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. One reason why the colonists decided to rebel and declare independence was because of taxation. The colonists wanted representation when it came down to being taxed, but the British government would not allow it. The government wanted full control over the people, so they made sets of acts and laws that were placed on taxation. For example, the Stamp Acts of 1765. These acts taxed all papers, pamphlets, newspapers, and cards. The Townshend Acts of 1767 were also a large part of taxation. Imports of lead, glass, paper, paint, and tea were taxed; the British government wanted the colonists to pay so they created punishments for colonists who …show more content…
To start with, slavery was growing at a rapid rate. New laws made it legal for owners to own enslaved people for their entire lives. They had little or no chance for freedom. Slaves were legally considered property, not people. Slaves were also restricted by a set of laws called Slave Codes; these laws were their rights and rules for living. For the rest of the colonists, they believed they had natural rights: rights they were born with. The three main natural rights thought to have were life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness; these were included in the Declaration of Independence. Personal rights were very important to the colonists and they were determined to display how they felt to the government. Overall, this period of time brought dramatic changes to the way of living. All of these changes were necessary for our country to function in the needs of both the government and the
The British Parliament made the colonists angry by implementing a multitude of different taxes to help carry the financial burden that was going on in Britain and in the Colonies; in some aspects the British used the money to help the colonies, but Parliament often took the taxes too far. The first major act that that will be looked at is the Sugar Act of 1764. The reason that this first tax (act) was implemented was to regulate the smuggling of sugar and molasses into the colonies from the French and the West Indies, or any other non-British Caribbean sources, hence the name “Sugar” act. The act itself was a revamped version of the 1733 Molasses act. Basically, the act was set up to create a monopoly for the British plantations in the West
They required them to pay this tax on every piece of printed paper they used--ships papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, magazines, and other publications. Even playing cards were taxed! The colonies were supposed to buy paper from Britain that had an official stamp on it which showed they paid the tax, hence it became known as the Stamp Act. The tax collected from the Stamp Act also allowed the British to pay for the French and Indian War.
In the point of view of the British, or parliament, they felt they could tax the colonists how they deemed fit since they were protecting them because they had soldiers staying or quartering in the colonies. However, the colonists felt as though they should be treated as equally as the citizens living in England which was not the
The British kept adding restrictions and other limits that the colonists disagreed on which led to a revolt. In the long run the colonists were able to overcome England and in turn gain their freedom.
The colonies needed an inspiration a voice to show them what they needed to fight for and that voice was Thomas Pine. A pamphlet was written by a man named Thomas Paine this pamphlet had a huge impact on the people of the thirteen colonies. The pamphlet was letting people know why they needed to fight for their independence. the pamphlet was titled Common Sense. this is what it's about "In these following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain argument, and common sense..."
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) As seen the British lead themselves onto the wrong path by trying to tighten their grip on the colonist but ended up hurting themselves when their actions added more fuel to the Americans fire.
The French and Indian War helped cause the American Revolution in many ways. It also affected the outcome of the war. The french and Indian war helped cause the American Revolution because that war was the reason that Britain was in debt and started to tax the colonists. The taxes the British imposed on the colonist were the starting point of the rebellion that led to the revolution.
The American colonists were justified by taxation, no representation, and the lack of land they owned. I believe the American colonists were justified in breaking away from England because of taxation. “There is another late act of Parliament, which appears to me to unconstitutional…” (Document B).
After the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in a huge debt and had a lot more land to rule. As a result of their debt and their new land, they began to put taxes on the colonists living in that land. The colonists were angry about these taxes because they were getting taxed without representation in British Parliament. Two acts that caused some of these reactions are the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts. The British actions after 1763 caused numerous reactions from the colonists, which ultimately led to the American Revolution.
There was not always a problem between the colonists and Britain. At one point the colonists were somewhat independent. After the British set up the Navigation Acts, which made the colonists not able to trade with anyone else without it going through Britain, first there was something called salutary neglect. Salutary neglect was an English policy of relaxing the rules on its colonies. During this time the colonies remained loyal to Britain.
Colonists were expected to house soldiers in ale houses, inns and in the homes of those who sold wine. This Act also required all colonists to provide food for any British soldiers in the area. The colonists were still housing the British soldiers after the American Revolution came to a close. John Locke argued for natural rights for all, he also thought that the government had the responsibility to protect the citizens’ rights. In his opinion, the government was violating the citizens’ rights.
Because of the great amount of power Britain possessed, the colonists were under oppression, ultimately taking action to defend themselves. Namely, according to document 5, the author states, “what is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited power?”. As the taxes began to mound on top of one over the other, the colonists began to feel overwhelmed. In response, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and three others, created the Declaration of Independence as a call to war, to offset British rule. Like the Stamp Act, the colonists answered with violence, and the violence only increased as the British made sure to oppress the
Soon after the items were taxed the people would stop buying them. That’s what made the merchants mad! The reaction to the king was to tax even more items without the consent of the colonies permission. An example of an item that was taxed without permission of the people was the, Stamp Act.
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.
The people of America (colonists) were tired of being controlled by England. They wanted to be free and independent. They believed that they were able to control themselves and be their own country. They wanted England to let go of their control and to view them as independent and their own country.