 The conflict that broke out would be known as Culpeper’s Rebellion, and like a lot of rebellions, it started with a dispute over taxes.The British government wanted its American colonies to generate some income — that was, after all, the main point of establishing those colonies.The economic theory of the time, called mercantilism, was that a country should export as much as possible and import as little as possible, and therefore store up as much money (gold and silver) as possible.