One of the most famous events of the colonies efforts to severe ties and rebel against the British government was the Boston Tea Party. The British government enacted the tea act of 1773, in an effort to revive a failing East India Company. The Tea act would not enforce higher taxes or prices on the tea for the consumers, it was established to create a monopoly for the East India Company. The taxes for the faltering tea company would be lowered in an effort to lowball other providers of tea to the colonies. Even though colonists would be getting tea for a better value, they saw this act by the British Government as another example of unjust taxation (History.com, 2009). Because of the actions of the British and attempts of taxation without representation, a December 16th raid of the three tea ships docked in the Boston Harbor was coordinated by Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty. These members of the Sons of Liberty destroyed and dumped 342 chests of tea into the ocean on that night. Because of the Boston Tea Party and the enactment of the Intolerable Acts of 1774 by the British. The first continental congress was called to order by the colonists in an effort to begin the resistance against the British (History.com, 2009). …show more content…
In 1754 Benjamin Franklin created the Albany Plan of Union, the slogan and cartoon from this plan was a divided serpent sections labeled with colony abbreviations. And a short but to the point slogan “Join, or Die”. Benjamin Franklin was trying to create a unification to keep the colonies safer as a nation, from outside control and threats (Ushistory.org, 2017). Franklin was a decade early for this idea to really take hold as a possibility within the colonies, and nearly two decades early for complete declaration of independence from the British rule and
In 1773, the Tea Act placed taxes on tea, threatening the power of the colonies. The colonies, however, fought back by pouring expensive tea into the Boston harbor in an event now known as the Boston Tea Party. The enraged Parliament quickly passed the Intolerable Acts, shutting down the port of Boston and taking control over the colonies.
The number one reason that the colonists began protests, and boycotts, against the British was because they believed their natural rights as citizens were being violated. After the french and Indian War Great Britain was in massive debt. So the King began to tax the colonies. For example the heavy taxes in the colonies led to the Boston Massacre and to the Boston Tea Party. The British then adopted the policy of mercantilism.
With out competition the East India Company had full control over the prices they set. This infuriated the Colonists. Pamphlets and protests did not seem to be cutting it anymore, so some felt like action needed to be taken. The Sons of Liberty answered the call. In an act of defiance, “a few dozen of the Sons of Liberty, opposing new British laws in the colonies, systematically dumped three shiploads of tea into Boston harbor. They acted to prevent the royal authorities from collecting taxes on that import” (Bell). This made left Parliament infuriated. They did what they only know how to do and put a tighter squeeze on the colonists. Their answer was the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts in the Colonies. The first of these acts was the Boston Port Bill. This bill shut down the Boston Harbor, the livelihood of many Bostonians. It would not re-open until the tea that was dumped could be paid off. Another one of the Intolerable Acts was the Massachusetts Government Act, in which they had to hand their government over to royal officials. Many saw this as too far or unacceptable. As shown by the statement, “Most historians agree that the Intolerable Acts were among the leading causes of the American Revolution (1775–83) as the legislation galvanized opposition to British political and economic policies in the
Through many means of protest such as the Boston Tea Party, boycotting British goods and products, and the formation of many protest groups such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty that made it possible for the colonists to fight off the English influence. The Boston Tea Party in Boston was a major factor when it came to the independence of America because it showed that the colonists could work together and formulate a plan such as disguising themselves as Mohawk Indians to intimidate the enemy and successfully dispose of hundreds of barrels of tea into the Boston Harbor. Now with cause comes effect, the cause was that the English had lost a lot of money and profit once the tea was disposed of, but the major reaction of the English was to retaliate. England had sent an increase in troops to the colonies to oversee what was happening with the formulation of protests and the British government had also passed the Intolerable Act, which closed down the harbor to repair any damage caused by the actions of the Boston Tea Party, and made it so that more restrictions were put on the colonists for their actions. As a result of this act being put into place, the colonists had also retaliated by forming the First Continental Congress which was a meeting of the delegates of the thirteen colonies except Georgia because Georgia was a state that homed debtors and criminals. As stated in Document E, “A Declaration by the Representative of the United Colonies of North America, now met in Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms.” This has showed that the colonists would do anything and everything within their power to rid the colonies of the oppressive and selfies rule of the British empire forever even if it meant violence and death would be a result of their
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.
On a cold December night, a group of townspeople stormed the ships in the Boston harbor and tossed 342 chests of tea into the ocean. This event is known by the Boston tea party, it was a protest of the colonists against the Tea Act which passed by the Parliament on May 10, 1773. This act granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonies. Since the tea cargos were the only thing townspeople thrown overboard and they were really careful about the other things on the ship, they are sending a clear message: they are not going to pay the tax on tea. The colonists loved tea, they used it on daily basis. And it is
In the mid eighteenth century colonist of the new world started to rebel against Britain. Living in the colonies cost Britain a great deal of money Colonist did not like that they were being taxed. There were several acts passed that angered the colonists. For example, the Stamp Act, the Stamp Act was passed in 1765 taxed all legal documents including newspapers and other printed materials. The Stamp Act affected all that bought printed materials and it did not affect the poor because it was not too expensive. The colonist started to rebel and boycotted “No taxation without representation.” The colonists rebelled in many ways one of them was the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party occurred in 1773 as an act of revolt colonists threw tea cargo of a ship to the ocean. These acts of Britain towards the new colonies caused colonist to revolve and declare war to separate from Britain. The colonists were not justified to going to war to break away from Britain because England was paying more taxes and the mother country deserved absolute respect; however, the colonists were justified to break away from Britain because they were taxed without representation.
It also happened because the tax was a political move of the Parliament to claim control over the colonies. In light of the concept of agitation, it is clear that the Tea Party was a form of protest because the agitators did not like how the Parliament reasserts control. Although no one was hurt in this midnight raid, it sure did create a tension on the part of the Parliament. The physical presence of those who joined the raid tried to challenge the Tea Act of 1773. Although wasting a lot of tea should not be made a big deal, tea during that time was expensive and it has become a symbol of comfort by the colonists because they loved it. As such, the Boston Tea Party is significant because it showed that American colonists are very much willing to speak their freedom and exercise the same. Also, they are very willing to give up anything so that their right for independence is attained. Clearly, this is a form of lateral deviance because the agitators are very much willing to work outside the Parliament and in fact, colonists are ready for war. According to the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tea Party led to the American Revolution on April 19, 1775 in Massachusetts. Accordingly, the participants of the midnight raid were not punished but one person who was remained anonymous was stripped and punished devastatingly. Klein asserts that more than 92, 000 pounds of tea were
Throughout the years the colonies have continually faced difficulties with the British but have faced such difficulties together as united colonies. Many colonists were in favor of the colonies coming together as an united union. As shown in the graphics of Document A, which shows a disassembled snake with each of the seven pieces representing seven independent colonies. When the seven pieces of the disassembled snake are alone it would not be as powerful as a full and assembled snake. This graphic demonstrates that the colonies would have great benefits as united colonies because it would improve the economy of the colonies by working together. The slogan “Join, or Die” is a part of Benjamin Franklin’s plan, the Albany Plan of Union, which
The American Colonies were beyond frustrated. They were tired of the British Parliament not responding to the American colonists’ boycott. The Sons of Liberty took three ships full of tea at the Boston Harbor and dumped 342 crates of...
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...
On December 16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party took place. Infuriated that the British kept sending ships of tea in, and forced them to pay for it, the colonists decided to petition to Britain to send the ships back before they entered the Boston. When the British refused, the Boston inhabitants were indignant, and decided to take matters into their own hands. 100 colonists disguised as Native Americans boarded the ships bearing the tea and dumped a total of 342 chests into the Boston Harbor. The destroyed tea was estimated to be about 90,000 pounds, and the event took over 3 hours. The Parliament immediately closed down the harbor until they paid for the destroyed tea. However, the British never caught anyone responsible, except one, Francis
The British had been taxing everything they could get away with on the colonists. When they taxed the tea – that of which the colonists could only buy from the British, the colonists told the British to take their tea ships home. The British refused. As a result, colonist Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty protested by sneaking on board the tea ships disguised as Indians and dumped the tea in its entirety into the Boston Harbor. The British, angered by this, closed the harbor and imposed more penalties ("Boston tea party," 2009). The American Revolution began shortly thereafter.
The Sugar Act of 1764, which lowered tax on imported molasses in hopes that the colonists would pay it, made them feel that their Englishmen rights were violated. The second act was the Stamp Act of 1765 that placed taxes on printing material, which had infuriated the colonists enough to unite and boycott British goods. Another important act was the 1773 Tea Act that threatened to drive colonial tea merchants out of business by removing the taxes that the British East India Company had to pay, which led to the Boston Tea Party. All of these acts encouraged the colonies to unite and revolt against the British, and one example of this rebellious attitude is the 1770 Boston
They threw tea overboard into the harbor and ruined all the goods. When they saw one of their companion trying to stuff some in his pockets, they disrobes the tea from his grasp and sent back to home without his pants and later disrobes the ship owner of his clothes and trashed him. This event took the name as The Boston Tea Party. The British East India Company announced that £9,659 worth of damage caused by the Boston Tea Party. According to some latest evaluations, the destroyed tea could have brewed 18,523,000 cups of tea! The ruin of the tea was a very costly blow to the British. Besides the loss of the tea, historical accounts record no damage was done to any of the three ships, the troop or any other items onboard the ships except for one broken padlock. As a result of the Boston Tea Party, they closed Boston Harbor until all of the 340 chests of British East India Company tea were paid for. This was resolved under the 1774 Intolerable Acts and known as the Boston Port Act. The implication and impact of the Boston Tea Party was leading massively to the sparking of the American Revolution which began in Massachusetts on April 19,