Although the American desire for democracy had signaled for the rise of American independence, it was Great Britain’s harsh and seemingly unfair imperial policies that strengthened the colonists’ resistance and reinforced their commitment to republican values. Britain’s imperial policies challenged the American colonists politically, economically, and socially. Politically, the policies threatened the established tradition of colonial self-government. Economically, they represented taxation to raise revenue, or even more disadvantageous, taxation without representation. Lastly, socially the policies increased the colonists’ legal punishments and threatened to abduct their property. All three factors contributed to the rise in colonists’ resistance …show more content…
In addition, the Declaratory Act of 1766 further asserted Britain’s authority over the colonists, and discouraged self-government by the colonies. The Quartering Act instituted a standing army in the colonies and required colonists to house British soldiers in their homes or barns, much to their displeasure. Having an army in the colonies during an assumed peacetime dampened resistance efforts and limited colonists’ independence, thus, unsurprisingly, the Act was met with much irritation and many did not properly comply. Consequently, to add insult to injury, the Parliament suspended the New York Assembly in 1767. The Suspension of the New York Assembly severely threatened the colonists’ dedication to republicanism. One of the tenets of republicanism is the liberty of its citizens. By removing the citizen’s right to self-govern, the British were attacking the republic, which was a grave affront to the American colonists. Finally, the Declaratory Act (1766) eliminated the colonist’s freedom to make their own decisions about government by proclaiming the British Parliament’s absolute authority over the colonies. This infuriated the colonies because they wished to rule themselves with little oversight from …show more content…
Some examples of this include the Townshend Duties of 1767, the Stamp Act from 1765, and the Tea Act of 1773. The Stamp Act (1765) was a direct tax put on all official paper products, including legal documents, newspapers, licenses, insurance policies, and even playing cards. Although the Stamp Act actually lowered taxes, it still offended the colonists because the colonists still saw the act as an unfair taxation, due to the fact that this tax represented taxation without representation. The colonists disliked this Act so much that they actually boycotted British paper and got the Act repealed the next year. Similarly, the Townshend Duties (1767) was a tax on imported goods such as glass, paint, lead, and paper. This tax was imposed to recover British debt after the French and Indian War. In response, John Dickinson, a lawyer from Pennsylvania wrote a series of articles titled, “Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania” which argued that Parliament did not have the right to tax the colonies purely to raise revenue. Dickinson believed taxes should only be utilized to regulate trade. The articles became quite popular, and the anti-Townshend Duties sentiment spread quickly throughout the colonies. Again, the colonists boycotted British goods which lead to a repeal of most of the taxes. The Tea Act (1773) was different because it actually was not a
Passed in 1767, the Townshend Acts put taxes on several basic items that, to obtain them, needed to be imported. These items included glass, paper, lead, and tea. The British planned out the Townshend Acts a little differently than they had previously planned other acts. They passed the Townshend Acts in a way for them to still make money, but to avoid direct conflict with the colonists. The British thought that if they taxed imported items, as opposed to taxing items produced in the colonies (like the Stamp Act did), that the colonists wouldn’t have as much hostility towards the act. The second part of the Townshend Acts was sending of troops and warships to Boston. In September of 1768, warships arrived in Boston harbor carrying four thousand troops. The soldiers came to keep structure after all the colonists’ chaotic reactions of the past acts. The establishment of the Writs of Assistance was the last part of the Townshend Acts. British soldiers used the Writs of Assistance to search colonists’ houses for smuggled goods. After the British passed the Townshend Acts, the colonists had several reactions in response to them. One reaction was boycotting. This colonial boycott was on all imported British goods, and it was extremely widespread. The boycott encouraged more colonists to join the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, which lead to many colonists replacing items, which they would normally buy from British merchants, with homemade versions. These items included fabrics, candles, and tea. Another reaction was non-importation agreements. Non-importation agreements are written agreements that said that whoever signed one would not purchase items from British merchants until they got representation in British Parliament. A tremendous amount of colonists signed these agreements, and those who didn’t were sometimes harassed or had their property destroyed. Similarly,
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.
It was not all as good for the Colonies as it seemed, however, for with that came the Declarative Act. The Declarative Act states that, “That the King 's Majesty, by and with the consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons of Great Britain, in parliament assembled, had, hath, and of right ought to have, full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient force and validity to bind the colonies and people of America, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all cases whatsoever” (Temperley). This nullified any progress the House of Burgesses had accomplished. There was still hope however for the King George III appointed a new minister. He made a name for him self in the Colonies in the French and Indian War. He was sympathetic to the Colonies and was a supporter in repealing the Stamp Act. His name was William Pitt. Unfortunately for the Colonists, he fell ill shortly after taking office and passed and was replaced by Townshend. Townshend had quite the opposite views as Pitt. He supported generating yet even more revenue from the Colonies. He adds taxes on lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea. He also set out to quell the power of the upstart American assemblies. He used the New York legislature to set a bold example. The New York legislature was not recognizing the Quartering Act. Townshend suspended the Assembly until they submitted and agreed to recognize and follow the act. Such
In order to obtain some of the colonists’ finances, Britain began to pass a series of taxes. The Stamp Act was passed in 1765, and placed a tax on any paper goods that were going into the colonies from Britain. This included newspapers, pamphlets, and playing cards, just to name a few (Stamp Act).The colonists had been so accustomed to their freedom from the crown at this point, that they were enraged. The relationship between the Mother country and the colonies did not get much better with the instatement of the Townshend Acts of 1767. These acts passed taxes on every day goods that the colonists needed, such as lead, tea, glass and paint (Townshend Acts).
The British Empire has had a long lasting and strong influence on the American colonies for over three centuries. From the 16th century all the way to the 18th century, the British empire has held power within the colonies in terms of legislature, economy, and social stature. The British’s rule has been both a positive and negative driving force
The British rule that was established in the colonies was oppressive and unfair. The British rule was immoral because Parliament contained a totality of British politicians who only cared about Britain’s wants and needs. The Colonists, “wanted the right to vote about their own taxes, like the people living in Britain. But no colonists were permitted to serve in the British Parliament.” (Ember) This unfairness led to many unwanted laws such as the Intolerable Acts and the Stamp Act. These laws did not benefit the colonists in any way, but the acts significantly helped the British. Laws and acts were forced
This conclusion seemed to contradict every presumption about Great Britain’s imperial power. In all other conflicts, the British seemed to win decisively but the problem in the American Revolution lies with Britain underestimating the colonists. The British were blind to America’s symbolic presence as an end to an imperial structure. France and Spain aided the colonists in hopes of defeating the tyrannical empire. Britain underestimated George Washington and the Continental Army. Over time, the colonial militias trained in the European fashion and transformed into a challenging force. Ultimately, the most distinctive miscalculation of the British was the perseverance of the colonists and their fight for freedom. While Britain was fighting for control over yet another revenue source, America was fighting for independence and principle. The difference between the motivations was the predominant factor in deciding the
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.
Even though the colonists resisted the Sugar Act, Britain issued another tax, the Stamp Act in March of 1765. The Stamp Act placed taxes on all legal documents from newspapers, pamphlets, licenses, legal documents and even playing...
“ No taxation without representation!” a group of colonists shouted as they roamed the streets surrounded by armed, red-coated British soldiers. Around the 1760’s, turmoil between the 13 colonies and Britain began. Britain no longer gave them their rights, respected the amount of time between taxations, or gave them a say in any law that applied to them. Although there are reasonable things that Britain did, American colonists were justified in waging war and breaking away. If Britain was going to bombard them with taxation and laws in the span of a few short years or not present them with a representative in Parliament, then the colonists had every right to become their own self governing country.
A new era was dawning on the American colonies and its mother country Britain, an era of revolution. The American colonists were subjected to many cruel acts of the British Parliament in order to benefit England itself. These British policies were forcing the Americans to rebellious feelings as their rights were constantly being violated by the British Crown. The colonies wanted to have an independent government and economy so they could create their own laws and stipulations. The British imperial policies affected the colonies economic, political, and geographic situation which intensified colonists’ resistance to British rule and intensified commitment to their republican values.
The American Revolution was sparked by a myriad of causes. These causes in themselves could not have sparked such a massive rebellion in the nation, but as the problems of the colonies cumulated, their collective impact spilt over and the American Revolution ensued. Many say that this war could have been easily avoided and was poorly handled by both sides, British and American; but as one will see, the frame of thought of the colonists was poorly suited to accept British measures which sought to “overstep” it’s power in the Americas. Because of this mindset, colonists developed a deep resentment of British rule and policies; and as events culminated, there was no means to avoid revolution and no way to turn back.
“Great Britain protected America, rightly making the colonists contribute in taxes to pay for the debt of their protection. The colonist should not have rebelled in violence against the authority and the law.” This is the view that a citizen might have held who remained loyal to the king of Britain. Many respectable arguments stand against the revolution, including accusations against the violence of the colonists. True, both parties ought to have dealt with some situations in a more gentle manner, but the colonists handled Britain in the right way, considering the immoral acts passed without their consent. Because of the evidence from the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Stamp Act, violating the rights of life, liberty, and property, the citizens revolted was justified.
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
They became empowered and confident in this idea of breaking free from their mother country. Now, able to express their grievances and frustrations, the Colonies were able to essentially “stick it to the man” against Britain. Thomas Jefferson writes how Great Britain’s king had “impos[ed] taxes on [them] without [their] consent,” and “depriv[ed] [them] of the benefits of trial by jury. “ He goes on to say that the king had abolish[ed] [their] most valuable laws; and alter[ed] fundamentally the forms of [their] governments.”