American Rebellion In 1776

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.

The Act stated they must use stamped paper for printing bills, legal documents, and playing cards. England saw these acts as needed to cover the expense for the soldiers protecting the colonies; the Americans did not feel the soldier’s needed to be in the New World and hated the taxes. The Prime Minister claimed that the Colonists were represented in the parliament: each member stood for the empire as a whole. The acts imposed by England to control and monitor America only succeeded in helping with t... ... middle of paper ... ...as the Battle of Lexington, the first in a series of wars in a span of eight-years between the colonist and Britain. In January of 1776, Thomas Payne published Common Sense; a letter that stated kingship is hazardous to liberty and is undemocratic.

After being under British control the people of the 13 colonies of America became frustrated with the taxes Britain forced and thought it was unfair for them to have to pay tax on products they produced themselves such as tea and stamps. That was just the beginning of the colonist’s problems. After the original taxing in 1764 the British passed the Quartering act that made colonist house British troops in the northern part of what was to be America. This outraged the colonists even more. Then they passed the Townshend accts which placed tax on imports to the U.S and then the Coercive acts after the Boston tea party happened, which enraged the British.

Britain’s tactics to control the Americas had been causing various troubles and irritations to the colonists. The colonists had to deal with taxation without representation, also known as virtual representation such as the Stamp Act or Tea Act and also other unpleasant laws passed by the British such as the Quartering Acts. A significant event that is notable for altering the political, economic and ideological relations between the colonies and Britain is the French and Indian War. This was fundamentally the cause of the American Revolution. The relationship between the colonists and the British was already weak but after this war the ties became even weaker than imaginable.

The first of many British “missteps” was their need to tax the colonists on every day items, even after many protests. In 1764 the Sugar Act was enacted to raise tax revenue in the colonies for Englan... ... middle of paper ... ...the colonies in all cases whatsoever. This was an immature move on Britain’s part because it made the colonists think they were no longer being treated equal to the Englishmen residing in Britain. The Intolerable Acts limited colonists' rights and made restrictions on town meetings, which were especially crucial to the New England way of life. After hundreds of years of salutary neglect, by enforcing the laws of Mercantilism on the colonies, Britain backed the colonists into a corner where they had no choice but to fight for their rights.

The Townsend Act was put in affect to collect duties on colonial imports of glass, red and white lead, paints, paper, and tea. Both the Stamp and Townsend Acts were imposed to help pay for the costs of British soldiers living in America, and to protect the American colonies. Also, trading restrictions enforced by Britain angered the colonist. The British basically wanted, and tried, to have a mercantilist economy in Amemercantilismmentalist discouraged any trading between the colonist, and any other country other than Britain. The colonist did not really care about most of the British rules, and they again were able to overturn the rules once again.

Not being able to trade with any outside sources other than Great Britain limited the colonists on their amount of imports and exports, which severely damaged the economy. The New England Restraining Act had a great impact on starting the American Revolutionary War. One reason the New England Restraining Act was created was because of the Tea Act in 1773. “The Tea Act of 1773 brought things to a head with a small tax placed on imported tea” (The New England Restraining Act is made law 1). The New England colonies had fought against these taxes because they believed it wasn’t fair.

The British government had good reason to tax the colonies, because they just went to war to defend them. That they understood, but they didn't appreciate the fact that they didn't have a say into how the debt would be paid. The British passed the Townshend Acts to offset the war debt. This caused the colonist to reinstate the boycott on luxury items. England then passes the Tea Act taxing imported tea, but also gives the British East Indian Tea co. a complete monopoly, cutting the middleman out of the deal, thus putting American merchants nearly out of business.

So, in hope of a solution, they decided to tax the colonies in order to save them from financial ruin. For example, harsh taxes like the Stamp Act and the Townsend Acts were directly enforced and caused great frustration in the colonies. Although the colonies had already been taxed, unlike the previous taxes, this tax was actually being put in place which infuriates the colonists (“The Boston Tea Party, 1773” 1). Furthermore, the Boston Massacre angered many colonists as well. Five colonists had died leaving a great contribution towards a revolution.

The passing of this tax was Britain’s way of reinforcing their authority in the colonies and lessening their financial burden. However, from British standpoint that was not the sole purpose for the acts as they also wanted to build a defense against foreign nations and insure Britain benefited from her Acts of Trade (Alden 4). This ideology of lessening their burden through taxing the colonies failed instantly, because the colonist refused to pay the taxes at all cost. It became impossible to sell the stamps and anybody who dared try was threatened with violence. American’s rebellious nature against the new taxations methods lead to the creation of The Stamp Act Congress.