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What was the relationship between great britain and the american colonies in the years of 1763- 1774
American revolution political
American revolution details introduction
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During the 18th century the British colonies in the Americas were settled down and had established a relatively well functioning economy and society. They had but one major problem, and it was with the country which had founded them. The British colonies had some grievances with the British government, which contained disagreements between the taxations being imposed on the colonies and the constant cause of chaos being caused by the British soldiers residing in the colonies. The colonies were outraged when they found out about the Townshend Act, and what Britain planned to do with all the money they were going to collect. The people of Britain where displeased with the fact that they were getting taxed by the Townshend Act without having
a say in what they might have thought about the situation. They strongly believed that it was unfair they were not getting represented in Britain government, which brought forth the saying “No Taxation Without Representation”. John Hammack wrote a letter on the Townshend act that called the Townshend Act unconstitutional, for being imposed on the colonies, without the colonies say in the matter. It was this type of mindset that lead to violent outlashes of the people of the colonies. The people of the British colonies wanted to rebel against the imposed taxes, and they did this by refusing to let the people, who were to collect those taxes, be able to work. In the Stamp Act crisis a letter by Archibald Hinshelwood, he writes about how angry the people got which is why they were willing burn the stamp office just to make sure that the workers couldnt work and the taxes that were imposed were not to be executed. This just goes to show how how determined the Colonists were at showing Britain that something had to be done about the problem. The engraving, of the Resistance to the Stamp Act, shows a mixed crowd that consisted of men, women, and African Americans. This engraving shows a great unification of people, the British colonies, fighting and putting up a fist in defiance against the British government and their imposed taxes by burning a pile of stamp, one of the many goods that was taxed.
By this point, the colonists were beginning to question Britain’s motives towards them. They believed they were being treated like slaves and being used solely for the economic growth of Britain. One night, in 1773, the colonists rebelled against these taxes on their tea. A group of men dressed as Native Americans boarded a ship at Boston Harbor and unloaded three vessels of taxed tea (Boston Tea Party). This event, known a...
In 1767 many horrible things were happening to the thirteen colonies. England was punishing America for the way they were acting. They did not want the colonies to be independent; but wanted them to ask for permission to do things, and listen to what they were told. Just the year before, the Declaratory Act was passed stating that England could do what they wanted and America had to do as they said. They could pass any law onto the colonies and they would have to deal with it. Which leads to the Townshend Acts; “a series of measures introduced into the English Parliament by Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles Townshend in 1767” (Mifflin). The Townshend Acts began with the English parliament wanting to teach the colonies responsibility and ended in a massacre and boycott from all English products. Charles Townshend, being in charge of the treasury, came up with the idea to put a low tax on several small things so that the colonists would not be able to tell as much as a large tax on one thing. He proposed a tax on glass, led,
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.
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.
From 1754 to 1763, the French and Indian War took place. This war altered the political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies. It was the last of four North American wars waged from 1689 to 1763 between the British and the French. In these struggles, each country fought for control of the continent with the assistance of Native American and colonial allies. The French and Indian War occurred to end the land dispute between the British and French. Whoever won, in reality, gained an empire. It was a determined and eventually successful attempt by the British to get a dominant position in North America, the West Indies, and the subcontinent of India. Although Britain had won all this land, political, economic, and ideological relations between Britain and its American colonies were totally annihilated.
For a colony of the British government to rebel against the large, wealthy English country needed to take an extreme amount of resentment towards that group. The British themselves caused this resentment towards the English government. Act passes by the government caused this feeling; these acts began with the quartering acts of 1765. The quartering act of 1765 confirmed the colonist’s need for an independent, free nation because of subjugation of the colonists by the English government. This subjugation spurred a movement that ended in revolution.
The Intolerable Acts of 1774 greatly fueled the First Continental Congress. In response to the Boston Tea party, the British Parliament decided that a series of laws were needed to calm the rising resistance in America. “One law closed Boston Harbor until Bostonians paid for the destroyed tea. Another law restricted the activities of the Massachusetts legislature and gave added powers to the post of governor of Massachusetts.” As one can imagine, the American colonist viewed this as the British attempt to curtail their quest for independence.
What is the Townshend Act? (1764) The Townshend act is an act that made the Colonists pay taxes for many imported goods such as glass, lead, and other crucial materials that the colonists of America needed. The taxes were made in order to help pay for the funding of British soldiers sailing from their homeland to America in order to make sure that Colonial America was behaving. The leader that had made this frowned upon act was called Charles Townshend and was one of the few leaders in Parliament to combat the American colonies.
Changes in British policies toward the colonies between 1750 and 1776 played paramount in the evolution of relations between British North America and Mother England. Tension between England and the colonies mounted from the conclusion of the Seven Years’ War to the signing of the Declaration of Independence as a result of the several implemented changes imposed by Parliament for the purpose of increasing income and tightening the grip on America.
The British policies having to do with the American colonies that passed between 1763 and 1776 were an attempt by Britain to have the colonists pay for the French and Indian War and an attempt to keep the colonies subservient to Britain. However these policies backfired and cause the colonist’s to resist British authority and strengthened their commitment to republican values in government. The policies implemented new taxes in order to raise funds and tried to keep the colonists powerless against British rule, as well as causing the colonists to turn to more republican ways of self-governing. The oppressive British policies were the reason the colonies united in rebellion and turned towards a republican government.
Life back then was hard. The colonists had tried to rebel and as a result; the British Parliament passed many acts that negatively affected the colonist’s everyday lives. Some of these acts were the Townshend Acts. They were passed as a means of generating income for colonial administration. The Townshend acts placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea imported into the colonies. A boycott engineered by the colonists angered the
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.
The development of the American colonies throughout the 1700s led to the American Revolutionary War and the colonies declaring freedom from Great Britain. The colonies were thriving and succeeding under their own establishment and own sense of leadership. While each colony developed their own system of jurisdictions under Great Britain, they each develop differently. The individuality of each of the colonies allowed them to progress and eventually work together from the obscure laws of England. The Virginia and Massachusetts colonies influence the American people to fight for their rights against Britain. Great Britain’s irrational jurisdictions placed on the colonies such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and virtual representation led Virginia and Massachusetts to undertake American soil as their own.
Throughout the 1700s, the relationship between Britain and their colonies became more tension filled. The new generations of colonists felt more entitled to certain rights and liberties that had been considered privileges to their ancestors. Over the years Britain had been becoming progressively worse at keeping their colonies happy. Eventually, colonists did not even feel incorporated in their mother country, Britain. The deterioration of British colonial relations in the late 1700s was caused by a lack of representation and care from Britain.
The colonies in North America, under British rule, had grown unhappy with Great Britain for