North American Colonies Dbq

1. North America had not been taxed directly before March 22, 1765. However, on that day, the British Parliament gave its first direct tax on the North American colonies known as the Stamp Act. The reason that this happened was to pay for the Seven Years’ War. The North American colonies’ role in this was being fought over by the French and British to rule over the colony. This made the colonists have to pay taxes on many papers and documents. Also, anyone who was thought to have disobeyed the Stamp act could be prosecuted in a court that didn’t have any juries and could be anywhere in Great Britain or its colonies known as the Vice-Admiralty Courts.

2. When the British learned about the Boston Tea Party and what had happened there, they

Even though these acts hurt Boston and Massachusetts the most, the Boston Committee of Correspondence worked diligently to point out that every colonist “suffer in the common cause.” This same committee made a plan of opposition called the Solemn League and Covenant. It tells all colonists to not by or use any British merchandise. The colonies came to the conclusion that what happened in Massachusetts might happen to their colonies, too. The other colonies sent supplies to Massachusetts. Because of what had happened, the First Continental Congress gathered in Philadelphia on September 5,

This congress brought many leaders from almost all of the colonies collectively to arrange united aid as a comeback to what the British have done recently. Even though pressure between Great Britain and its colonies has been rising for a long time, the colonists considered the Intolerable Acts an assault on liberty and made a need to gather an assembly of colonial leaders. For the First Continental Congress, all except Georgia showed up, however Georgia didn’t show up due to the fact that it relied upon British soldiers for refuge from Indian assault. Some of the most conspicuous delegates there was George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Jay. The gathering was not for revolting but was for lessening the current problems with Great Britain. Two occurrences were the centerpieces of the more extreme character of the Continental Congress. Delegates heard news that General Thomas Gage, governor of Massachusetts and leader of the British colonial troops, had commanded that Boston should be blasted with gunpowder. All delegates were united in this case and were willing for an invitation to combat when they found out that this "powder alarm" was not true. Before the pressure could decrease, the Continental Congress agreed upon the anti-British Suffolk Resolves, nullifying the Intolerable Acts and implied that military training to defend Boston was needed.