However, the many taxes passed by the British Parliament hindered their progress, upsetting the colonists. One of the first significant taxes was the Sugar Act of 1763, enacted by the british parliament, which added a tax to sugar bought by the colonists. This tax enraged the colonists because they enjoyed the use of sugar and they didn’t want to have to pay more for it. The colonists, in response, began to smuggle sugar and other goods. The british, in response to the smuggling, set up a court without a jury present and the presumption was that the colonists were guilty.
Walter Staples HIST-1301-171 February 14, 2012 Paul Revere A simple definition of the word propaganda is to manipulate the public opinion in a biased or misleading way, usually to promote a political cause or point of view. According to Paul Revere’s painting of the Boston Massacre, the actual event in 1770 was a slaughter, with Americans having no ability to defend themselves. The British appear to have simply fired on the crowd without provocation and in an orderly fashion. They are portrayed to be tyrannical monsters that would kill without reason. In reports from the trial of the eight soldiers however, we learn that the massacre was chaos.
The Glorious Revolution was the dethroning of the unpopular Catholic James II and enthroning Protestant rulers William III and Mary. When the people of New England heard of this, they rose against their royal leaders and tried to get a sense of equality in their colonies. 29. The result of the rebellion in New England was upsetting in that royal governors did eventually restore semblance and order lead by the mother country. There was even more administrative control in the colonies due to Charles II's appointed English officials which hired their friends of whom knew little and did not care about American affairs.
The Revolutionary War: Why was it fought and was it preventable? Many believe that the trouble started brewing in 1763 at the end of the French Indian War but in all truth the colonist first started feeling discontent with the passing of the Navigation laws in 1650. This law stated that all goods flowing to and from the colonies could only be transported in British vessels. It was aimed to hurt rival Dutch shippers. This law kept money in the empire but hurt the pockets of the wealthy colonists mercantilist that depended on the shipping trade.
For example it looks like the commander is ordering the men to shoot when Captain Preston himself said, “my words were, don’t fire, stop your firing.” (Document Three) Revere also changed the color of Crispus Attucks’ skin as a way to gain more sympathy. These facts were twisted in a way that frames the British as murderers, but they were simply acting in self-defense. It was the colonists that gathered together first and started acting violently. Preston even writes in his deposition, “About 9 some of the guard came to and informed me the town inhabitants were assembling to attack the troops” and, “On this a general attack was made on the men by a great number of heavy clubs and snowballs being thrown at them, by which all our lives were in imminent danger.” (Document Three) The soldiers’ lives were in danger, and were put there by the rowdy colonists who wanted to get a rise out of them. The soldiers were only victims of circumstance, a circumstance that was rigged by the unjust decisions of a select few.
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. These acts all served to antagonize the colonists. Soon, protests formed with one complaint in mind: taxation without representation was unjust and unreasonable. With Britain’s continual taxation on American colonies, the desire for independence was beginning to surface in American society. As displeasure began to rise
Dear Mom, You won’t believe what has been going on around here in Boston. Remember I last wrote you and told you how 4000 British soldiers came to Boston to keep peace and enforce the Townshend Acts of 1767. Well, on March 5,1770 right down the block on king street there was a British soldier named Hugh White who was having problems from a large group of citizens. The people were throwing snowballs and calling the soldiers names. A soldier got mad and hit a boy called Edward Garrick with the butt of his gun.
Throughout is powerful speech he uses emotional appeals and rhetorical questions to get his ideas across. Henry uses emotional appeal by expressing how much the colonists have been hurt and wronged by the British government. Simply by expressing how much Britain has placed soldiers and naval fleets around the colonies makes there a perception that Britain does not trust the colonies and must guard them like a prison not giving them any rights. Also, by asking rhetorical questions about simple human rights and freedom he puts the listeners into a mindset that they have been wronged. He does not always say exactly what Britain has done but rather mentions their government and then asks a rhetorical question about the man’s freedom.
Apart from the colonist being harassed with taxes, their trade with all parts of the world except Britain was another reason why the colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence. The illegal imposition of rules over their trade and production, commonly known as the Navigation Acts, which have been pressed on them for over a century and made worse by the Sugar Act and Townshend Acts was controlled once the Declaration of Independence was written and signed. Furthermore, the colonists were being deprived in many cases. The Boston Massacre was when a mob of 50 colonists gathered to protest against the officials. As fists and clubs began flying a soldier dropped dead, this forced the soldiers to fire, killing five civilians and wounding six.
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.