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- why was the stamp act passes in 1765? research paper
Stamp act and its effects
- why was the stamp act passes in 1765? research paper
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Amid the eighteenth century by disposing superfluous acts like the Stamp Act, the Townshend Act and the Sugar Act, the British were causing havoc among the colonists. These influences by the British upon the colonists, were bringing about conflicts such as the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party. As a result, the colonists developed a sense of unity and identity as Americans, to a great extent. The French and Indian war and the taxing by the British brought about the colonial unification, while ethnic diversity and the separation between Europe and North America caused the distinctive American identity. As the colonists continued to developed to a sense of their identity and unity. The colonists progressively moved far from being faithful …show more content…
to England and moved more towards the American revolution. The 3000 miles of Atlantic ocean, between Great Britain and the American colonists, joined with a long period of remiss British principle, permitted the colonists to try different things with democracy and self-standard.
Many colonies adopted some sort of political institution, that gave voting right to each and every men. In the North, most colonists were able to engage in the neighborhood Town Meeting and voice their sentiments. These new political organization, that the Americans had developed and learned to value, caused Americans to forge a unique identity. Additionally, the vicinity of the Atlantic Ocean made it progressively troublesome, for the British to have firm control over the colonists, and the freedom that came from this environmental obstacle, contributed to the development of a distinctive American identity. The ethnic diversity among the colonists, further developed the sense of identity as Americans. Numerous individuals who lived in the colonies were not English, rather they were either German, Dutch, Swedish, Jewish, Scots-Irish, and French. A few individuals were a blend of a wide range of ethnic groups. This blended group of individuals, which could not be could anywhere else on the planet, prompted the production of a different identity (from
Britain). The British and the colonists triumph in the Seven Year War taught the colonists a profitable lesson – solidarity expands the chance of triumph in a battle/war. The victory in the French and Indian war expanded the colonist's confidence and advanced patriotism all through the colonies. However, after the French and Indian War, England emerged as the oppressor forcing taxes upon the colonists to pay for war obligations and British troops in the colonies. With these taxes/laws came a surge of colonial solidarity among the colonists. The colonists united to restrict such charges as the Stamp Act through the Stamp Act Congress, the Tea Act through the Boston Tea Party and the Townshend Act through embargoes and non importation agreements. These cases illustrated the power of the colonies when they united against the British policies. The colonists gradually began to realize that without unification, they would die. With this knowledge, colonists began to unite, which resulted in the making of the Continental Army. A wide range of elements prompted a highly developed sense of solidarity and identity among the colonists. The Seven Year War and the taxing by the British after the war resulted in colonial unification, while ethnic diversity and the distance between Great Britain and North America resulted in a distinctively American identity. This unification and distinct identity from Great Britain paved the way for the creation of an independent 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
At the beginning of the war, everything was in array and no one could agree on anything, disorganization and uncertainty overwhelmed everyone. Organizations that were meant to be unifying factors for the colonists, like the Continental Congress, were little more than debating clubs that had to work for weeks before they could come to a decision. As time went on and the Tea Act was put into place the rage of the people made them grow closer. By the eve of the American Revolution, Parliament’s aggression towards the colonists had drawn a distinction between the colonist’s political, economic, and social ideas and those of the British. Colonists had embraced a new identity that helped fuel their resistance against Britain (American Identity and
There were a myriad of differences between Great Britain and her American colonies in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but these differences can be divided into three basic categories: economic, social, and political. The original American settlers came to the colonies for varied reasons, but a common trait among these settlers was that they still considered themselves British subjects. However, as time passed, the colonists grew disenfranchised from England. Separated from the king by three thousand miles and living in a primitive environment where obtaining simple necessities was a struggle, pragmatism became the common thread throughout all daily life in the colonies. It was this pragmatism that led the colonists to create their own society with a unique culture and system of economics and politics.
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.
Many colonists held a stronger loyalty to their American Colonies than to England by the eve of the Revolution. The battles and trials that they endured gave them an identity and a unity, they had survived through many hardships and any group that does that had some sort of bond. The unique combining of cultures, geography, and the many political ordeals that American colonists had endured provided them with a sense of identity and unity.
Most of the first settlers in America came from England and considered themselves to be Englishmen. At first they relied on their mother country for money, supplies and protection. As the colony became larger and more populous, people gradually started feeling as if they were a separate nation. By the eve of the Revolution the patriotism has built up to such an extent, that the colonists believed America was self-sufficient enough to exist as independent unit from England.
The clash between the Native Americans and the colonists did not start off tumultuous. In the early days of the exploration and settlement of the New World they lived in peace. The Indians taught them how to farm and live off the land. In a strange land the colonists made an ally. However, the subsequent turn of events was inevitable. Perhaps the chaos that ensued could have been postponed but there was never going to be a peaceful cohabitation between the colonists and the indigenous people. There were so many vast differences between the religious views and ultimate goals of the two groups. The Native Americans had established trade relationships with various tribes, they had their own religions, and their way of life was a stark contrast to that of the colonists. The worldview of the respective peoples was foreign to the other and the idea of a holistic and unbiased approach to the life of others was foreign.
With previous turmoil in Great Britain, the colonies in North America had flourished early on due to salutary neglect and developed characteristics which soon defined Americans. An eventual conflict leading up to the revolution would be the drastic contrast between Britain and its colonies. Britain, an Old World country, had for centuries held onto their way of living and prided themselves on being Englishmen hence when faced with the fact that their much "inferior" counterpart have became "either an European, or the descendant of an European" British authorities intervene and catalyst what soon to be the birth- or rather the formal introduction- of a new man; "He is an American from the new mode of life he has embraced ". This mode of life, recognizably the American way of life, was a land of opportunity and equality for all. There was no real social hierarchy, aristocrats were few, and because of human freedom sentiments (mainly founded in the outspoken Middle colonies) America was unlike anything known in Europe.
“Is there a single trait of resemblance between those few towns and a great and growing people spread over a vast quarter of the globe, separated by a mighty ocean?” This question posed by Edmund Burke was in the hearts of nearly every colonist before the colonies gained their independence from Britain. The colonists’ heritage was largely British, as was their outlook on a great array of subjects; however, the position and prejudices they held concerning their independence were comprised entirely from American ingenuity. This identity crisis of these “British Americans” played an enormous role in the colonists’ battle for independence, and paved the road to revolution.
To the south of New England were the middle colonies. There the soil was fertile, and the weather more acclimated to farming (Sarcelle, 1965). Rivers flowed west toward the frontier, enabling transportation. The middle colonies, as opposed to the relatively Puritan dominated New England, were very diverse in people. A mixture of Dutch, German, Swedes, English and other smaller groups were present in middle colonial cities such as New York (Higginbotham, 1996).
The imperial tactics of the British Empire were exercised on the colonists through heavy taxes trade restrictions because of their mercantilist economy. The Stamp Act taxed the colonists directly on paper goods ranging from legal documents to newspapers. Colonists were perturbed because they did not receive representation in Parliament to prevent these acts from being passed or to decide where the tax money was spent. The colonists did not support taxation without representation. The Tea Act was also passed by Parliament to help lower the surplus of tea that was created by the financially troubled British East India Company. The colonists responded to this act by executing the Boston Tea Party which tossed all of the tea that was imported into the port of Boston. This precipitated the Boston Port Act which did not permit the colonists to import goods through this port. The colonists protested and refused all of these acts which helped stir the feelings of rebellion among the colonists. The British Mercantilist economy prevented the colonists from coin...
Even before the eve of the Revolution, the colonists constantly had the image of independence lingering in the back of their heads. The colonists felt that they were first on a loose leash, and as that leash tightened over the years, the colonists began to understand their true culture and identity. As time passed, the colonists developed a greater sense of their identity and unity as Americans and by the eve of the Revolution, even though at first the colonists were unorganized and had problems with being united, they remained determined to gain their identity and unity as Americans.
When settlers from England came to America, they envisioned a Utopia, where they would have a say in what the government can and cannot do. Before they could live in such a society they would have to take many small steps to break the hold England had on them. The settlers of America had to end a monarchy and start their own, unique, form of government. They also had to find a way that they would have some kind of decision making power. The most important change that the colonies in America had to make was to become a society quite different from that in England.
The colonies of the New World were formed by a very diverse group of people. The colonists had personal reasons for settling in America. Socially, politically, and religiously they all differed. I will explain their backgrounds on each and then tie it all together showing you how our country came to be an equal nation of all these peoples.
England created the colonies to generate additional economic value via access to new resources as well as products. However, England did not intend for these dependent colonies to develop an independent mindset. Through exposure to new religious philosophies, the colonies were able to further detach themselves from the Anglican Church. The composition of the colonies was altered by a great influx of culturally diverse people, creating yet another difference from English society. Additionally, the colonies developed a distinct material culture that encouraged them to function as their own economic entity. Tension between the colonies and England, created by religious, cultural, and economic differences, led to the colonies’ development of an American identity.