The act that most likely angered the colonists the least was the Sugar Act. This act required the price of
Colonists from England like the Puritans wanted to escape persecution they were experiencing in England. The Puritans settled in New England and attempted to create a religious utopia where everyone would live by Puritan rules based on the
Buy they did not support the Puritans Calvinist doctrines. 2. Navigational Act- In 1560 the English government tried to keep the colonists trade in the English hands, along with manufacturing and foreign trade. By keeping control of the trade it increased their economic benefits.
Two different colonies that started out on the land of America around the same time period, Plymouth, and Jamestown; they sailed to America for the same reason, freedom. Known as the Puritans, Plymouth came to America for the freedom of religion, and they did not want to associate themselves with the Church of England. Similar to the Puritans, the Jamestown colonists arrived in the New World in search for gold, silver and precious stones. During the arrival these colonists expected to receive many goods from the America in exchange of a small amount of labor. Although the colonies have a similar desire coming to America, each colony' perspective toward the New World differed.
Like the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts, the Intolerable Acts pushed the Colonists toward war with Great Britain. In 1767 Parliament passed the Townshend Acts. One of those acts required Colonists to pay a tax on tea. In 1773 Parliament
However, Parliment saw a need to help out the British East India Company, who at the time had the largest surplus of tea on hand and needed help selling it. Parliment did not view this as a punishment to their fellow countrymen in America but as a way increasing revenue to help the British East India Company which in turn would have been beneficial to all involved [3]. Another reason colonists did not approve of the Tea Act is that the Townshend Revenue Act tea tax remained in place. This tax was one of the taxes that insulted the colonists. Since the new Tea Act began the sale of tea by representatives of the British East India Company directly to the American colonies, colonial merchants felt the act illegally granted a monopoly to the British East India Company.
The colonists wanted religious freedom. One reason they originally left England was to escape the Catholic Church. Some called themselves Puritans. They wanted the church and the state to be more separate.
In result, economic changes would come to the colonies. Parliament met in 1763 and came to the conclusion that they were not receiving the profit they needed from the colonies (Document F). As a result, many taxes were passed by British Parliament upon the colonies, including the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act (Document H) and the Tea Act. The American colonies were not happy, to say the least. Americans protested, saying that these taxes were unnecessary and unfair.
The Puritans broke away from England after trying to purify the Church of England. They eventually became upset after King Henry refused to allow them to make the church pure and departed to the New World. There, the Puritans had to create their own form of government. They formed the Mayflower Compact; a document stating 41 men will work together to govern the people with religion being the center of the colony. The Puritans tried to create a democracy for ruling the people of the New World, but ruling with a democracy was almost impossible for them.
The English were more concerned with finding gold rather than building functioning societies; which were primarily built around biblical teachings, while the Spanish intended for European national power to extend to western civilization beginning with Catholicism and influence of the pope. English settlers were driven from England due to religious practices and perceived themselves as saving the Indians from the Spanish and their tyrannical ways. For the English, owning land would give men control over their own labor and the right to vote in most colonies, and this land possession would show wealth. This new obtained wealth would not only have demonstrated power, but it could also be used to influence a society a certain way to convince others to follow suit. The English believed that their motives for colonization were pure, and that the growth of empire and freedom would always go together, unlike the Spanish.
In the New England region they wanted their freedom to practice their religion. In Chesapeake they wanted the most profit they could get from gold, which then resulted in growing tobacco. In New England they wanted to be free to choose their religion, because in England they were puritans (separatists)but, they were forced to be Anglican against their will. In a writing to John Winthrop he wrote, “So if we do not honor God… will cause Him to abandon us.” (A Model of Christian Charity)
and they too were attacked so they had to fire into the mob. Parliament passed the Tea Act, which gave the British East Indians company a complete monopoly of the American tea business meaning the colonists could only buy tea from this company. The colonists opposed this law even though it lowered the price of tea. They viewed the tea Act as merely another example
Freedom to Prosecute Religion Colonial America is often thought of as a safe haven from religious persecution. Future colonists had been persecuted for not accepting their countries ' religious doctrine and were willing to travel long distances in search of religious freedom. Religious freedom would still be far from grasp as Puritans would continue their homelands traditions of persecution for many more years. Puritans, unlike the Pilgrims (who sought to completely separate from the Church of England), wanted to purify the Church.
They came here as pilgrims looking to escape the corruption of the English Anglican church. They wanted a fresh start with their families to pursue their faith the way they wanted to. The Puritan pilgrims of Plymouth were framers themselves, so they had no intention of using slaves. They were more self-sufficient and wanted to establish churches and schools at the center of their communities. The Puritans originally had good relations with Native Americans, but this friendship would soon fade as the pilgrim population grew too quickly and they felt the need to expand.
Besides English settlers there were numerous other representatives of the European countries settling in the new land. And as the Puritans came to practice their own believes so did other nationalities, as explained in the study material. In my own interpretation America represents change and the believe system as well as the way religion was previously practiced was now changing. This change was greatly influenced by the intellectual movement called Enlightenment, which started in Europe and this influence had bearing on the Great Awakening. Besides Puritans now there were Catholics in Maryland, Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Episcopal Church in the southern states.