The chapters of our textbook, America: A Narrative History, written by George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi, takes us on a historical yet comparative journey of the road to war and what caused the American Revolution, an insight into the war itself, and a perception to what life was like in America after the war was over. The essays of the book, America Compared: American History in International Perspective, collected by Carl J. Guarneri gives us a global context and a comparison between the North and South Americas in the dividing issues of labor, slavery, taxes, politics, economy, liberty, and equality.
The British government was not looking for the best of the people. They were only thinking about what they wanted; the government was not interested in what the people wanted so they decided to make decisions on their own, which resulted in changes that form the United States today. Because of this, they were justified in rebelling and declaring independence.
The Boston Massacre was a street fight that occurred on March 5, 1770, between a “patriot”. They were throwing sticks, snowballs, and trash at a group of British troops. The loyalists got very annoyed with the patriots so they shot into the mob killing five. The riot began when around 50 colonists attacked a British sentinel. A British officer called in for additional troops and they too were attacked so they had to fire into the mob.
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.
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.
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
Prior to the Seven Years War, Great Britain had enforced the idea of salutary neglect when it came to governing the colonies and for the most part the colonists had a good relationship with England. They left the colonists alone and did not complain, as long as they were generating revenue for the country. However, after the Seven Years War Great Britain was left with a great deal of debt and they felt that the colonists should help pay for their share considering England had helped protect them during the war. In the beginning, England was not seeking to take the colonists liberty, but as time went by and the tensions between them and the colonists increased, they began to take away more of the colonies’
Though both authors are writing similar topics, their arguments are much different. In the book A People 's Army: Massachusetts Soldiers and Society in the Seven Years ' War, written by Fred Anderson he studies the Seven Years War from a social history perspective. Instead of focusing on the military aspects of the Seven Years War, he would look for the history of the people within the war, such as, colonial Americans in the New England area. Anderson argues for New England exceptionalism through rising tension between Britain and the colonies, as well as, claiming Puritan Christianity as what shape Massachusetts volunteers to fight, and at times desert. He aims to show how the American colonies, although unified for this war, gradually
The continental congress led the king to heavily taxing items. The reaction to the colonist was beyond angry. When the king started to tax the items, the people wanted to rebel. This led to the declaration of independence.
The French and Indian War, or the Seven Years War, began in 1754, as a result of conflict over territory and trade in North America. As both countries conquered the new land, letting their civilians settle there as colonists with the sole purpose of providing money for their homeland, they encountered the Ohio Valley; land that was assured to contribute to each of their imperialist motives. During the war where French troops allied with the native Americans against Britain, the laws given to the British colonies were left unmonitored, and the colonists evaded the strict taxation and rules against trading with other countries. However, when the war ended in 1763, resulting in a British victory, Britain was left a multitude of problems. This included the great national debt of approximately 122 million British pounds. Thus, they began to focus on how the colonists would contribute to pay off that debt. By
There are a lot of turning point that led to the revolutionary war. Every act that the king signed and put intoto effect plus the actions of the red coats fueled the colonies motivation to start a revolution . The four major reasons were the stamp act, Tea act ,common sense by Thomas paine, declaration of independence
Some of the taxes that were implemented onto the Americans were the Sugar and Stamp act, Navigation act, Wool act, Hat act, the Proclamation of 1763, the Quartering Act, Townshend Acts, and the Coercive Intolerable Acts, (Document Five). Each one of these added more stress on the colonist persuading their final decision of starting a revolution. Not only did the taxes install hatred into the colonist but also events and actions that the British did harmed their cause. Those events included; the boston massacre, the French Indian war, Boston Tea Party, and many more, (Document four)
Before the American Revolution, most colonists had traveled from England to the North American colonies considering themselves citizens of the British empire and seeking a better life. However, actions taken from the Continental Congress have begun to question British power. After the French and Indian War between France and Britain, the British government have abused their power and authority towards the colonies by taxing them without representation. As a result, between 1750-1766, the colonies of America have united and decided to declare independence from Great Britain to become a successful, self-developed nation.
The relationship between Britain and its American colonies was civil at first but began to strain in the mid-1700’s. In the beginning, Britain ruled colonies with little involvement because they were busy dealing with the French and Indian War among other things. As a result of this, the colonies were typically left in charge of themselves with little interference from British authorities. After years of being left alone, the colonists had developed a feeling of freedom and independence. When the war ended there was a significant change in the relations between England and the colonies. Britain had built up a great debt and the colonies were a financial burden to run, to try and resolve their problems the British instituted various measures
Their government, politics, economy and relations between one another all changed. Along with the colonies, colonists and the Native Americans who lived in those areas that were affected by the war. Even though Britain gained so much, both the British and French suffered great financial loss. The war almost doubled Britain’s national debt. The French’s monarchy became very weak after the war because of the military defeat and their great national debt. The Seven Years War was a big contributor to the arrival of the French Revolution in 1789. Not only was it a big contributor to the French Revolution, it was also a very big contributor to the American Revolution. Following the nine years of war between the British and French, the English gave London more control over the thirteen colonies. This was a big part of the colonies resentment towards the British and soon led to the American