13 Colonies Injustice

362 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: The enlightenment effects on the colonies

Throughout the thirteen colonies not many issues occurred until the abuse pressed upon them by their British brethren across the seas. Once the British started imposing the following taxes: Sugar, Stamp, Townshend, Tea, and Quartering Acts, the colonies blatantly refused due to the fact that they (the colonist) had equal rights to British common-law rights. Thus, the phrase “no taxation without representation” was uttered from the lips of masses within the colonies. In order to establish themselves as independent, the thirteen colonies “drew deep inspiration from Enlightenment political thought,” which consisted of freedom, equality and popular sovereignty. Eventually a treaty was established between the thirteen colonies and Britain during

Show More
Related

  • What Provoked the British Colonists in the Americas to Rebel against the Crown

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the Seven Years Way England was broke for she had spent more money needed to win the war. Also winning the war gave the colonist a “we can do it spirit”. However because England now was facing debt she decided to tax the colonies. One the first acts passed was the sugar act passed in 1764. This Act was the raise revenue in American colonies. What it did was lowered the tax from six penses to three penses per gallon on foreign molasses. Molasses is a product made by refining sugarcane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. This upset the colonist because before the sugar act they didn’t have to pay the tax so even if it was lowered that meant nothing for they now had to pay for it. A year later, in 1765, the Britain’s passed another act known as the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act put a tax on stamped paper, publications, playing cards, etc. Because it was on all paper products in a way it affected everyone; from the papers for the upper class such as lawyers, publications such as newspapers for the middle class, and playing cards for the lower class for entertainment. Next, the Townshend Act passed by Charles Townshend. This came in 1767, which imposed taxes on colonial tea, lead, paint, paper, and glass which just like the Stamp Act affected all of the classes in the colonist in the Americas. Though this act was removed three years later in 1770, it still left colonists with a warning that conditions may become worse. Around 1773, parliament passed the Intolerable Acts one of those acts which affected taxation was the Bost...

    Read More

  • Dbq Essay

    591 Words  | 2 Pages

    From 1754-1763, Britain fought the French and Indian war. Although Britain had won the war, they still had a lot of war debts to pay off. Britain turned to the colonies to pay off their debts by taxing them. The taxes angered the colonists because they believed it violated their rights. Benjamin Franklin had initially proposed the Albany plan of Union to unite the colonies, however this law was rejected by all of the colonial governments. It wasn't until after all of the British laws and taxes that the colonies would unite and write the Declaration of Independence.

    Read More

  • How Did The Boston Tea Party Lead To The American Revolution

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Attempts to Unite the American Colonies before the American Revolution

    577 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the founding of the Thirteen Colonies, the colonists enjoyed a degree of autonomy and self sufficiency from the mother country, England. The colonies had colonial assemblies, which were more democratic than England’s and were independent governments. British mercantilist laws were not strictly enforced due to the policy commonly referred to as salutary neglect. However, as the British increasingly ignore the problems the colonies faced, the colonies began to look for a common government to lead them. This eventually led to three distinct efforts at intercolonial cooperation and union: The New England Confederation, Penn’s Plan of Union, and The Albany Plan of Union. Therefore, although there were unsuccessful attempts to unite the colonies, there was a strong desire for a common government.

    Read More

  • Self-government in the Early Colonies

    454 Words  | 1 Pages

    Self-governance was a primary idea of the settlers in North America. Once English settlers began to come to the new world in the 1600s, they knew they needed to have their own freedom for themselves, after all that is why they left Great Britain in many cases. Self-governance is most notable in the earliest form of the Mayflower Compact in 1620 for Virginia. Great Britain began to deteriorate the self-governing nature of the colonies in the mid-1700s through various acts it deemed to be necessary. The enforcement of these acts caused the colonists to be unhappy with the actions Great Britain was taking and so the phrase “taxation without representation is tyranny” came.

    Read More

  • Disagreements Between American Colonists and British Policymakers

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    The American colonists’ disagreements with British policymakers lead to the colonist’s belief that the policies imposed on them violated of their constitutional rights and their colonial charters. These policies that were imposed on the colonist came with outcome like established new boundaries, new internal and external taxes, unnecessary and cruel punishment, and taxation without representation. British policymakers enforcing Acts of Parliament, or policies, that ultimately lead in the colonist civil unrest, outbreak of hostilities, and the colonist prepared to declare their independence.

    Read More

  • Comparison of Colonies

    1819 Words  | 4 Pages

    There were various reasons why the American Colonies were established. The three most important themes of English colonization of America were religion, economics, and government. The most important reasons for colonization were to seek refuge, religious freedom, and economic opportunity. To a lesser degree, the colonists sought to establish a stable and progressive government.

    Read More

  • The Sense of Identity and Unity of the Colonists

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the Great War for Empire, the British parliament began carrying out taxes on the colonists to help pay for the war. It was not long from the war that salutary neglect was brought on the colonies for an amount of time that gave the colonists a sense of independence and identity. A farmer had even wrote once: “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” (Doc H). They recognized themselves as different than the British, so when parliament began passing bills to tax without representation there was an outcry of mistreatment. Edmund Burke, a man from parliament, sympathized with the colonists: “Govern America as you govern an English town which happens not to be represented in Parl...

    Read More

  • King And Parliament: Depriving Colonists Of Their Natural Rights

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eventually because of the aquiring debt of the British the colonists began getting taxed through acts placed on the colonists by the Parliament

    Read More

  • Essay On The Stamp Act

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    England’s Parliament decided the American colonists needed to pay their debts for them. England went about this matter by raising taxes and requiring a stamp for 50 different documents (Gale Encyclopedia 2). Since America was not yet a country, and had no representation, they were stuck with whatever law Parliament passed. Why weren’t the thirteen colonies willing to abide by England’s laws? Even though England was trying to pay off their debts from the French & Indian War, they went about it the wrong way, because they expected the American colonists to pay by increased tax dollars.

    Read More

  • The Boston Tea Party

    1265 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Colonies

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    What major problems did the young republic face after its victory over Great Britain? How did these problems motivate members of the elite to call for a federal constitution?

    Read More

  • Salutary Neglect In The American Colonies

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    The legislative assemblies in the colonies became accustomed to passing their own laws, especially regarding taxation. The Stamp and Sugar Acts were passed in the 1760’s, imposing a new tax on imports. Both laws were removed after protest, but the Intolerable Acts and the Tea Act were passed by Parliament, creating even more controversy. The colonists were greatly opposed to being ruled by a government that was thousands of miles

    Read More

  • Injustice In The 13 Colonies

    266 Words  | 1 Pages

    The thirteen colonies all have their own parts that make them special. Whether it be how they were created or why. Can you name all the thirteen colonies? Most people are quick to answer some of the most famous like Jamestown in Virginia or Massachusetts Bay, but no one ever thinks of the last colony to be established.

    Read More

  • The Occupt Superpower: The American Revolution

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    The lack of representation the American colonies had within their own government exponentially increased political turmoil between Great Britain and the Colonies. Taxing the American people without giving them a voice was immoral and unjust. Boston lawyer and legislator, James Otis Jr, the man often credited by historians for coining the phrase, “No Taxation Without Representation”. In a pamphlet he wrote in 1764, Otis highlights the illegal activities being done to the colonists through unfair taxation, saying, “...that no parts of His Majesty’s dominions can be taxed without their consent; that every part has a right to be represented in the supreme or some subordinate legislature; that the refusal of this would seem to be a contradiction in practice to the theory of the constitution”(Otis). For Great Britain to expect respect as well as cooperation from the newly independent colonies while legally and morally wronging them, lacks major political sense. The colonists broke away from their old lives for freedom and new opportunities. Stifling the growth of these colonists’ government and society through unfair taxes is more than enough to spur an uprising, making the political aspects of the taxation without representation a key factor causing the American

    Read More

More about 13 Colonies Injustice

Open Document