The new acts of the Colonial Era sparked a controversy between the American colonies, the British Government, and the British Parliament. The British felt that the colonists should be held responsible for the debt owed by the British armies while they were protecting the colonies during the French and Indian War. The colonies strongly disagreed and upon hearing this the British devised a strategy against its relations with the colonists that would continue to make things worse between the two nations. The British Parliament passed several new laws and acts over the New England states, which in turn caused the colonists to retaliate against them. The colonists felt the laws were unfair and they would not stand by quietly while the British reaped the unjust benefits. According to Schultz (2010), acts such as the “Sugar Act of 1764 (p. 84), the Quartering Act of 1765 (p. 85), and the Stamp Act of 1765” (p. 85) further angered …show more content…
The Boston Massacre of 1770, killed five colonists and wounded six more due to a misunderstanding with a fallen soldier and stick. They [colonists] would later shut down the ports in New York, decline British exports to the colonies, and raise the number of people who attended and participated in each event. Harsher displays of intimidation were shown from mobs throughout the towns of Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and South Carolina (Schultz, 2010). “Tax collectors were either found hung, tared and feathered or had their houses burnt down by leaders of a group known as “The Sons of Liberty” (Schultz, 2010, p. 87). These types of punishment from mobs were considered to be some of the severest forms taken, and most officials would quit their positions after hearing of these occurrences. Taxes could not be collected, and the laws could not be enforced since no one would volunteer to take the place of these unfortunate
The relationship between Britain and her Americans colonies slowly deteriorated between the 1750s and the beginning of the American Revolution. When the first British immigrants settled in America, the relationship of the colonies and their mother country was somewhat peaceful. In the following generations, however, their relationship became tenser as Britain imposed policies and taxes on unrepresented American colonists. The British believed they were right in doing so because they had large debts to pay from ongoing wars with France. These taxes caused uprisings among colonists which contributed to British occupation in America, leading to more rebellions. Eventually, the rift in the relationship between the colonists and the British led to the Revolutionary War and the formation of a new country.
The British were facing economic difficulties after the French and Indian war; therefore, they passed taxes on the colonies to help repay the debt. Initially, the British introduced the Sugar Act in 1764. The colonists did not approve of the British taking control over them. The colonists opposed the Sugar Act because they had to pay three cent tax on sugar. In addition, the Sugar Act increased the taxes on coffee, indigo, and wine. This act was the start of colonist frustration. Subsequently came the Stamp Act the following year in 1765. The Stamp Act was the mind changer for many colonists known as the Patriots. The Patriots started forming as a result of England enforcing acts. The patriots believed the colonies should go to war and separate
After the French and Indian War ended, England had massive debt and little revenue, so Parliament passed laws taxing the American colonists to aid in paying for the British army and navy that helped protect the colonies. Parliament passed a series of laws, including the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, which taxed goods purchased by the colonists. Colonial merchants, who did not feel they should be taxed without representation in Parliament, signed non-importation agreements promising not to buy or import British goods. There was a lot of violence committed on the customs officials who were enforcing the...
Before the French and Indian War, Britain had used a system of Salutary Neglect with the colonies, giving them a sense of freedom. While Britain still acknowledged the colonies, and the colonists remained loyal to the crown, the colonies were generally left to govern themselves. After the French and Indian War, however, King George III saw in his colonies a way to capitalize. Britain was in a post-war economic depression, and needed a source of income (Stamp Act). The colonies provided a perfect answer. They had set up their own systems of trade and manufacturing during the times of salutary neglect, and were becoming increasingly self sufficient. In order to obtain some of the colonists’ finances, Britain began to pass a series of taxes.
During the War for American Independence, 78 men were commissioned as general officers into the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. Many of these generals commanded troops with differing levels of competence and success. George Washington is typically seen as most important general, however throughout the war a number of his subordinates were able to distinguish themselves amongst their peers. One such general was Nathanael Greene. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene would become Washington’s most important subordinate, as demonstrated by Edward Lengel’s assessment of Greene as “the youngest and most capable of Washington’s generals.” Washington and Greene developed a strong, positive and close relationship between themselves. Greene began his life in the military after having been raised a Quaker. With limited access to literature and knowledge in his younger years, Greene became an avid reader which equipped him with the knowledge necessary to excel as a general during the war. Through his devoted study of military operations, firsthand experience and natural abilities as a soldier, Greene became an excellent military commander. He would become known for his successful southern campaign, during which, he loosened British control of the South and helped lead the war to its climax at Yorktown. Throughout the war, he was involved in a number high profile battles where he built a reputation of being an elite strategist who also understood unconventional warfare, logistics, and the importance of military-civil affairs and had a natural political/social acumen. The thesis of this paper is that Greene’s proven reputation of being a soldier, strategist and statesman would cause him to become the second greates...
Without colonial consent, the British started their bid to raise revenue with the Sugar Act of 1764 which increased duties colonists would have to pay on imports into America. When the Sugar Act failed, the Stamp Act of 1765 which required a stamp to be purchased with colonial products was enacted. This act angered the colonists to no limit and with these acts, the British Empire poked at the up to now very civil colonists. The passing of the oppressive Intolerable Acts that took away the colonists’ right to elected officials and Townshend Acts which taxed imports and allowed British troops without warrants to search colonist ships received a more aggravated response from the colonist that would end in a Revolution.
After the French Indian War ended, the Britain was in debt, and they also wanted to have more control of the colonies, and the colonists. They passed different acts and procedures in order to collect money, and hold the control of the colonists, and the colonies. Yet the colonists were not given any representation, and they were losing their freedoms one by one; these caused a serious tension between Britain and the colonies, which eventually lead to the American revolution, followed by the Declaration of Independence. The colonies were justified for declaring independence from England, because the king of England caused “repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the states”("The
Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected the colonists were the Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony's trade so that it traded solely with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the colonists accepted it with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England's right to monitor trade. The change of course in 1763 was what really riled the colonists. England began to slowly tighten its imperial grip on the colonies by ordering the British navy to begin strictly enforcing the Navigation Laws (The American Pageant, pg 125). Additional problems began when. This was a powerful weapon against smuggling, but most importantly to the Colonists; it allowed the invasion of their privacy. This was crossing the line and violating the rights of an English man.
The colonists were required to pay for the veterans of a war that left Britain in debt so that British taxes could reduce, but colonial taxes would increase. “They also believed it was unjust to ask them to pay for the expenses of the British soldiers. They had no representatives in Parliament so they believed it was wrong for Parliament to pass any taxes on them. It was an age old principle of English law that taxation without representation was tyrannical.” The injustices brought on the colonists by the British government culminated in this act that required British soldiers to live in the homes of colonists. The colonists felt that the British were making the colonists pay for the debts of England. The resistance created by this led to strengthening colonial unity and the creation of revolutionary
Socially the people of the colonies were considered lower than the citizens born in England this made the colonists angry as they considered themselves English citizens. They eventually started to wonder why people from so far away, who did not know what was going on in the colonies, should create rules for them. After the French and Indian war, once the acts to tax stamps, sugar, and other goods the colonists protested because they had no representation in the matter of the taxes. The King stated because they spent so much money on the war to protect the colonies that he should be allowed to tax them at will, However the colonists believed the war was not for their protection and benefit, but to strengthen the British empire and therefore deserved representation if they were to be taxed. When the Quatering act was placed it further strained the relationship between the British and colonists.
In 1763 after the French and Indian War the British were left with a large debt to pass of from helping the Native Americans. In order for the government to be to pay this off, they needed to tax the colonists. This lead to the British Parliament passing and repealing taxes and acts that all lead up to the American Revolution. The response from the American colonists were mostly reasonable, due to the fact that the British were violating their rights. Some ways they reacted to the taxations were: protesting, boycotting, and rebellion.
America was first settled by the europeans, Spanish, and the french. They all settled for land and power, and battled for land in the North American continent, dividing the Continent into 3different territories. The europeans were the first to have bring slaves to the Americas. Europeans began to settle in the new world and gain dominance over the 13 original British colonies. These states were divided by the reason they were settled. New England- Connecticut, new Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island was settled for Religious freedom. The middle states- Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and New jersey were settled for trade. The southern states -Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina was settled for farming,The French and Indian war pushed more division in the states because after the British had
These acts were passed because Britain used an extraordinary amount of funds in the Seven – Years War. Although Britain conquered North America, the funds used during the war left Britain with very little money. British Parliament faced opposition through mass protest and violent outbreaks because their blatant disregard for the colonists’ liberties and opinion through the passing of these acts. The overall issue that sparked rebellion was that taxes were forced on people who had no representation in the British Parliament; thus the people felt as if they had no voice. Therefore the American Revolution occurred as a result of the colonists’ discontent with the decisions of the British
The costly French and Indian War created a divide between British Parliament and the colonists that was temporarily appeased when William Pitt returned recruitment control to the colonists and reimbursed farmers and tradesmen for their goods and services that had been forcefully taken. However, this peace was short lived when British Parliament tried to acquire complete control of the colonies and regain financial stability by passing the Stamp Act of 1765, the Townshend Duties, the Tea Act of 1773, and the Intolerable Acts of 1774. The acts greatly inconvenienced the colonists and led to the Boston Massacre of 1770, the Boston “tea party,” colonial unity, and the first shot at Lexington that sparked the American Revolution.
In the aftermath of the French and Indian War of 1754-1763, Britain had triumphantly conquered the French power. With this victory, Britain had successfully secured the eastern part of North America. Even though Great Britain defeated France and its allies, the victory came at a great cost. The expensive war against the French caused Britain’s national debt to skyrocket from 75 to 133 million pounds (Notes). To reimburse this major financial burden, Britain relied on the colonies. By imposing a sequence of taxes and regulations such as the Navigation, Sugar, Stamp, Townshend, and Coercive Acts Britain deflated the debt. Consequently, these tariffs would ignite protests and discontent among the colonists. Their rebellious actions would soon