the grease cartridges were the main cause of the 1857 Indian Mutiny

I. My response to the first two paragraphs posted by my opponent.My opponent begins his final round with the first two paragraphs basically giving the audience the same background information I provided previously. There is one important part though. Towards the end of the second paragraph, my opponent admits that it was the grease cartridges that spurred the rebels uprising. My opponent attempts to balance his own concession by stating that such an uprising is caused my several misunderstandings, not just one. I've never contended that point, in fact, I've even said this will be the argument my opponent attempts to make. Unfortunately for him, this debate is about the main cause, not the fact that there were other causes. I have shown several times in my last round how the grease cartridges were the main cause. My opponent has just admitted it himself as well in that second paragraph, I would ask that the audience please take that admission from my opponent into consideration, as it only serves to strengthen my own position. II. My response to the third paragraph posted by my opponent. In my opponents third paragraph, he provides both myself and the audience with a history lesson on some of the fighting and religious tension that served as a pre-cursor for the soon-to-happen Indian Mutiny of 1857. Unfortunately, there is nothing in this paragraph to negate, as it is nothing more than a continued history lesson, similar to his first two paragraphs. Up to this point, my opponent has yet to provide any real counter-arguments, nor does this background information he presents attempt to negate any of my arguments. As we are right now, none of my contentions have been met with appropriate rebuttals. III. My response to the fourth paragraph posted by my opponent. My opponent wishes to raise my attention to the point that the Mutiny was short-lived. This has absolutely no relevance to a debate where the resolution is focusing on the main cause. Whether it was a 5 year conflict, or a 2 month rebellion, such statements hold no place in this debate. He then continues with the history lesson approach by informing both myself and the audience that the rebellion had inadequate support and was crushed because "India was not ready for independence". Again, these facts hold absolutely no relevance to the resolution at hand. IV. Response to the concluding paragraph posted by my opponent.This is the only part of my opponents final round where any form of counter-argument is presented. My opponent claims that the grease cartridges were just the short-term cause. My opponent then goes on to claim that religion is both the long-term cause and main cause of the Mutiny. This is simply false. I proceeded to do a Google search to find the definition of short-term/long-term causes. According to the definitions I found: 1) Short term causes are what happened on the day of, long term is what happened in advance. [1]2) Short term cause would be something that invoked immediate (or relatively rapid) action. Example: the assassination of Francis Ferdinand instigated WWI. Long term cause would be something that has been around for ages, and finally got to a point where something was done. Example: conflicting ideologies between Soviet Russia and USA led to Cold War.[1] http://wiki.answers.com...[2] http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk...Now my opponent is trying to say that the Grease Cartridges were the short-term cause while the overall religious tensions were the long-term cause and main-cause. Unfortunately for him, short or long-term causes serve no purpose in this debate. We are debating the main cause, which I clearly defined in my previous round as:Main: the chief part : essential point. [3] (The essential point aspect alone upholds every piece of evidence I've shared)Cause: something or someone that produces an effect, result, or condition : something or someone that makes something happen or exist. [4][3] http://www.merriam-webster.com......[4] http://www.merriam-webster.com......As I've shown in my last round, there are several sources that all confirm that the grease cartridges were the main cause. To specifically quote them once more:1) The most important change that began the rebellion...2) The rebellion was, literally, started over a gun...and3) The final spark was provided by the ammunition for the new Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle..**(please refer to my previous round for source links of these 3 points)** As I showed at the beginning of this round, my opponent conceded the point that the Enfield Rifle was the main cause:"If they bit the cartridge coated with grease, they would be demoted in the Indian hierarchy and become an 'untouchable.'It was this that spurred the rebels uprising. However, an uprising doesn't begin with one misunderstanding but many." -[My opponent] His own statement in which he concedes my point sounds extremely familiar to another source I shared in my previous round where I cited a quote that comes from the BBC:"It is wrong to accept the popular reason that sepoys refusing to use cartridges coated in animal fat caused the 1857 rebellion. There were relevant causes other than greased cartridges..." [5]So, at face value, my opponents statement seems to mirror the one from BBC. The most important factor of this point though is that the BBC also shared the following: "From a letter from George Barnes, Commissioner and Superintendent of the Cis-Sutlej states to Robert Mongomery, judicial commissioner for the Punjab, 5th February 1858- "The spark which lit the train was undoubtedly the greased cartridges. A change in the shape of a turban had led, in eighteen hundred and six, to the mutiny and massacre of Europeans at Vellore, and there can be no doubt that the danger to their caste, supposed to be hidden in the obnoxious cartridge, was sufficient case, in the existing temper of the sepoys to incite a revolt..." [5]I underlined the first sentence in his letter because it shows that even the BBC recognizes that, while there are several causes (both long and short term), it was indeed the greased cartridges that was the main cause. [5] http://www.bbc.co.uk...In ConclusionMy opponent, in his attempt to prove his position, has made a major mistake. He has taken my position as one that is a short-term cause, and has in turn placed a higher value on a long-term cause. My opponent believes that religion (one of several long-term causes) was the main cause of the Mutiny. This goes against the very definition of Main Cause as I stated in the beginning of the debate which is that the main cause is the essential point. My opponent has not shown that religion was an essential point, but rather attempted to claim that it was the long-term cause, and therefore the main cause. His argument simply doesn't work, it is not sound. If something is a long-term cause, that does not necessarily mean it is also the main cause. This was my opponents biggest mistake. I should also bring up the fact that my opponent failed to include any sources for either round. This is most likely because no-one agrees with the position that religion was the main cause, and ask the audience to please take this into consideration when determining who's claims have sources that back up the points. I, on the other hand, have shown through several different sources that the greased cartridges were indeed the essential point in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and therefore the main cause. This fits appropriately with the definitions given for main cause, as well as shows the audience that even respectable sources such as the BBC and avid researchers are in agreement with my own position. I would like to thank my opponent for this thought-provoking debate, and look forward to any and all challenges in the future. I would also like to extend my thanks to the audience.