Examples Of Oppression In The Colonies

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Oppression in the Colonies Though the colonists fled from Europe, they were still under the king’s reign. The king started to exploit his power and expose towards the colonists, first with unfair taxation without representation which means he taxed the colonists goods to help pay debts in Britain, than the intolerable acts which were laws made by the king that negatively affected the colonists but benefitted the King and Britain, along with other oppressive legislation. In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act, which placed a tax on newspapers, almanacs, cards, legal documents, and other paper documents. Although this was not the first tax that Parliament had placed on the American colonists, it was the first tax to affect everyone, …show more content…

It was direct punishment to the city of Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The act closed the port of Boston to all ships until the colonists paid for the tea they dumped into the harbor. This act annoyed the colonist in Boston because they were being punished for something that only a few people did. The Massachusetts Government act changed the government of the colony of Massachusetts. It gave more power to the governor (who was appointed by Great Britain) and took away power from the colonists. Many of the government officials that used to be elected by the people would now be appointed by the governor. The act also said that only one town meeting a year could be held. This act put fear in the eyes of the other colonies because they might’ve been overpowered by the British also losing it to someone appointed by the king. This act allowed the governor to move capital trials against government officials to Great Britain. This act allowed the british court to judge the defendant because it would make it unfair in the trial, but for England it benefited them. The Quartering Act of 1774 expanded upon the original Quartering Act of 1765. It said that the colonies had to provide barracks for British soldiers. In the case where barracks weren't available, the soldiers could be housed in other buildings such as barns, hotels, and homes. The Quebec Act expanded the British Canadian territory south into the Ohio Valley. It also made the Quebec Province a Catholic province. Forcing the colonist to basically hand over land. (“American