Were The American Colonies Cruel Or Justified Essay

The American Colonies: Ungrateful or Justified Although Britain won the The Seven Years' War, it left the country heavily in debt. Immediately after the war, the actions of King George III and the British Parliament directly led to the discontent of the colonists and eventually to the American Revolution. It can be argued that, the actions of both Britain and the colonists can be seen as reasonable. I believe that, from the perspective of the British, their desire and efforts to control the colonists were reasonable. After winning the war, Britain had two major problems: the country was in debt, and it had to find a way to protect the land it had just won (Murrin et al. 161). In order to protect the settlers from the Indians,

The colonists had been, to some extent, governing themselves for many years; so when the British came in and established new taxes and regulations without consulting with or meeting with the colonists, it started a wave of resentment. The colonists feared that the British were trying to take away their freedoms; and since colonists could not be members of Parliament, the colonists felt the were being taxed without representation . The colonists resisted the new taxes and regulations in several ways; including rioting, smuggling, and boycotts of British goods. At first, even with the resentment and anger they felt, the colonists didn't want to break away from England; they just wanted to “restore government by consent under the Crown” (Murrin et al 193). In other words, they just wanted a “seat at the table.” And their actions seemed to make a difference. The British repealed the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and eventually the Townshend Revenue Act. The lesson the colonists learned from this was they would have to fight to get what they wanted. However, Britain was also making other changes, like paying for the salaries of justices from the royal treasury. Understandably, this worried the colonists because it was a way to get government officials and justices to be loyal to Britain the colonies (Murrin et al. 178). At this point, the colonists were convinced that Britain was trying to take