Benjamin Franklin´s Involvement in the English Empire

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.

The Olive Branch Petition was their last endeavor to make truce peacefully; thus, the American Revolution was waged as a war of last resort. Also, the colonists constantly mention the benefits of being an ally with Britain, depicting that it was not their first choice to conduct a war. Adversity was at such level that they risked destabilizing their economy and their comfort to be free. They did not want to be isolated from great Britain because they considered them as the roots from which they sprouted. Nevertheless, the anguish was so high that the colonists decided to risk their security for

The Navigations Acts and the Sugar Acts of 1764, which was a tax placed on imported molasses and sugar, had not directly affected colonists, it affected the merchants. The merchants in hand would just raise prices. The stamp act was completely different. It said that any document or printed item would need to have a stamp placed on it purchased from the British government. The Stamp Act upset the colonist... ... middle of paper ... ...ited through their local governments though, because they wanted to stay colonies to Britain they still had no future plans for independence, the people believed that they would be able to either get representation in parliament or that the taxes on colonists would end.

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). By this point, the colonists were beginning to question Britain’s motives towards them. They believed they were being treated like slaves and being used solely for the economic growth of Britain.

(Schoenbrun 1976, p... ... middle of paper ... ...ive impact favoring the colonist, it became more and more impossible for Britain to give the war its full attention. Britain needed a way out and Franklin played a key role. "Franklin was appointed in 1781 a commissioner to negoiate the peace with Britain." (Ketcham 1994, page 1). Franklin was a very good negotiator as "the North Ministry pushed through Parliament two conciliatory bills that gave the Americans everything that Franklin had demanded in his peace negoiations."

The American colonists under English rule had many rules and regulations dictated by the king and his governors that the colonists were not enthused about. The colonists eventually grew very tired of how England was ruling them and they were on the verge of making a huge decision; to fight for independence from England or to remain a colony. Two men, Thomas Paine and James Chalmers, would offer two opposing stances on this issue. Paine would write his letter Common Sense in 1776, arguing that becoming independent from England would make America stronger economically and politically as a nation, while Chalmers wrote his letter Plain Truth in 1776, arguing that to be a strong nation economically and politically the American colonists would

What began as a fight over economic policies soon deteriorated into the difference in Americans and Britons political views, which help lead to the violence of the American Revolution (The American Pageant, pg 122). I believe a violent revolt could have been prevented only if England hadn’t pushed the Colonies past the point of non-violent resolutions. Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected the colonists were the Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony's trade so that it traded solely with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the colonists accepted it with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England's right to monitor trade.

Settlers of the English colonies saw the New World as a way to start a new government and new culture, especially when they were given no power in the Parliament. Paine further casts a light on the problems between Britain and America in the third section of Common Sense. He states that Britain is not connected to America anymore, even if the people are descendants of the country. The passage also expresses the selfishness of Britain protection of the colonies to gain truth and control of the people. (326-328) The writings of this section reflect how colonists felt and further helped them to realize that their former mother country, Britain, was an enemy rather than a

Fearing more Indian attacks and negative effects on western trade, British Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1763 to prevent expansion past the Appalachian Mountains. The proclamation was favored by the Indians and met with indifference from the colonists who continued to expand. To regain control and financial stability, Parliament imposed a series of acts that ultimately failed. The first act to be met with unanimous opposition was the Stamp Act of 1765. The Stamp Act affected everyone and placed a tax on printed documents such as newspapers, pamphlets, deeds, wills, and licenses.

The excerpt itself influenced colonists to take actions for their tolerance from the British and gave them the strength they needed to become unified. In the text, "The House of Commons Questions Benjamin Franklin, 1776," discussed the significance of taxation without representation and it's effectiveness towards the colonists, from his understanding of taxes. The build up to the revolution influenced the colonists' beliefs about their identities as "Englishmen" and about taxation. Yet, they also needed to realize their independent in order for them to begin open rebellion. In the American Revolution, the colonists had strong beliefs that the English government was unfair and often tyrannical.