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The British made the war for American independence inevitable; they imposed new policies that made colonists desire independence even more. Tax polices, republicanism, as well as, the spreading of revolutionary ideas all took part of strengthening the colonials’ rebellion against British rule. After Great Britain put in effect polices to oppress the colonists, they could do nothing but watch the revolution against them unfold. Great Britain imposed a multitude of taxes on the colonists in order to pay for and support the seven years war. The Munity Act of 1765 required colonists to house and feed stationed English solders. The Sugar Act of 1764 taxed American merchants who bought and sold sugar or molasses. Colonists were forced to end the
In 1763 the Seven Years’ War ended with the British Empire emerging as victors. The victory came at great cost to Great Britain’s economy. The national debt almost doubled from 75 million pounds to 133 million pounds between 1755 and 1763. Given that Britain fought in North America to uphold the security of her colonial possessions, British ministers deemed it fair that the cost of the war should be shared with the colonies. Subsequently, import duties on popular goods were raised and a number of Acts regarding excise taxes were passed. These included the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend duties beginning in 1767. The consequences of these actions were to place great financial burdens on the North American colonists, but more importantly, to
From the time period 1775-1800, the American Revolution would impact the United States in political, social and economic ways.
During the War for American Independence, 78 men were commissioned as general officers into the Continental Army by the Continental Congress. Many of these generals commanded troops with differing levels of competence and success. George Washington is typically seen as most important general, however throughout the war a number of his subordinates were able to distinguish themselves amongst their peers. One such general was Nathanael Greene. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Greene would become Washington’s most important subordinate, as demonstrated by Edward Lengel’s assessment of Greene as “the youngest and most capable of Washington’s generals.” Washington and Greene developed a strong, positive and close relationship between themselves. Greene began his life in the military after having been raised a Quaker. With limited access to literature and knowledge in his younger years, Greene became an avid reader which equipped him with the knowledge necessary to excel as a general during the war. Through his devoted study of military operations, firsthand experience and natural abilities as a soldier, Greene became an excellent military commander. He would become known for his successful southern campaign, during which, he loosened British control of the South and helped lead the war to its climax at Yorktown. Throughout the war, he was involved in a number high profile battles where he built a reputation of being an elite strategist who also understood unconventional warfare, logistics, and the importance of military-civil affairs and had a natural political/social acumen. The thesis of this paper is that Greene’s proven reputation of being a soldier, strategist and statesman would cause him to become the second greates...
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.
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 of the Exchequer. He was determined to pay off the debt by 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 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. A year later, Grenville imposed the Quartering Act which forced the colonists to house and accommodate the British military stationed in their area. It was a slap in the face to have to pay for those who stood for everything the colonists despised. 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.
After the Seven Year War, Britain now needed to find ways to generate money, and felt that since the war was fought on American land that they should help pay for its cost, and they decided to issue new taxes on the colonies trying to offset some of the cost of the war. One of the first acts they presented was the Sugar act in 1764, lowering the duties on molasses but taxed sugar and other items that could be exported to Britain. It also enforced stronger laws for smuggling, where if prosecuted, it would be a British type trial without a jury of their peers. Some Americans were upset about the Sugar Act because it violated two strong American feelings, first that they couldn't be tried without a jury of their peers, and the second that they couldn't be taxed without their consent.
Parliament needed to start taxing American colonists throughout the Seven Year Wars. They couldn’t raise taxes in the British population because their taxes were already too high. Their next option was to tax American colonists. American colonists were taxed on coffee, sugar, glass, paper, wine, and printed materials. Previous from the tax, tea from the colonies would be smuggled in from the Dutch since it had to be sent to England first.
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.
Before 1763, the English empire had taxed the colonies but only to regulate trade and enforcement of these laws was minimal. A turning point came at the end of the French and Indian war in 1763. The British empire had rung up a large debt fighting the French and looked to the colonies, as they were the subject to the war, to pay off these debts. Parliament passed several laws to generate revenue, regulate trade and pay its local government. The Sugar Act insured colonists bought sugar from English plantations, the Stamp Act taxed any printed material that passed hands in the colonies to generate revenue and the Quartering Act was used to shelter the standing British army in colonists homes.
The Sugar Act of 1764 was the first act used by the British to channel revenue into Britain. The British specifically stated in the Sugar Act, "…a revenue be raised in your Majesty's said dominions in America, for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same" (The Sugar Act). This proves that the British were using this act just to raise revenue because they needed it to defray the cost of fighting against the French. The act forced tariffs on goods being imported into the colonies. Examples of these goods were sugar, molasses, foreign indigo, and coffee. This angered the colonists because they were depending heavily on trade with other colonies and countries outside of the North American continent. The colonists specifically stated in a petition from the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the House of Commons on November 3, 1764 that a "prohibition will be prejudicial to many branches of its trade and will lessen the consumption of the manufactures of Britain" (King, Peter. Petition from the Mass...
The American Revolution was a political revolution that separated England’s North American colonies from Great Britain and led to the formation of the United States of America. The Revolution was achieved in large part by the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), which was fought between England against America and its allies (France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic). The American Revolution embodied and reflected the principles of the Enlightenment, which emphasized personal liberty and freedom from tyranny among other ideals. The American revolutionaries and the Founding Fathers of the United States sought to create a nation without the shackles of the rigid social hierarchy that existed in Europe. Although the American Revolution succeeded
All of the acts were passed by Britain to create taxes to benefit their own economy. The first two acts that were passed were the Sugar Act and the Currency Act. The Sugar Act put a tax on molasses, which had served as a source of income for the colonies. It also placed a tax on foreign goods such as coffee and wine. The Currency Act let the British take control over the colonists’ currency system and prohibited the production of new bills.
The American Revolution was inevitable. The French and Indian War had much to do with this, impacting the colonies in a such a way that they were destined to rebel. This war lead to certain actions by Britain that greatly upset the colonists. First, Britain upset the colonists through modes like taxation, which caused the colonies to work together and realize they could survive as an independent nation. This was by far the largest contributing factor.
The Sugar Act of 1764 was an example of a tax that had many effects on the Colonial lifestyle. The act stated that any foreign export of lumber or skin had to first land in Britain. It also raised the price of sugar from the Indies. The British took advantage of the colonists, when the Quartering Act in 1765 passed Americans were forced to house and feed British soldiers any time they demanded. This limited the colonists’ freedom and only spread more anger throughout the colonies. The laws were so regulated it was hard not to make an error. The one that brought out the most public opposition was the Stamp Act in 1765. The Sugar Act wasn’t covering the debt, and Parliament was forced to pass the Stamp Act. 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...
The British started to do direct taxation on the American colonies to pay off debt from the Seven Years’ War. This allowed the Parliament to earn money from the American colonies to pay off war debt and take control of trade, which profited the British. As for the colonists, this was found to be unreasonable due to the fact that the British were taxing the colonists because the British extra-curricular activities, such as the Seven Years’ War. This very much upset the colonists, but made the Parliament feel more at ease to gain money to pay off debt and make profit from colonial