...late 1760’s and early 1770’s? Life for colonists after the Seven Year’s War was prosperous for a short time period. Many had made fortunes with military contracts to the British crown during the war, even with the heavy taxes already on the colonists. The colonists who had supported England in the war against France hoped to gain access to lands further west of the colonies that were acquired from the war. England however, had gained major debt and looked to the colonies for assistance in paying off their bills with more taxes upon the colonies. In the early 1760’s, bickering and arguments between the colonists and England occurred. A large part of the problem was the Stamp Act. This policy from England imposed high taxes on the colonists without any representation in Parliament. The colonies, which once struggled to get along without bickering, began to unite themselves and push back on the Crown. Groups such as the Sons of Liberty and Daughters of Liberty were formed. The colonists imposed a boycott on English goods and refused to use the stamps on legal documents that were required under the Stamp Act. England was surprised by the colonist’s reactions and repealed it in March 1766. In 1767, Charles Townsend was named Prime Minister of England. Colonists were hopeful he would be their supporter because he had opposed both the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act. Those hopes quickly faded when he imposed upon the colonies the Quartering Act of 1765, which required the colonial legislature...
Words: 704 - Pages: 3
...A comparison of the Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act (1765) and the Association of the New York Sons of Liberty (1773) Darrell Hareford 10/14/2012 An examination of two documents from Eric Foner’s Voices of Freedom reader – Vol I and their relevance to the historical point in time in American History. Taxation was stirring sharp conflict between Great Britain and the British colonists of North America in the mid-18th century. The British colonists of North America lived under a quasi-self-government created in the early 1600’s. Powerful men in the colonies established their own devices and alliances for the raising and spending of money. The arguments of liberty and freedom were to become the tenets of choice in their debate to defend this power. This paper will explore this argument through the Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act (1765) from the House of Burgesses, and a resolution from the Sons of Liberty of New York City (1773). Their writings are tempered only by the politeness of the society of learned men, but let no one doubt that they took affront to the loss in authority and the economic impact of recent taxation decisions by Great Britain. The House of Burgesses was established in 1619 as a representative body to govern in a legislative assembly and was created by the Virginia Company to make conditions more amenable by encouraging English craftsman to settle in North America. The Virginia Company set up a system of self-government which was composed...
Words: 2017 - Pages: 9
...Parliament passed the “Stamp Act” to pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War.” The act required us to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various papers, documents, and playing cards. We hated this, we ranged from boycotts of British goods to riots and attacks on the tax collectors. When the tax collectors came to collect taxes from the colonists, many of them would strip them down, pour hot tar over their bodies and roll them in chicken feathers. This was often being called tarred and feathered. Others would hang them from liberty trees. This was just 1/10 of the problems that occurred in the year of 1765, so Andie go grab you a cup of...
Words: 663 - Pages: 3
...Colonists living in America were not justified in their revolt against the ruling British government. After the French and Indian War, which ended in 1763, the British needed to collect taxes in order to pay for soldiers to defend the newly won land. In addition it would only be just for the British government to have the colonists pay a tax after protecting them from the French. However, the American colonists, did not want taxation without representation, so they took matters into their own hands to revolt and free themselves from British rule. The first piece of evidence that proves that the colonists were not justified in revolting is from the Stamp Act Documents, Source B. Published by the London Paper in January 27, 1766, this primary source letter was later republished by the Boston Gazette Supplement. Initially the document was written to inform the people of England about the anger in the American colonies against the Stamp Act. In the letter, the author states, “I would have been less surprised by their behavior if we had taxed their beer, because everyone drinks beer. But the Stamp Act is a tax on none of the necessities of life. It does not affect the poor. And even a poor person can afford this little amount of money.” The language in the document shows the disbelief of the author....
Words: 928 - Pages: 4
...War of Independence While Acts like the taxations and military occupations only provoked the Americans and started their calls for revolution, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” showed them that independence is not only possible but also necessary. After the French and Indian war ended the American’s which were proud for being British, got stimulated by their mother country with several Acts which were made to pay back the depts of the war and to control the colonists. It was the 2nd act, the Stamp Act that began the distancing of both sides. The 1st Act was the Sugar Act which was just and invisible act and people didn’t really care about but with the Stamp Act the British had interfered colonial affairs by directly and visibly taxing them and making them feel unfairly treated. For their defense the Americans forced the tax collectors to resign and they met together for the first time, in the Stamp Act Congress, to decide what to do against the Stamp Act tax and the British. The congress ended with the decision of a boycott which could be a reason to end this act. After their successes the Americans felt that they can get what they want if they work together. But the Acts didn’t end with repealing the Stamp Act. Instead even more Acts were created as for example the Quartering Act of 1774 which was part of the Coercive Acts after the Boston Tea Party. Americans felt disturbed about this Act because they had to care about accommodation of British soldiers in their own houses even...
Words: 788 - Pages: 4
...because the English were expanding rapidly and the Natives were being pushed out and weren't strong enough to fight against the Europeans because they lacked the weapon technology and they also had suffered a demographic change due to illness. The Natives who were supplied by the French, burned down English settlements. The English corresponded with what is called Queen Anne’s War, winning Nova Scotia and trading rights in Spanish America. The third and last war was King George’s War when they beat France, obtaining Louisburg, then exchanging it for economic gains in India, which made the Colonist furious. After the French-Indian war, the relationship between English and the Colonist shifted because of the enforced taxation and...
Words: 945 - Pages: 4
...happened between the colonists and Great Britain. As the colonists grew, to what Britain considered to be out of control, Parliament tried to limit the colonists by placing taxes and laws on them. The pressure that these laws put on the colonists drove the nail even further between the two. The political and economic events that led up to the American Revolution caused the start of the war because...
Words: 1211 - Pages: 5
...colonial revolt against exploiting laws imposed by the British in 1773. The colonists believed that Britain had no right to virtually represent them and tax them without full representation. The American colonists embodied the transcendentalist ideas of writer Henry David Thoreau in the belief that a law that is not just should be violated. Through civil disobedience, the colonists brought a greater awareness to their displeasure with British taxes, and inadvertently helped to separate from Britain to form the United States. In the early 17th century, thousands of British natives sailed across the Atlantic ocean and landed in various places throughout the Eastern coastline of America. Men were given charters of...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...oppression. King George may not have been as tyrannical as the colonists...
Words: 940 - Pages: 4
...War would provide a gaining venture in Britain. However, political,, economic, and social conflict would result in the colonies because of unreasonable impositions placed on them. Therefore, colonists would resort to avant-garde principles, putting them at the forefront of a revolution. After the Boston Tea Party, which was a colonial raid on three East India tea ships that resulted in the dumping of 92,000 pounds of tea, Britain would impose the “Intolerable Acts” upon the colonies. This would be the mother country’s direct response to the rebellion which would develop political issues,...
Words: 709 - Pages: 3
...study of this chapter, come back to this section and place a check mark beside any of the statements with which you then agree. Use the column entitled “Reaction.” Note any variation in the placement of checkmarks from anticipation to reaction and explain why you changed your mind. Anticipation Reaction _____ 1. _____ 1. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. _____ 5. _____ 6. _____ 7. The British government usually left American colonists to make their own laws pertaining to local matters. American colonial trade was severely crippled by British trade laws. The European Enlightenment had little influence on the thought of American colonists. Because they were part of the British empire, colonists were constantly involved in England’s imperial wars with France and Spain. Parliament taxed the American colonists as a way to express its authority over them, not because it needed. the money. Colonists protested the Sugar Act and Stamp Act as violations of their rights as Americans. Colonists protested the Tea Act because it threatened to raise the price of tea. _____ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. _____ 5. _____ 6. _____ 7. LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 3 you should be able to: 1. 2. Define the basic assumptions of the British colonial system and describe its operation. Assess the impact of the Great Awakening and Enlightenment on the spiritual and intellectual life of the colonies. 42 3. 4. 5. Describe the relationship...
Words: 4419 - Pages: 18
...place on June 17, 1775, just a few months after the start of the American Revolutionary War. Boston was being besieged by thousands of American militia. The British were trying to keep control of the city and control its valuable sea ports. The British decided to take two hills, Bunker and Breeds, in order to gain a tactical advantage. The American forces heard about it and went to defend the hills. Although the British won the hill and the battle, they paid heavy costs with so many soldiers, officers dying. This gave the Americans courage to know that they could stand up to the British in battle. Many more colonists joined the army after this battle and the revolution continued to grow in strength. Boston Tea Party: The Boston Tea Party was a pre-revolutionary incident that occurred on December 16, 1773. The Boston Tea Party was a direct protest by colonists in Boston against the Tea Tax that had been imposed by the British government. Boston patriots, dressed as Mohawk Indians, raided three British ships in Boston harbor and dumped 342 containers of tea into the harbor. The Boston Tea Party arose from...
Words: 1170 - Pages: 5
...As a result, the British Parliament passed the 1764 Currency Act which prohibited the colonies from issuing paper currency. This caused even more difficulties for the colonists who were already having trouble paying their taxes. The governors of Massachusetts and New York dispatched messages of protest to Parliament. Shortly after the Currency Act was passed, Prime Minister Grenville proposed a Stamp Tax which would obligate colonists to buy a government stamp for use on legal documents. After the Stamp Act passed, and the news arrived at the colonies, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed resolutions denying the British Parliament’s authority to tax the colonies. Americans rioted and destroyed the house of the stamp distributor. Other colonies engaged in similar activities. Stamp Act was a common cause that united the 13 colonies in protest against Great Britain. Representatives from nine colonies met in the fall of 1765 to sign petitions denying Parliament’s authority to tax the colonies. Merchants demanded the appeal of the act on economic grounds after the Americans organized a boycott of British goods. The British Government repealed the Stamp...
Words: 1584 - Pages: 7
...American War of Independence really a war for independence or a revolution? The American War of Independence (1775–1783) was a climax in the political American Revolution rather than just a war for independence, ideologically influenced by the Enlightenment philosophers and writers of the Great Britain. Benjamin Rush remarked in 1787, "The American war is over, but this is far from being the case with the American Revolution. On the contrary, nothing but the first act of the great drama is closed." 2 This drama staged in the Pennsylvania State House in summer of 1776 remains the only most important chapter in the archives of American Revolution. Although, the political atmosphere in France during its uprising was to a certain extent dissimilar than that in America reason being, that there never happened a full scale war in France and unlike the loyalist in America, the French revolution had an immense support of the upper class elite. Nevertheless, the American War on Independence can be weigh against one of the mightiest revolution in history; the French Revolution since they...
Words: 4544 - Pages: 19
...By 1763 Hutchinson was the most influential man in the colony, but he had also become a target for James Otis and Samuel Adams. Hutchinson agreed with Adams and Otis on matters of policy; he did not think that the governor could issue writs of assistance, nor did he think Parliament should pass laws such as the Sugar Act or the stamp tax. In 1764 the assembly had tried to send Hutchinson to England to make its case against the Sugar Act. He believed these were unwise measures, but unlike Adams and Otis, Hutchinson insisted that Parliament had a right to tax the colonists. He would never agree with their assertion that Parliament’s power did not extend beyond England. If that were the case, the colonies must become independent. Neither Otis nor Adams was willing to make the case for independence in the 1760s, but Hutchinson saw where their arguments were going. He wanted to avoid independence and have Massachusetts prosper as part of the British empire. Since Adams and Otis both denied that they were interested in independence, Hutchinson interpreted their almost violent opposition to his ideas and policies as motivated by political self-interest rather than political...
Words: 1599 - Pages: 7
