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Negative effects of colonial rule
The British colonization of America
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Winning the Seven Years War had cost Britain a large sum of money, after winning the war King George II wanted the colonies to help pay for the expenses. The first of several laws to come that would tighten control on the colonies and derive funds from them was the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade the colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains. This proclamation was followed in 1764 by a law that would prevent the colonists from printing and using their own money. These and several other laws brought about frustration with the monarchy among the colonists. One law that had angered the colonists the most was the Stamp Act of 1765, under which all printed paper from wills, licenses, newspapers, diplomas, and even playing cards
Leading up to the time of the Revolutionary War, seven policies were passed by Britain in hopes of controlling the colonies. These acts culminated in the Quebec Act which persuaded many Americans into supporting the revolutionary effort. The Proclamation of 1763 was the first policy passed by the British. This forbid any settlement west of Appalachia because the British feared conflicts over territory in this region. The proclamation, however, infuriated the colonists who planned on expanding westward. The Sugar Act was passed shortly after in 1764. This act sought harsher punishment for smugglers. The next act to be passed was possibly the most controversial act passed by Britain. The Stamp Act passed in 1765 affected every colonist because it required all printed documents to have a stamp purchased from the British authority. The colonist boycotted British goods until the Stamp Act was repealed but quickly replaced by the Declaratory Act in 1766. The British still held onto the conviction that they had the right to tax the Americans in any way they deemed necessary. The Declaratory Act was followed by the Townshend Acts of 1767. This imposed taxes on all imported goods from Britain, which caused the colonies to refuse trading with Britain. Six years passed before another upsetting act was passed. In 1773, the Tea Act placed taxes on tea, threatening the power of the colonies. The colonies, however, fought back by pouring expensive tea into the Boston harbor in an event now known as the Boston Tea Party. The enraged Parliament quickly passed the Intolerable Acts, shutting down the port of Boston and taking control over the colonies.
When the British passed the Stamp Act, the colonists reacted in various ways. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, put taxes on all printed goods in the colonies. Specifically, newspapers, legal documents, dice,
In 1763 the Seven Years’ War ended with the British Empire emerging as victors. The victory came at great cost to Great Britain’s economy. The national debt almost doubled from 75 million pounds to 133 million pounds between 1755 and 1763. Given that Britain fought in North America to uphold the security of her colonial possessions, British ministers deemed it fair that the cost of the war should be shared with the colonies. Subsequently, import duties on popular goods were raised and a number of Acts regarding excise taxes were passed. These included the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties beginning in 1767. The consequences of these actions were to place great financial burdens on the North American colonists, but more importantly, to
After the U.S gained their independence form Britain, they faced the greatest obstacle that would threaten their independence. This was a second war fought against Great Britain called the War of 1812. The war was fought on land and on sea and lasted almost three years. There were many forces that led Americans to declare war on Britain in 1812.
The Proclamation of 1763 established a boundary running along the crest of Appalachian Mountains in an effort to keep the colonists and tribes separated, and to manage the westward expansion. This attempt of Britain to exercise greater control over the colonies failed, the colonies saw this as a challenge, ineffectively controlling the colonies they continued to expand westward. Following in 1764 was the first Currency Act, restricted the colonies from designating future currency as legal tender for debts and the Sugar Act, and was an effort to raise money for Britain during an economic depression in the American Colonies. The Currency Act effectively made financial difficulties in the colonies worse, pushing them further to an economic depression. The Sugar Act’s impacted the economy with the problem of taxation without representation. "Now the colonial boycotts spread, and the Sons of Liberty intimidated those colonist to were reluctant participate in it." (Brinkley 119) The Stamp Act in 1765 like the Sugar Act was in effort to raise money, it was a disaster, greeted with protestors in the streets. This Act, unlike the others, required the...
The word "privateer" conjures a romantic image in the minds of most Americans. Tales of battle and bounty pervade the folklore of privateering, which has become a cherished, if often overlooked part of our shared heritage. Legends were forged during the battle for American independence, and these men were understandably glorified as part of the formation of our national identity. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of these men were common opportunists, if noteworthy naval warriors. The profit motive was the driving force behind almost all of their expeditions, and a successful privateer could easily become quite wealthy. In times of peace, these men would be common pirates, pariahs of the maritime community. Commissioned in times of war, they were respected entrepreneurs, serving their purses and their country, if only incidentally the latter. However vulgar their motivation, the system of privateering arose because it provided a valuable service to thecountry, and indeed the American Revolution might not have been won without their involvement. Many scholars agree that all war begins for economic reasons, and the privateers of the war for independence contributed by attacking the commercial livelihood of Great Britain's merchants.
Maintaining large numbers of troops was extremely expensive and forces of this size were needed to keep people safe from the French and their Native American allies . By the end of the war, the British found themselves in debt of 140 million pounds so Parliament decided to increase the amount of taxes on the Colonists. A tax on paper goods known as the Stamp act greatly upset the colonists because they felt like the tax was pointless. Many everyday goods were taxed including paper,tea,tobacco,and sugar. Their frustration caused them to write a letter to King George III to express their disdain for the new taxes. The document was called the Stamp Act Resolution and was written by John Dickinson. It states, “The members of this Congress, sincerely devoted, with the warmest sentiments of affection and duty to His Majesty's Person and Government, inviolable attached to the present happy establishment of the Protestant succession, and with minds deeply impressed by a sense of the present and impending misfortunes of the British colonies on this continent; having considered as maturely as
The Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767 were taxes imposed on England's American Colonies to raise money that would be used to promote England's influence in the Colonies. The Stamp Act was a direct tax on many different types of printed materials such as newspapers, legal documents, magazines and playing cards. The stamped papers were produced in England and the tax needed to be paid in British currency and not colonial paper money. The revenue was to be used to pay British troops that were stationed in the Americas. Since the colonists had no representation in the British Parliament, they argued that the tax was illegal because they were being taxed without representation. This resulted in the first time the colonies had produced
On May 18th, 1756, The British officially declared war on France, known in America as “The French and Indian war”, and in Europe “The Seven Years War” But then in 1763, on 10th of February, The Peace of Paris was signed. This forced France to give Canada to the British, the French had officially been driven out from the mainland of North America, and the Americans couldn’t have been happier about it. For the Americans it was a time of good feelings pride of their nation. The Seven Years War forced the colonist to work together on an extraordinary scale. Not only did it bring them closer to themselves, but also with Britain. The colonist started to get the idea that they were a part of a great empire, army, and commercial. And during these
The time that the Declaration of Independence was adopted in July 1776, the Thirteen Colonies and Great Britain had been at war for more than a year. Relations had been deteriorating between the colonies and the mother country since 1763. Parliament enacted a series of measures to increase revenue from the colonies, such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. Parliament believed that these acts were a legitimate means of having the colonies pay their fair share of the costs to keep them in the British Empire.
Towards the end of the sixteenth century, the Thirty Years War was coming to an end. The Thirty Years War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts, as well as the deadliest European religious war, in history. Ending with the Peace of Westphalia, the war resulted in an end to religious warfare. It also, unintentionally, gave rise to a new type of monarch. The New Monarch worked to unify their nations and create stable and centralized governments. New Monarchs such as Louis XIV, Peter the Great, and Ferdinand III were known for creating a more centralized government. Centralization was the concentration of authority on a single source and was necessary for magisterial absolutism. A monarch was an absolute monarch when they had absolute
The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in chaos. English leaders, were not satisfied with the financial and military help they had received from the colonists during the war. In a desperate attempt to gain control over the colonies as well as the additional revenue to pay off the war debt, Britain began to force taxes on the colonies. Which resulted in The Stamp Act, passed by parliament and signed by the king in March 1765. The Stamp Act created an excise tax on legal documents, custom papers, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, playing cards, and even dice. Obviously the colonist resented the Stamp Act and the assumption that parliament could tax them whenever and however they could without their direct representation in parliament. Most colonials believed that taxation without their consent was a violation of their constitutional rights as Englishmen. Which is where the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” comes
Great Britain imposed a multitude of taxes on the colonists in order to pay for and support the seven years war. The Munity Act of 1765 required colonists to house and feed stationed English solders. The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed American merchants who bought and sold sugar or molasses. Colonists were forced to end the
In the 17th century, before the Seven Years’ War, the common soldier was just an unpaid citizen who fought for the local militia with his own weapon, but the Seven Years’ War totally changed in military system. The Seven Years’ War was very significant because it forced all of the European countries to focus less on commerce and more territory. This new shift in focus is what caused Britain to send so many more troops to America; the British politicians believed it was vital to militarize their colonies like America, West Africa, and Asia. This is because they believed that soldiers could acquire and defend new territories, as well as build important structures as a cheap
Example of this were colonial merchants continuing to trade with the enemy and smuggle goods, while colonial assemblies repeatedly refused to provide military officials with men and supplies. The war left Great Britain with a considerable debt and expensive responsibilities to administer newly acquired territory in North America. As a result, Parliament in March 1765 passed the Stamp Act to raise revenue. This act required the colonists to purchase and use specially stamped paper for all official documents, deeds, mortgages, newspapers, and pamphlets. The Stamp Act provoked opposition among the colonists, who saw this as a violation of their rights. To the colonists, the Stamp Act violated the right of English subjects not to be taxed without representation; it also weakened the independence of their colonial assemblies.