There was some friction in the economic relationship between Britain and its American colonies. After the war, the British were left in a large debt. This caused them to strictly regulate trade and put taxes on commonly used goods, like playing cards and paper for the Stamp Act, as well as sugar importations for the Sugar Act. The colonists protested against these acts, leading them to begin a non-importation movement in which they would stop buying goods from Britain. The British were pressured into
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 Tea Party helped to develop the American people, which made them to be able to come together against the British which were taking advantage of them. If they did not do anything about it the British would surely not stop with adding other Acts which would also cripple the Boston Economy. Directly after the colonials in Boston dumped the three ships of tea; this tea was much cheaper than smuggled tea as there were government expenses and this made the tea cheaper. Samuel Adams quickly tried to convince everyone within the Boston vicinity that it was not the work of mindless thugs but a legitimate protest against the British government which did not have complete control over them and were in danger of losing the little amount of control which they did have and plus the financial problems which the British East India Company were facing at this period of time. With Mr Adams defending the colonials actions it made many other people which were quite ignorant up to this time, this
As tensions grew, the government finally issued the Gin Act of 1751 that prohibited gin distillers from selling to unlicensed merchants, restricted retail licenses to substantial property holders, and charged high fees to those merchants eligible for retail licenses. Before the formation of the Gin Act of 1751, people debated over items such as public health and behavior, impact on the image it created of society, and economic problems that gin distillers and other associates faced. As gin became a huge industry in trade, people began to question the reality of the situation and the effects that gin had on their health and behavior. In accordance to Lord Bathurst, gin was neither a crime nor a sin, and may even be necessary on many given occasions. He contended that with the poor atmosphere and climate in England, that such drink was necessary for relief or support of nature (D8).
The Colonists thought if they complained loudly enough that Parliament would get rid of the taxes. But any taxes Parliament repealed were soon reinstated with other taxes or duties. England was trying to raise money to pay for the French-Indian war and was heavily taxing the Colonists. Things got really bad when the British taxed the favorite drink of the Colonist’s, tea. Tea was really popular at that time, kind of like coffee is today.
During the beginning of colonial settlement, Britain did not enforce strict laws upon the colonies because it wanted them to prosper. Once war broke out between the French and the British in the French and Indian war, Britain began to enforce harsher laws and greater taxes on the colonies to draw revenue for the war. This in turn, angered the colonists and they began to think twice about having another country rule them. The colonists at the time also violated the same ideals of equality of rights and rule of law when they discriminated against the African Americans, Native Americans, and the poorer white settlers by forcing people into slavery with terrible conditions and taking land just because the colonist needed it. When the French and Indian War broke out between the British and the French, Britain hoped to use the colonies as an extra source of wealth to fight the war.
In the early 1770s, the patriot movement was slowly gaining steam in the colonies. People like Samuel Adams were looking for ways to bolster the movement and resist what they saw as English tyranny. The Boston Non-Importation Agreement — in which area merchants pledged not to buy certain goods from Great Britain, including tea — had collapsed. Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson, whose salary as Governor was augmented by bribes for allowing the smuggling of tea in addition to the British Parliament-imposed tax on tea, wanted to capitalize on the tea business even more. Estimates at the time indicated Americans consumed between 3 million and 6.5 million pounds of tea each year.
Reason being, is because the British army was not need. They have already defeated the French and pushed the Indians far west, so the colonists would be paying for protection against nothing. Agents for tea cancelled the orders of tea because of the tax, but still there was ships that came into harbor and they demanded that the colonists pay for all this tea, with the tax. On December 16th, 1773, a group of people dressed like Indians and boarded the ships with tea and threw all the tea over board into the water. This act is now famously known as the Boston Tea Party.
Since the colonies were part of the British empire, you can classify it as a civil war because part of a nation was succeeding from the empire. The colonists were in support of a different governmental structure. In the Declaration of Independence, it says That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government. The colonists believed that the British government was destructive towards the colonies because it was implementing taxes the colonists believed to be unnecessary with out colonial representation in parliament. Since the colonies were a part of the British empire they believed it was necessary for them to have direct representation in parliament.
The Boston Tea Party The liberation of America was not based on one specific event, but the accumulation of many significant events that lead to the American Revolution. The Boston Tea Party was a political protest against the British government and East Indian Company that took place in Boston, Massachusetts on December 16, 1773. American patriots disguised themselves as a Native American tribe called the “Mohawk,” and boarded a ship belonging to the British East Indian Company, dumping 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. Many say it was an act of vandalism and disrespect, but in reality it was one of the many stepping-stones that led to the American Revolution. The event that started as a revolt against the tax policy on tea became an iconic event in American history and led to major tension between the Americans and Europeans.