British Parliament believed that members of Parliament spoke out for all British subjects rather than the American colonial concept that the colonies could only be represented by men who lived nearby or who were elected to represent. Parliament advocated virtual representation while Americans advocated for individual representation. These British and American concepts paved the path for the American Revolution. Taxes were laid upon the people of the colonies to help pay off the war debt from the Seven Years War. Colonists found these acts as unjust and petitioned against Parliament creating a resistance movement and establishing groups and associations to help spread the word of resistance.
The basis of the moral judgments made by Samuel Adams and Thomas Hutchinson is presupposed by the fact that they acted with other Patriots for greater good, as British Parliament did not have to raise taxes and result in such struggle between Britain and American colony. They wanted to lower taxes and make the life of people more prosperous and safe. Dolan stated that one of the most hated taxes of all was contained in a law passed in 1767. Due to the present tax Americans had to pay huge
The American Revolution did not satisfy the colonial goals for civil, political, social, and economic rights; however the Constitution did. All the American Revolution did was drive the British out of America. With the British gone the Americans had the ability to strive for civil, political, social, and economic rights, but the Articles of Confederation became an obstacle in their path to their rightful goals. During the American Revolution the American people wrote a lot about what they wanted to accomplish and attain. In Document A, the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms, it is written that the American people feel they have been wronged by England because their rights are restricted and wish for these basic rights to happiness and such.
Britain also only used America for its own profit and gain. It seems unlawful for the “mother” to take advantage and use its “child” strictly for profit and to bring them into harmful alliances with other nations. Since the colonies were expected to follow the British rule, they also had to have the same allies. This was not useful to the colonies because we were forced to become enemies with countries such as France for reasons only dealing with fights with Britain. The colonies received the bad end of the deal and were only being used for profit.
Duggan 1 Paul Duggan APUSH-3 10-20-10 American Revolution DBQ During the period from 1775 to 1800, American’s views toward Britain began to change. British policies between 1763 and 1776 intensified the colonial’s resistance to Britain and commitment to their new Enlightenment ideals. The policies involved many taxes which the colonists’ resisted due to their belief that such taxes without representation abused their rights. Americans began to look for political, economic, and social freedoms that Britain continued to deny them. They felt that the king was abusing his power as a monarch and therefore their rebellion was for a just cause of declaring the independence they wanted.
There were multiple reasons for these new rules of the British. At first they had the excuse of falling into debt after the French and Indian War. This led to much more strict laws over the colonists’ commerce. The British had laws in place preventing the colonists from smuggling goods, and trading with other countries. At first, the British practiced “Salutary Neglect”.
Thomas Jefferson once claimed, “A democracy cannot be both ignorant and free.” (Thomas Jefferson) This was the commonly held attitude of the “enlightened” men who settled the United States. The inhabitants of the North American colonies did not have a legal right to express opposition to the British government that ruled them. Nonetheless, throughout the late 1700s, these early Americans did voice their discontent with the Crown. The early Americans also frequently criticized the much despised local representatives of the Crown. But they protested at their peril, for the English common law doctrine of "seditious libel" had been incorporated into the law of the American colonies, That doctrine permitted prosecution for "false, scandalous and
U.S. colonies were being controlled by the British Empire and forced to pay taxes to the king. The colonies were upset that they were forced to pay these taxes, but had no voice on the government. In reality, there would’ve been no revolution had there been no French involvement. America had been left to govern itself from 1715 until 1740, called the period of “Benign neglect.” They wanted to establish their own system of government and not be controlled by an abroad nation. America had taken note on how two great historical powers, Carthage and Rome, tore each other to pieces instead of joining forces.
Hector St. John Crevecoeur strongly argued that the colonists emerged towards creating their identity through the molding together of a melting pot. After the French and Indian War, the colonists realized that they were much different than the British. Written law was preferred by the colonists over “word of law” which the people of Great Britain were fond of. The group of colonists in America who opposed the British referred to themselves as the “Patriots”. The colonists also abolished primogeniture and entail which pulled them further and further away from their mother country’s ways.
The conflict between Britain and its American colonies was greatly affected by the French and Indian War. During the war, the British did not want the New England or Middle colonies to export any supplies to anyone but them or the West Indies. The British felt this way because the American shippers liked this way of trade because they were able to get things the West Indies and Britain could not offer them, and Britain did not want to lose money that the American colonies brought in for them. Thus said, economics was a major origin of the Revolutionary War. There were many economic reasons why there was turmoil before the Revolutionary War, which ultimately helped lead to the war.