anyway, with all the tax collectors hiding in fear and a massive British goods boycott going on, Parliament had no choice but to repeal the Stamp Tax.
However, Britain decided to replace the Stamp Tax with the Townshend Tea Tax, which placed a tax on tea (surprise!). The colonists didn't like it, because they were still mad about this whole taxation without representation deal. Things were made worse when a fight broke out between redcoats and colonists in Boston. You may have heard of it by the name of "The Boston Murdering." Oh, wait, I mean "Massacre". My bad. After that, the colonists got serious and seditious. Samuel Adams (yes, the very same Sam Adams) was a propagandist extraordinaire and whipped up some anti-British sentiments. Then there was this whole Tea Party bit in Boston. Tea was thrown into the harbor rather than have a tax paid on it. The British response was to pass the Boston Port Act, which locked up the Boston Harbor until the tea had been paid for. Other acts were passed that made Americans made, which were called the "Intolerable Acts". This led to the formation of the Continental Congress, and the creation of the Association, a feeble effort at unification. There was also some unpleasantness at Lexington and Concord, where the Revolutionary War began. The colonists used a radical new fighting strategy to whip the British called "hiding behind stuff." It worked, and America kept fighting (and winning) against impossible odds.