The Boston Massacre

The “Sons of Liberty” was a group who led some of the protests and also organized networks to boycott British goods. In 1776 the Stamp Act was repealed. The king and the Parliament both agreed that the Stamp Act was a bad idea but still felt that the colonists needed to be taxed. The Parliament then put out the Declatory Act which asserts the right to tax Britain including all of its colonies. Since Parliament felt that the Colonists still needed to be taxed, the Townshend Revenue Act of 1767 conceived by Charles Townshend was passed.

The Boston Massacre is considered by many historians to be the first battle of the Revolutionary War. The fatal incident happened on March 5 of 1770. The massacre resulted in the death of five colonists. British troops in the Massachusetts Bay Colony were there to stop demonstrations against the Townshend Acts and keep order, but instead they provoked outrage. The British soldiers and citizens brawled in streets and fought in bars.

The massacre led to the death of five civilians. The first person killed in that evening was Crispus Attucks. The Boston massacre was one of the important events that “turned colonial sentiment against King George III and British acts and taxes” Santoro, Anthony. "Boston Massacre." The American Mosaic: The African American Experience.

This act was to put a tax “upon every paper commonly called a pamphlet and upon every newspaper” (Copeland 193). Because the Stamp Act was an internal tax, which meant this tax law was only enforced in America, this made the colonists even angrier (Burgan 23). The passage of the Stamp Act in 1765 and the colonial reaction to that act marked the turning point in Parliament's approach to taxation and in the colonists' relationship to their mother country. Prior to the Stamp Act the colonial assemblies levied taxes for the support of the colonial governmen... ... middle of paper ... ...ndies (General Reference Gold ¶ 1). A letter was written by the colonists, to England, which showed the colonists were not united against the Acts (Copeland 195).

Printers-the most influential group in distributing information and ideas in colonial society-had to buy stamps for their newspapers and other publications” (Brinkley 131). Townshend introduced the Quartering Act, which allowed British troops to enter any colonists house and stay there. The colonists did not have the right to refuse the soldiers either. This greatly upset the residents of Bos... ... middle of paper ... ...ere laden with tea. The disguised colonists proceeded to throw the entire tea cargo of the boats into the harbor (Hansen 166).

The Currency Act was also passed in 1764. The colonists responded to the Sugar Act and Currency Act by protesting against the use of writs of assistance, or search warrants, which were filled out after the illegal goods were found, violating the Colonists rights. Alleged smugglers would be tried in the Admiralty Courts where the accused had no right to trail by jury and the judge pocketed 1/3 of the fines they imposed. The Stamp Act of 1765 enraged the colonists for this act was a direct... ... middle of paper ... ...looks at how the Revolution affected the minorities and is not interested in any other parts. The true nature of the conflict between the British and the Colonists was that the British had loosely governed the colonies in the beginning.

Parliament passed a series of laws, including the Sugar Act and Stamp Act, which taxed goods purchased by the colonists. Colonial merchants, who did not feel they should be taxed without representation in Parliament, signed non-importation agreements promising not to buy or import British goods. There was a lot of violence committed on the customs officials who were enforcing the... ... middle of paper ... ...t day, not purposeful wanton murders. Using the term massacre to describe what happened to the colonists was a successful propaganda ploy by Samuel Adams to rally the colonists against the British, eventually resulting in American independence. Works Cited Boston Massacre Historical Society.

But after suddenly becoming sick Charles Townsend took over and he was not concerned with the rights of the colonist and he just wanted to strengthen the Parliament. And he then convinced Parliament to pass a series of new laws taxing lead, paint, paper, glass, and tea imported by colonists. Then Sam Adams spoke out and said that Parliament was taxing illegally and the majority of the colonists agreed and a boycott started on British goods. And because of the Currency Act they left paper practically worthless. This is the main reason for the revolution.

For example, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, states, “He [king of Britain] has imposed taxes on us without our consent” (DOI), which is substantial evidence to prove that the colonists were taxed unfairly. Furthermore, governments were created to act out against imperial taxation. For example, when George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act, which was developed “to generate revenue; required printed documents to bear revenue stamps purchased from royal stamp distributors” (59), colonists were outraged by Grenville... ... middle of paper ... ...ch was ultimately ineffective and “greatly taken out of context by the media; made Virginians seem like radicals”(59). Through these two powerful individuals, this gave Americans a reason to fight for the interests of their land in America. Overall, the colonists strongly disapproved of the various taxes implemented by Great Britain.

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.