British Pigs in Powdered Wigs The disorganized and disconnected British rule on the thirteen American colonies created situations that led to the Revolutionary War. Through unwarranted taxes, unwanted wars, and an overall mismanagement of the colonies lead the colonies to view Britain as an incompetent government. These complicated times brought thoughts of a revolution which was critically evaluated by leaders in the colonies. Leading up to the revolution men voiced their opinion through writings and speeches similar to Patrick Henry, John Adams, and Samuel Seabury. Small disagreements between the English Empire and the colonies continuously went unresolved until thoughts of rebellion started to become a serious topic in the colonies.
Decades of conflict followed, starting with the revolt as a result of the Stamp Act in 1765, leading to the eruption of war in 1775. The search for independence was a result of political, social, and economic factors such as the use of America as merely a subject land, made for the purpose of English wealth, the overall lack of representation the colonists had in government, and the emerging liberal and republican ideas as a result of the Enlightenment. Tension between England and the colonists stirred a hunger for liberty and a desire for freedom and was brought about by radical reforms, military battles, and the forming of a Declaration of Independence and a Constitution. The political aspect of the American Revolution was a result of Britain’s suddenly tightened control over the governing of the colonies. When they won the French and Indian War, England had to make a few reforms.
Americans grew to believe that the many taxes were levied for the enhancement of British capital at the expense of American welfare. Britain was keeping the Americans in a position of economic youth by denying them economic freedom. Such economic control dates back to before the French and Indian War in a period referred to as “salutary neglect.” This term was adapted because, although Britain did regulate trade and colonial government affairs, the British for the most part stayed out of the Americans’ way. What makes this description of salutary neglect disputable is the British policy of mercantilism, which was enforced in this time. Mercantilism allowed for the belief that wealth was power and that a country’s power could therefore be measured in gold and silver—placing wealth at the forefront of their minds.
The book begins in Britain where the King and Parliament are expressing their concerns on engaging in a war with their colonies. “America must be made to obey.” America was in open revolt, they declared, and they denounced as traitors those who labored to agitate the people in America. There was a conspiracy going on. All the time they had been professing loyalty to the parent state, they were preparing for rebellion. Opposing ideas were being expressed in the parliament in England, some supporting others against the war.
Effects of Parliament’s Tensions in the Colonies In the 1600’s the British monarchy and Parliament had conflicts dealing mostly with the money of the ruler in regard to British law. King James I was the first Stuart King of England and had many problems with Parliament about his royal finances. These would ultimately affect the colonies as taxes were levied throughout the empire. During the colonial period in North American, what is now known as the United States, conflict between the Stuart monarchy and Parliament impacted policies within the colonies. The first Stuart King of England was King James I.
Americans were fuming when the British allowed the East Indian Tea Company to send the merchandise directly to the colonies. A very important character named Thomas Jefferson was introduced the history of America. He was a man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, signed by all the governors of the colonies. The exact date when America got freedom from the British was on July 4th, 1776. America’s Revolution and France’s Revolution both had many differences, and similarities.
In 1773 was the dumping of tea in the Boston Harbor and in June of 1774 the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, were created which frustrated the colonists. The way the English had so much rule over them was one of the main reasons why they wanted to declare independence. The battle at Lexington and Concord was April 19, 1775 with the formation of the Second Continental Congress being in 1775. John Dickinson, the author of the document, was a delegate in both the First and Second Continental Congress. He was an esteemed writer who helped Thomas Jefferson write a Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, and also wrote Olive Branch Petition, an appeal to King George III to resolve the dispute.
“Tyranny is Tyranny” Howard Zinn --- Chapter 4 Answer the following questions with detail and specific examples after reading Chapter 4. 1. According to Zinn, what was the essence of the conflict between Britain and the American colonies? 2. Zinn refers to the 1760’s and the post–French and Indian War period as a time in which colonial social and political elites turned their “rebellious energy” against England.
The stamp act was plainly ad simply to raise money, the act extended to the colonies the system of stamp duties then employed in Great Britain and was intended to raise money to lower the cost of maintaining the military defenses of the colonies. This act nearly affected nearly everyone who used any taxed paper, nut mostly on those who relied on official documents. Completely unexpected was the massive amount of protest from the colonists, who nullified the Stamp Act but refusing to use the stamps and by riots. Prime Minister George Grenville said that this direct tax was intended for the colonies to pay for defense. Colonists upheld their rights as Englishmen to taxed only by their own consent through their own representative assemblies.
Even Before 1776, the conquest of Canada had reduced the thirteen colonies strategic significance, just as their profitability to the mother country had been outstripped by its Indian possessions; their final loss was made up, and more than made up, with relentless and almost condescending speed. Between 1780 and 1820, 150 million men and women in India, Africa, the West Indies, Java, and the China coast pledge their allegiance to the British naval power and trading imperatives. The parliament in 18th century England was composed by two political parties – The Whigs and the Tories. Originally “Whig” and “Tory” were terms of abuse introduced in 1679 during the heated struggle over the bill to exclude James, duke of York (afterward James II), from the succession. Whig—whatever its origin in Scottish Gaelic—was a term applied to horse thieves and,