Reasons For The Acts To The 13 Colonies In The 1770-1790

Many of the reasons the American colonies believed they were justified in their rebellion from England lay in trade and taxes. When George III inherited the throne at the end of the Seven Years’ War England’s debt had risen to 145 million pounds and his chief minister believed that the American colonies needed to help shoulder the debt. (Nash, et al., 2007., p. 134) In attempting to collect these taxes from the colonies to relieve the mounting debt Parliament passed a range of acts, which led to discontent among the colonists as many of them restricted trade, their political maneuverability and left many believing they infringed upon their “right to be taxed only by their own consent.” (Nash, et al., 2007., p. 135) The Stamp and Townshend Acts

The Navigation Acts restricted foreign trade to competition with other countries, while reducing the chances of the colonies becoming an independent nation; in addition, all British products that were to be sent to the colonies were heavily taxed in order to create more profit. The Sugar Act placed tax on sugar, wine, and coffee, and denied any colonist accused of smuggling trial by jury, eventually leading to a drastic plummet in the rum industry. Finally, the Stamp Act, an act that was passed without the consent of the colonists, that taxed any paper or document in order to gain money from the colonists for Britain, ultimately leading to the colonists revolting against Britain, and writing newspapers that promoted the idea of independence from the imperialist nation that had repeatedly denied them their liberty, democracy, and

The French and Indian War left England with a debt of £130,000,000. To help pay off the debt Britain set up taxes, to collect money, on frequently used products by the colonists. The Molasses Act put a six pence tax on every gallon of molasses. The colonists thought this was a lot of money to pay so they did everything to avoid it. This act was not really enforced and the colonists did not really obey this act. Britain needed a way to fix this. They came up with the Sugar Act, a set of taxes to help Britain raise money. Taxes were not a new thing for the colonists, but these new taxes caused big issues.

After the French and Indian War, the British government needed money to pay for the cost of protecting the colonists from the French and Indians. The British government approved several taxes including the Stamp and Tea Acts to help pay for the costs of the war. The colonists were expected to pay these taxes.

Britain has overtaxed the colonies. The Tea act, which was an incredibly popular drink back then, put a tax on tea. The Sugar Act taxed sugar and molasses to cease the smuggling into the colonies. The Quartering Act forced soldiers into colonists' homes, which was unfair living with a complete stranger from the opposing force. The Townshend act allowed soldiers to break into any home suspected of smuggling goods. The stamp act forced that any official document be printed and paid for in gold or silver. The Administration of Justice act forced that any trial is to be held and conducted in England. The Boston Port act shut down the port until the

From limiting the land they could expand to forcing them to pay taxes, the colonists believed that they were treated unfair. At the end, they went to war to gain their

However, the colonists had it coming: if it weren't for the riots and the rebellions, they wouldn’t have received such poor treatment. Cresswell agrees with this in his personal journal, The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell (Document 4). It was written between 1774 and1 1777. On October 19, 1777 - on his visit to Alexandria, Virginia - he expressed his belief that the colonists were to blame for the growing antagonism between the British and the Americans because the colonists protested and, the more they protested, the worse their punishment was. Yet, the colonists did not feel the same way. They expressed this in the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress wrote it and made it official on July 4, 1776 (Document 7). It is divided into six parts: the preamble, their beliefs, their complaints, their attempts to address grievances, their official declaration of independence, and the

After the French and Indian War, the British set out to reform the relationship with the new colonies, (Shultz,n.d.). They issued a number of tax acts on the colonists to raise money. These acts were met with great opposition from the colonists, as they felt it was interfering with the liberties they had fought so hard for. Acts such as the Sugar Act, the Quartering Act, and the Stamp caused the colonists great frustration and this lead to rebellion toward the Crown.

The British won a long and costly war against France, the Seven Years War. That left Great Britain with a large debt and Parliament saw the colonies as a source of money, so the British raised taxes to pay for war. "The nation has run itself into an immense debt to give them this protection; and now they are called upon to contribute a small share to the public expense," said George Greenville, a member of Parliament on January 14, 1766 (Doc 1). George

Taxes were a big cause in the American Revolution. One of the taxes was the Stamp Act that taxed newspaper,playing cards,books, and paper. This tax started because the British needed money for the war because they already spent a lot on weapons and soldiers. Another tax was the Townshend Act that taxed lead, glass, tea, and paint. Before this act they had the Declaratory Act which allowed the British to tax the colonies.They took advantage and made the Townshend Act to fund for England and to show they have the power. Taxes were a big thing that the British did but the Colonists protested to stop them.

The Stamp Act and Townshend Acts were a few acts that required increased revenue from the colonists to aid England. These acts directly affected the colonists financially but did not aid them other than taking their money away. As anyone can imagine this would anger you and lead you down the road of freedom. The Stamp Act was an act that taxed any document that was printed. Without the stamp on the document, the document was not to be accepted as it had not had its dues paid. This money collected as state earlier directly support England.

Then there were the Acts that Britain gave us to pay off their debt. The Quartering Act of 1763 was one of the first of them. It was made to enforce the Proclamation of 1763, so Britain sent 10,000 troops into the colonies. The act required colonists to house the troops and provide them with food, water, and other essential supplies. Then Parliament passed the Stamp Act of 1765 that required all the colonists to purchase special tax stamps for all kinds of products and activities. The House of Burgesses passed several resolutions saying it had the right to

Acts and taxes limited the colonists freedom which resulted in the colonists wanting to be more independent. The Proclamation Line of 1763 is a good example of the king limiting the colonists freedom. The king is limiting the colonists freedom by forcing them to stop expanding West which resulted in families being forced to leave their homes and colonial expansion ends. The Sugar Act of 1764 reduced the molasses tax and prosecuted smugglers. The Sugar Act was repealed in 1766. The Stamp Act of 1765 placed new taxes on legal documents such as wills, diplomas, and marriage papers. It also placed taxes on newspapers, almanacs, playing cards, and dice. This resulted in the tax collectors being attacked and the colonists having violent protests.

These acts were comprised of four major acts that would incite anger in the American people. The Trade and Navigation Acts forced all trade between America and England to occur on ships owned and manned by English or American people(Cite notes). This act gave England more control over the trade in the colonies. The Trade and Navigation Acts, also forced all imports from foreign countries to the colonies to go through England first(Cite Notes). This act allowed the British to tax and control imports to America. Another part of these acts, was that certain goods were enumerated and certain goods could only be produced in England(Cite Notes). This angered Americans because England would get all the money from manufacturing certain goods like wool and iron items in England, taking away the opportunity for Americans to make money from manufacturing and selling important goods like iron tools or wool clothing. The enumerated goods were only allowed to be sold in England, so products like tobacco which were high quality, could not be sold to other countries, and the farmers could only make money by selling it to England, then the buyers in England would sell it to other countries for even more money. The Trade and Navigation acts were one of the first instances of the British government taxing the American people without providing them with proper representation in the

This act raise the revenue of goods like molasses. The third act that played a role in this economic Journey was the Stamp Act. It was passed in 1765 and recorded text or any special item paper bearing and embossed tax stamp for any legal document. The the straw to the camels back was the Tea Act. Tea was the revolutionary drink in the colonies. This beverage appealed to all classes of individuals. In one year almost two million pounds of tea was consumed. The cost of tea increased by more than half of its previous price.This as you can imagine put the colonist in an uproar. That action of tax is how the Boston tea party was created. The Boston tea party were a group of colonist protesting British oppression. In 1773, the Boston tea Party and the Sons of Liberty attacked seven merchant in the Boston Harbor. They threw off three hundred and forty two chest containing nearly sixty thousand pounds of tea. In today's time would nearly be one million dollars. This resulted in the intolerable Act. This Act was implemented to punish the Massachusetts colonists. It also took away Massachusetts historic rights as well as their self government. Britain didn’t just explode on