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 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... ... middle of paper ... ...ere why the crown did not want the colonists to expand their territory because issues had not been settled yet. Still, the colonists felt that their rights were still being violated. The colonists saw the rest of the land as part of their states and believed that they should be able to expand there. These geographic factors prevented the colonists from expanding their territory and economy and pushed the colonists further into rebellion. Overall, the imperial policy of the British Empire urged the colonists into a state of total rebellion. The colonial economy, geography, and politics had all been subjected to unfair consequences. The acts that were passed served as a way for England to push the responsibility its debt and issues on the colonists. If the colonists’ grievances were appealed to, the colonists may have never rebelled against their mother country.
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreOne of the British actions that angered the colonists was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was passed in response to colonist's complaints about the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act, according to the chart in document one, forced colonists to buy a stamp and place it on all of their paper products. Colonists boycotted the Stamp Act and and formed the Committees of Correspondence and the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty, according to document two, tarred and feathered British officials and tax collectors to protest the Stamp A...
Some say that the Revolution was destined to happen ever since Settlers set foot on this continent, others argue that it would not have happened if it weren't for a set of issues that finally drove the colonists to revolt. Ultimately, Britain lost control in 1765 when they gave in to the Stamp Act Congress’s boycotts against parliamentary taxation and gave them the idea that they had the power to run a country. To a lesser degree, Salutary Neglect led to the conception of a legacy of colonial religious and political ideals which set in motion an eminent conflict. During this period, England “forgot” about the colonies and gave them colonists a taste of independence and suspicions of individual political theories. Through Parliament's ruthless taxation without representation and a near opposite religious and political mindset, Britain and the colonists were heaved into a revolutionary war.
The British policies having to do with the American colonies that passed between 1763 and 1776 were an attempt by Britain to have the colonists pay for the French and Indian War and an attempt to keep the colonies subservient to British rule. However these policies backfired and cause the colonist’s to resist British authority and strengthened their commitment to republican values in government. The policies implemented new taxes in order to raise funds and caused what the colonists believed to be injustices to go unchecked by the government, as well as causing the colonists to turn to republican ways of self-governing. The colonists felt as if they were not being properly represented in the British parliament, which led to them turning towards
Without colonial consent, the British started their bid to raise revenue with the Sugar Act of 1764 which increased duties colonists would have to pay on imports into America. When the Sugar Act failed, the Stamp Act of 1765 which required a stamp to be purchased with colonial products was enacted. This act angered the colonists to no limit and with these acts, the British Empire poked at the up to now very civil colonists. The passing of the oppressive Intolerable Acts that took away the colonists’ right to elected officials and Townshend Acts which taxed imports and allowed British troops without warrants to search colonist ships received a more aggravated response from the colonist that would end in a Revolution.
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.
Instead they passed new acts which were worse than the ones passed before. As a result of the Tea Act, all the taxes except the tax on tea was repealed in order to keep Parliament’s right to tax the colonies, and the colonists did not like this act. As a result of their anger towards the British, the Boston Tea Party occurred: Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty boarded three ships in the Boston Harbor and empty 342 chests of tea to the Boston. Still, the British kept on trying to control the Americans, but this time, they passed 4 acts, the Intolerable Acts, in order to punish and control people; The Boston Harbor would be closed, the people of Boston would have a curfew, Massachusetts would lose its self-government/town meetings, royal officers would be allowed to be tried in Britain, and the British troops would use empty buildings. Instead of giving Americans the freedom they wanted, the British punished them. Yet, this did not stop Americans. Instead, they were even angrier to the British for the strict rules the British was passing in order to control the colonists. They knew they had to do something, which resulted in continental congresses, the Articles of Confederation, and the American Revolution. The British was not going to stop trying to hold power over the colonies, and as Patrick Henry started off by saying “Caesar had his Brutus — Charles the first, his Cromwell — and George the third — ” and finished “may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it”(Wolverton, Joe, II). This was no longer of a fight against the British, but a fight to be
According to the theory of mercantilism, the colonies only existed to serve the interests of Britain. But it seemed as if Britain was abusing their right over the colonies. They enforced many policies such as the Stamp Act, the Townshed Duties, and the Tea Act which caused many problems for the colonists. One problem that the colonists faced was the Stamp Act of 1765. This act imposed a new tax on legal documents, newspapers, playing cards and dice. The Americans did not agree with it. It was not the cost of the stamp that angered them, it was the principle. They had no say in what the British Parliament did. The tax provoked a fire storm of protests, and the boycotting of British goods began. Some colonists did not limit their protests to words. In several cities, groups of people attacked officials who defended British policy. The Stamp Act was not a good idea, and one year later it was repealed. But that wasn't the end. The Townshed Duties posed as another difficulty. These duties required the colonists to pay minor import duties on tea, lead, oil, papers and painter's colors. Since Britain had imposed unnecessary taxes on the colonies before, this was not new. John Dickinson encouraged protesters to join in the battle by writing the first twelve "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania". Protests began once again and cut British trade in half. Britain sent troops to be stationed in Boston to enforce the Townshed Duties, and the colonists refused to quarter the troops. The Townshed Duties were repealed in 1770, three years after it began. And three years after that, a new act arose. Parliament passed the Tea Act in an attempt to save the East India Company from bankruptcy and reassert its right to tax. A group of Boston patriots destroyed a shipment of tea in a protest known as the
Ever wonder what sparked the revolution between Great Britain and colonial America? It all started with small rebellions against early British actions that led to the ultimate separation between the two rivals. Great Britain, one of the strongest nations even till this day, dominated over land and power and never doubted their victory against the colonists. However sooner or later did Britain realize that their invision of a small, weak army transformed into determined colonists willing to give up their lives. Moreover, Britain would have to endure years of war and protest due to the colonist’s desire for equal rights and freedom as citizens. From a proposal that forced colonists to pay taxes to heavy rebellion
In 1763, the French and Indian War coming to a tiring finale, the British wrote the Proclamation of 1763. Evidently, the proclamation would favor Britain’s ambitions; its purpose was to stomp out an Indian rebellion led by Pontiac, called Pontiac’s Rebellion, who wanted to protest the policies created by the British. It also prevented the colonists, consequently, from traveling into western territories and settling there. The colonists and the Indians were efficiently separated from each other and their disparities, but the purpose of the proclamation was the equivalent of preventing the colonists from spreading too far from the control of the British government. The colonists wished to expand; however, westward expansion was a fickle topic
- Although the colonists had obtained their independence and freedom, they were expected to show submission and obedience to authority figures, "... for the general good of the colony..." (Document 3A2) The government was afraid that the colonists would abuse their independence, and the colony would result to havoc, so they tried their best to avoid the worst possible outcome.
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).
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
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
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.
Africa was seen here to have been a victim of European invasion. The Europeans took advantage of the weapons they had, and the enmities that existed between some African states which made them seek alliances with foreigners as the Europeans. They would have combated the invasion through joined forces and a confederation had they known the European’s intention.