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An essay on american revolution
The effects of civil disobedience
Importance of disobedience
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The Boston Tea Party can be considered to be the foundation of civil disobedience during the founding of the United States of America. This historical event which laid the foundation for the strength of America, is considered to have been incited by the group Sons of Liberty which were colonists who stood up against the British Empire’s attempts to crush their rights, which led to their motto of “no taxation without representation.” The Boston Tea Party is an act of civil disobedience which occurred during the winter of 1773 in Boston, Massachusetts which was incited by the British Empire’s extreme taxation of the colonies and the lack of representation of the colonies by members of their own choosing in parliament. The event had the intended …show more content…
Civil disobedience takes a few variant forms, depending on the particular situation and cause, though its basic definition can be obtained through the process of breaking the phrase down to its root words, ‘civil’ which roughly means polite, ‘-obedience’ which roughly equates to being compliant, and then the ‘dis-‘prefix which means the opposite of the following root word which happens to be ‘-obedience.’ These rough definitions can be strung together to form a basic working definition of politely refusing to be compliant, in order to better a cause. Though this is a solid definition for most purposes, a more detailed understanding needs to be attained. “…American author Henry David Thoreau set forth the basic tenets of civil disobedience… [In which]…The individual, Thoreau claimed, is ‘a higher and independent power,’ from which the state obtains its power,” ("Civil Disobedience." 1). Thoreau’s understanding of civil disobedience is that people control the power and if the people feel wronged, then they will take the power away from the state and into their own …show more content…
With growing unrest in the colonies due to parliaments sneaky taxes and acts, they decided that they should be more direct and tax colonial goods directly, specifically newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, broadsides, legal documents, dice, and playing cards. The act was known as the Stamp Act for the use of stamps to signify paid taxes or unpaid taxes. Stamps were placed on goods that had been paid for, and was required for sale. (Boston Tea Party Historical Society). “The British government failed to consider fully the logistical difficulties that would arise in putting the stamp duty in place in a remote location,” (Oats 101). At this point in history, the group that would later be responsible for inciting the America revolution and the Boston Tea Party was formed, The Sons of Liberty, a group aimed at maintaining secrecy and control in America. In addition to this group forming, colonists banded together to form a ‘Declaration of Rights and Grievances’ by which colonists claimed that they could not be taxed unless they had proper representation in parliament by which they could properly represent the needs and feelings of their colonies. (Boston Tea Party Historical
Many people believe that the Boston Tea Party arose just because of the Tea Act that came into play in 1773, but in-fact, this major statement arose from two issues surrounding the British Empire in 1765. The first of the issues was that the British East India Company was at risk of going under and the Parliament was finding ways to bring it back. The second issue was that there was a continuing dispute about the extent of the Parliament’s authority. Many colonists believe that the Parliament went overboard with their power and the people were concerned about the future. Attempting to resolve these two major issues, the North Ministry only worsened the problem and produced a showdown that would eventually result in revolution.
When the British passed the Stamp Act, the colonists reacted in various ways. The Stamp Act, passed in 1765, put taxes on all printed goods in the colonies. Specifically, newspapers, legal documents, dice,
The British were facing economic difficulties after the French and Indian war; therefore, they passed taxes on the colonies to help repay the debt. Initially, the British introduced the Sugar Act in 1764. The colonists did not approve of the British taking control over them. The colonists opposed the Sugar Act because they had to pay three cent tax on sugar. In addition, the Sugar Act increased the taxes on coffee, indigo, and wine. This act was the start of colonist frustration. Subsequently came the Stamp Act the following year in 1765. The Stamp Act was the mind changer for many colonists known as the Patriots. The Patriots started forming as a result of England enforcing acts. The patriots believed the colonies should go to war and separate
(140) It was during this time period that “the government in London concerned itself with the colonies in unprecedented ways…to help raise funds to pay for the war and finance the empire.” (Forner 141) The British government was heavily in debt after fighting the Seven Years War on several fronts. The need to raise funds was paramount and the colonies were a ready source. The British government started imposing taxes on the colonies as a means of income. This was a change in the relationship between America and the mother country. Many Americans opposed these taxes. (Forner 142- 143) According to Forner, “Opposition to the Stamp Act was the first great Drama of the revolutionary era and the first major split between the colonist and Great Britain over the meaning of freedom.” (142) This act was eventually repealed by Parliament in 1766 after great opposition by Americans. (Forner 144) The Stamp Act was just the beginning of several events and taxes on the colonist leading up the Boston Tea
The Stamp Act was passed in 1765, and placed a tax on any papered goods that were going into the colonies from Britain. 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).
When the Boston Tea Party occurred on the evening of December 16,1773, it was the culmination of many years of bad feeling between the British government and her American colonies. The controversy between the two always seemed to hinge on the taxes, which Great Britain required for the upkeep of the American colonies. Starting in 1765, the Stamp Act was intended by Parliament to provide the funds necessary to keep peace between the American settlers and the Native American population. The Stamp Act was loathed by the American colonists and later repealed by parliament.
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.
It also happened because the tax was a political move of the Parliament to claim control over the colonies. In light of the concept of agitation, it is clear that the Tea Party was a form of protest because the agitators did not like how the Parliament reasserts control. Although no one was hurt in this midnight raid, it sure did create a tension on the part of the Parliament. The physical presence of those who joined the raid tried to challenge the Tea Act of 1773. Although wasting a lot of tea should not be made a big deal, tea during that time was expensive and it has become a symbol of comfort by the colonists because they loved it. As such, the Boston Tea Party is significant because it showed that American colonists are very much willing to speak their freedom and exercise the same. Also, they are very willing to give up anything so that their right for independence is attained. Clearly, this is a form of lateral deviance because the agitators are very much willing to work outside the Parliament and in fact, colonists are ready for war. According to the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Tea Party led to the American Revolution on April 19, 1775 in Massachusetts. Accordingly, the participants of the midnight raid were not punished but one person who was remained anonymous was stripped and punished devastatingly. Klein asserts that more than 92, 000 pounds of tea were
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...
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the beginning of the revolution for the colonies of North America. When the Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament, it required American colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. This included ship’s papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, and even playing cards. However, in the past, taxes and duties on colonial trade had always been viewed as measure to regulate commerce but not to raise money. Therefore, England viewed this taxes as a direct attempt to raise money in the colonies without the approval of the colonial legislatures. Due to this effects, the Stamp Act provoked such a violent reaction in the colonies, because it was seen as a threat to the colonist’s liberties and rights, as well as affecting multiple members of the society.
The war had been enormously expensive, and the British government’s attempts to impose taxes on colonists to help cover these expenses resulted in chaos. English leaders, were not satisfied with the financial and military help they had received from the colonists during the war. In a desperate attempt to gain control over the colonies as well as the additional revenue to pay off the war debt, Britain began to force taxes on the colonies. Which resulted in The Stamp Act, passed by parliament and signed by the king in March 1765. The Stamp Act created an excise tax on legal documents, custom papers, newspapers, almanacs, college diplomas, playing cards, and even dice. Obviously the colonist resented the Stamp Act and the assumption that parliament could tax them whenever and however they could without their direct representation in parliament. Most colonials believed that taxation without their consent was a violation of their constitutional rights as Englishmen. Which is where the slogan “No Taxation without Representation” comes
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
One 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...
In the Theory of Justice by John Rawls, he defines civil disobedience,” I shall begin by defining civil disobedience as a public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law or policies of the government”.
Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws in an effort to induce change in governmental policy or legislation, characterized by the use of passive resistance or other nonviolent means. The use of nonviolence runs throughout history however the fusion of organized mass struggle and nonviolence is relatively new.