Analyze The Causes And Consequences Of The Whiskey Rebellion

The many Imperial Policies placed on the colonists by England between 1763 and 1776 resulted in mass protest from the thirteen colonies. The colonists resisted the many Acts and Taxes placed on them by forming rebel groups and using many methods to try and undermine British authority. They also did not agree with England’s government and sought to create their own. An analysis of British Imperial Policies in the late 1700s reveals that they intensified colonial resistance to British rule and fortified their commitment to republican values.

The Americans faced taxes such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act and Townshend Act due to Britain having to make up for the money they had lost to war. The people of America essentially felt that Britain was being unreasonable “for imposing taxes on us without our consent”. The taxes were passed by Parliament in which there were no American representation. This lead to Americans protesting the taxes that lacked representation and the Virginia House of Burgess stating that "the taxation of the people by themselves, or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them... is the only security against a burdensome taxation, and [is] the distinguishing characteristic of British freedom". The Stamp Act caused Americans to protest and refuse to buy or import British goods.

This act, proposed by the British Parliament, made colonists pay for the debt that Britain obtained from the French and Indian war. Colonists were not happy with this act because they did not have a say in the creation of it. The Stamp Act of 1765 only furthered the wish of colonist to be free from monarchy rule. Most importantly, being free would create a opportunity for

This was supposed to ease the tax restraints, but in the end, it created more taxes and conflict. The conflict began once the colonists first heard of the Stamp Act being passed by Parliament on March 22, 1765. The Stamp Act was to pay for stationing British soldiers in America to protect them and to pay off Great Britain 's debt after the seven years war. The minute news of the Stamp Act reached the colonies it was denounced with colonists crying “no

In 1676, almost a hundred years prior to the revolution, the farmers gathered and attacked the Indians. Consequently, this lead to the farmers rebellion against the colony, the farmers believed that the governor wasn't trying to protect the people of the colony, the government was betraying its peoples trust. As a result, Bacon and his followers raided

King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Carta by his nobles in the year 1215 A.D. King John made a habit of imposing high taxes to pay for a war when his subjects couldn’t afford it as well as detaining his subjects if they didn’t pay taxes or before they were proven guilty. Because of this, King John’s nobles rebelled against him and threatened to leave him unless he signed the Magna Carta that ensured more individual rights and limited the Monarchy. The Founding Fathers probably knew this and considered the circumstances in which the document was written while writing the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, etc.

The only problem is the British spent so much during the war that prices needed to rise. Knowing that the subjects of the crown in Europe would not be happy about high taxes after the war the British decided to tax the Colonists in America. The British ruled these taxes as fair because the war was fought over land in America instead of Britain, therefore the Americans should pay the highest amount of the taxes. This did not go well with the Americans. Already agitated by the British Crown and rule taxation was considered theft for a war they didn’t ask for.

These problems had been inherited by the new government created under the constitution.

The Whiskey Rebellion occurred during the presidency of George Washington. Farmers who sold their corn in the form of whiskey had to pay a new tax which they strongly resented. The tax was a part of Alexander Hamilton's program to pay off the national debt. To quell the Whiskey Rebellion George Washington sent an excessive amount of 15, 000 troops to western Pennsylvania.

After the French and Indian War, Britain needed money to pay for the war debts. So, they decided that to raise money they can tax the colonists for lead, glass, paper, tea, and much more. Many acts were passed that said that the colonists have to pay for certain goods. The colonists thought that Britain did not have the right to tax them. So, they started protesting, boycotting, and many things that can have negative effects for the British.

The British were in massive debt following the French and Indian war, therefore they placed taxes on the colonists in order to regenerate some of that money lost. The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed the sale of molasses in hopes to gain some lost money, but this act led the people of Boston to boycott the molasses industry. The Stamp Act of 1765 shortly followed, making colonists buy a stamp with every paper product. The rage the colonists felt over the passing of this act, led the colonies to begin to unify as they together boycotted the trade industry. The Townshend Duties of 1767 imposed taxes on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea, but this only led to the colonist to again boycott the trade of those items and start newspaper attack.

There were three primary goals of why the British planned to reform the colonial relations. The first goal was to eliminate the corruption of the royal officials and crack down on smuggling. The colonies were using smuggling as a way to avoid taxes. Therefore the British used this method as a way to tighten control. The second goal was the limits they placed on the colonist telling them where they could live.

During the 1760’s, Britain needed to find a way to pay off their debt. This led to a reform that in part launched a plan designed by George Greenville (Schulz, 2013). Greenville’s plan was to implement acts that would help to pay off the nation’s debt. New acts, such as the Sugar, the Quartering, and the Stamp Act had colonists far and wide upset with Parliament. While each of these acts were disliked by colonists, none was as damaging as the Stamp Act.

The poor Virginian tobacco-growers of the 1700s blame the pressing economic issues they faced within the realms of slavery and debt as their driving force behind the American Revolution and battle for independence. (Holton, 60) The conflict between the British Merchants and Virginian farmers wasn’t shy of bloodshed; the intense debt to the merchants that the farmers found themselves in stirred anger and thoughts of rebellion which were not easily appeased. (Holton, 42) The cause for their debt is caused by a culmination of lavish spending, the decisions of Parliament (such as the Navigation Acts), and slavery.

After the war the British were in a lot of debt; they needed a way to pay off the debt. Consequently the war took place in British America, the Parliament of England figured that the colonists should pay the price. The colonists were upset because of the taxes they called unfair. The Molasses Act was the first tax on sugar. The Molasses Act was placed on the colonies, however, the British government did not enforce this “law”.