The heavy weighing cost of the war being charged to the 13 colonies brought a feeling of enmity toward Great Britain. Thus unifying the colonies and cutting ties in what was inevitable with England. The 13 colonies declare independence from Great Britain. Although England’s right to regulate trade and tax the colonies was just it was received by the colonies of the America’s as unjust and to gain revenue. The Townshend Acts, a profit gaining tax was written about by an American colonist named John Dickinson in a book Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania.
The Proclamation of 1763 was the first to anger the colonist. In order to assure the Indians that settlers would not invade tribal lands, Britain emphasized colonist not to expand to the westward region. Shortly after, the use of writs of assistance, which allowed customs to search anywhere without the used of a warrant, placed a major infringement upon colonial natural rights. The Sugar Act (established at the same time) was an attempt to discourage smuggling by lowering the price of molasses below smugglers cost. It also stated that exports could only go through British ports before being sold to foreign countries.
The Townshend Acts In 1767 Charles Townshend who was the chancellor of the exchequer, created the Townshend Acts . The Townshend Acts were approved by British Parliament on June 26-June 2, 1767 and were repealed April 12, 1770. Charles Townshend proposed the program in order to raise 40,000 pounds a year so that the English parliament could cut the british land tax and this would also raise money to pay for the salaries of governors and judges. Some of the things that the Act taxed were paper, oil, lead, glass, and tea that went into American ports. Townshend knew that his program would be controversial in the colonies, but he argued that, "The superiority of the mother country can at no time be better exerted than now."
From 1763 to 1775 the Colonies in North America under the rule of Great Britain had many conflicts and tensions. The Colonists were struggling to fight for their independence. While Great Britain still perused in taxing goods and ruling with complete control. The Colonists began a long battle for independence with Great Britain thus known as the American Revolution. On January 14th 1766 George Grenville a member of British parliament stated that the reason Britain is taking goods and imports is due to them being in debt with the Colonies.
Chapter 4 Summary The War for Independence The Stirrings of Rebellion The heavy costs of the French & Indian War convinced the British government that additional revenues should be raised from the American colonists Parliament, persuaded by Prime Minister Grenville, passed the Stamp Act in 1765, the first tax levied directly on the colonists, on their goods and services (previous taxes had been duties, or tariffs, on imports) Special stamped paper was required for documents and paper items, including pamphlets and newspapers, affecting everyone Many colonists lost respect for British authority and anger rose against the King and Parliament The Sons of Liberty, an organization formed by Samuel Adams and others, harassed British officials and protested against the tax
This act is also linked to the Boston Massacre because it was the last act passed before this event. Declaratory Act The Declaratory Act was passed in 1766 by the Parliament following the repeal of the stamp act. It stated that the authority of the Crown in America was the same as in England and created almost complete Royal control of the government. This made the colonist very angry because they were protesting so much against the stamp act and then the English come in and pull this stuff! Quartering Act This act was part of the intolerable acts and was passed on June 2nd 1774.
The british, in response to the smuggling, set up a court without a jury present and the presumption was that the colonists were guilty. This caused widespread protest throughout the colonies. The following year the Currency Act of 1764 was enacted by the British Parliament, which extended the currency act of 1751 restricting the printing of paper money by the colonies of New England. The Act limited
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.
Tensions began to grow rapidly and the American colonies were becoming more opposed to the British and their King. Britain and the colonies slowly become more and more divided in the way they think and act, as shown when the British imperial polices were soon being established and enforced against the colonies will. Intensified resistance to the British rule made the colonies have more and more resentment with a want of independence to be separated from England. Although British made these imperial polices between 1763 and 1776 while the American colonies and Britain were ideally Father and Son nations, they had overstepped their boundaries as the father country and became monarchy based as they created new laws and enforced taxes and made
Because of the large debt left by the French and Indian War and the subsequent Seven Years War, Britain pushed a series of unwelcomed taxes and acts upon the American colonists that stripped them of their civil liberties. Such acts included the Sugar Act and Townshend Act, which taxed common household goods such as sugar, glass, paper, silk, and lead. In response to the British East India Company’s looming bankruptcy, British parliament passed the Tea Act, which allowed the company to bypass colonial merchants. The Quartering Act forced colonists to house British soldiers, and was seen as a reassertion of British authority over the colonies. The Stamp Act, which placed a tax on all printed items, angered colonists the most because it was passed with a blatant intention of raising revenue.