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The causes of the American revolution
The causes of the American revolution
What caused the French revolution
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Taxes are a main cause of why many revolutions and rebellions happen, including the American Revolution, the French Revolution and other rebellions.
Taxation is a system that the government uses to gain money, they gain this money to support the government and provide public services. The government may secure their profits without taxation from natural resources, products, or services. (Taxation 1)
One place where taxes were and are a problem still in the society is America, many rebellions and wars were caused from the tax increase.
Fleming highlights the fact that “No taxation without representation” was one of the famous slogans during the time of the American Revolution; this slogan means that the Americans were being taxed by the British without cause, which was one of the main causes of the American Revolution. In 1776 Americans were the highest income in the world, least taxed and producing one-seventh of the world’s iron. With American being high above everyone else Britain decided Americans should pay the some cost (Fleming 1). This is significant because America was the least taxed and then Britain began taxing Americans causing a revolution. This leads to America being fine without being bombarded with taxes so they bombarded the British.
America thought that the war against Britain would be a short violent war, with the British being bankrupt America figured they could not be able to send over a large army to fight against. Britain proved America wrong by sending over 30,000 troops to fight. America surprised Britain and won their independence by adapting to guerilla war (Fleming 2). With America thinking they could take down the British very easily for raising their taxes they weren’t prepared for a war and were cau...
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... did this the American banks stopped payments and wouldn’t pay for their privately bank note (Nelson 2).
Another rebellion that was caused by taxes was Bacon’s Rebellion. Bacon’s Rebellion happened in Virginia in 1676, it was caused by high taxes and a couple other things. Nathaniel Bacon the leader of the rebellion had two expeditions against the tribes that became successful, but Bacon was arrested. When he was released he set fire to the Jamestown, by Bacon doing this the aristocracy maintained power and taxes were lowered. (Bacon 1) Nathaniel Bacon was very upset by the tax increase, by setting Jamestown to fire it showed the aristocracy that was in power that raising taxes may not have been the best thing for the economy at this time.
When taxes are raised people, groups, and country’s all decide to do something to get back at whoever caused the tax increase.
Taxes. We hate to love them and love to hate them. The mere mention of the word can stir heated debates and has done so for centuries. None was more prevalent than during colony times. During this time, on one side was the British Parliament while on the other side were the colonists, both arguing, either verbally or in written text, about which side did or did not have the right to tax the colonies. Soame Jenyns was one of these men who sided with the mother country in the tax debate.
When we hear about the Revolutionary War, one of the most popular phrases to be tied to it is “no taxation without representation,” and was coined from the fact that the colonies were being directly taxed without democratic representation. The fact that the American people did not have representation in Parliament while being taxed was virtually universally disapproved and was an extremely big factor in driving the American people to protect their democratic ideals through war in the years prior to the revolution.
When the colonies were being formed, many colonists came from England to escape the restrictions placed upon them by the crown. Britain had laws for regulating trade and collecting taxes, but they were generally not enforced. The colonists had gotten used to being able to govern themselves. However, Britain sooned changed it’s colonial policy because of the piling debt due to four wars the British got into with the French and the Spanish. The most notable of these, the French and Indian War (or the Seven Years’ War), had immediate effects on the relationship between the colonies and Great Britain, leading to the concept of no taxation without representation becoming the motivating force for the American revolutionary movement and a great symbol for democracy amongst the colonies, as Britain tried to tighten their hold on the colonies through various acts and measures.
The parliamentary taxes were primarily the main reason for colonial rebellion; the colonies if being taxed very simply wanted representation in parliament. The British military measures and restriction of civil liberties are next because they are really tied together. Without one there could not be the other, and then last comes the legacy of colonial religion and political ideas. The sudden end to salutary neglect would impact the colonists in ways that the British could not have imagined, and would eventually be a main cause for the American Revolution, and forming of a new independent nation.
The most important issue prompting Americans to rebel in 1776 is clearly parliamentary taxation. The first time a Parliamentary imposed tax threatened the livelihood of the colonies was in 1733 with the Molasses Act, stemmed from the loss of profit for the British West Indies under the Navigation Act. However, this act was avoidable and rarely paid. Following the long and harrowing French and Indian War, Britain was deep in debt and George Grenville was appointed British Chancellor. He was determined to pay off the debt by brutally taxing the colonies. He not only reinforced the ignored Navigation Acts, but he placed the new Sugar Act which was similar to the Molasses Act which put a tax on rum and molasses imported from West Indies, but this Act would be enforced. Needless to say, the colonists were not used to this intrusion of Parliament and felt that it was wrong because there were no members in Parliament to represent the colonies. They felt it was a direct violation of their civil liberties and the first whiff of resentment was beginning to spawn. Next was the Currency Act which disregarded the colonies paper money, forcing the colonist to pay in only silver and sending their economy into chaos. Perhaps the most important and controversial acts were the Stamps Acts that placed a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspaper, pamphlets, playing cards and dice.
In the 1770’s the American colonists were being taxed too much by the British and they started to want their independence. Britain was taxing the colonists to pay their debts from the French and Indian War. The colonists started to fight back by tarring and feathering some tax collectors. Britain sent troops to the colonies which caused more problems.
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...
The whiskey Rebellion Witten by Thomas P. Slaughter talks bout a rebellion that setup a precedent in American history. It gives us the opportunity to really comprehend this rebellion that thanks to fast action from the Federal government didn’t escalate to a more serious problem like civil war. The book the Whiskey Rebellion frontier of the epilogue to the American Revolution captures the importance and drama of the rebellion. The book is divided into three sections context, chronology and sequence. In the first section Slaughter explain the reason why the taxes was needed in the first place. According to Anthony Brandt in his article of American history name “Rye Whiskey, RYE Whiskey” Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the
The demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force motivating the American revolutionary movement, and for many it became a symbol for democracy. Throughout the late 18th century, the British colony of America was oppressed by Parliament from "across the pond". This oppression included unequal rights compared to English citizens that lived on the mainland, unneeded taxation, and no representation in Parliament, which resulted in many laws that were unfavorable to the American colonists. It was this "taxation without representation" that was a powerful catalyst in firing up the American revolutionary movement. America was "all grown up", and no longer needed to be monitored on by Britain.
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
The problem for many American colonists was not that taxes were high (the taxes were actually quite low, particularly compared with those paid by ordinary citizens of Britain), but that the colonies were not consulted about the new taxes, as they had no representation in Parliament. The colonists did not have any voting rights with regards to the taxes and so in order to avoid having to pay the taxes imposed on them the colonist’s boycotted British goods. This eventually led to the Boston Tea Party and other boycotts.
When George Washington was elected president, even though he was reluctant, he worked hard to ensure peace in the nation. Washington and his Cabinet knew that taxes were important, and the men were very cautious when passing them. The government was new, and could be overthrown just like the colonists did in the Revolutionary War. Also, the French Revolution was occurring, and Cabinet members didn’t want their government to be criticized to the point of rebellion and violence. Washington and his Cabinet were careful, passing just the Excise Tax on luxury items. The men knew the danger of taxes, but today, that notion has seemed to be pushed aside. The taxes in America are high, and just getting higher, much to the disgust and anger of Americans.
Taxation has always been a major controversy. Just like any major corporation, the government is constantly looking to raise revenue. The easiest and fairest way to do this is by taxing the people. However, how the people will be taxed is always an issue.
...he fact that they had no political power and were controlled by a country that was thousands of miles away from them. The American Revolution began as a conflict over political and social change, but soon developed into a dispute over personal rights and political liberty. A decade of conflicts between the British government and the Americans, starting with the Stamp Act in 1765 that eventually led to war in 1775, along with The Declaration of Independence in 1776. Americans united as one and knew that they wanted to be an independent country, have their own laws, rights, and not be colony of the Great Britain. They fought hard for their independence and people lost their lives in the process of it but in the end they succeeded. Never give up, keep fighting till the mission is accomplished just like the Americans did when they were fighting for their independence.
Why do we have taxes? The straightforward response is that, until somebody concocts a finer thought, taxation is the main functional method for raising the income to fund government using on the merchandise and administrations that the greater part of us request. Setting up a proficient and reasonable assessment framework is, notwithstanding, a long way from straightforward, especially for developing countries that need to get coordinated in the international economy. The perfect tax system in these countries ought to raise key revenue without intemperate government borrowing, and ought to do so without demoralizing economic activities and without going amiss excessively from assessment frameworks in different countries. Developing countries face impressive difficulties when they tried to make an appropriate tax system.