There were many concepts which affected the colonial politic during the 18th century, and I have chosen some of them, which I will describe. Both what the concept is, but also why it is important. The first thing I have chosen to cover is the first major split between colonial politics and Great Britain. The Sugar and Stamp act is the beginning of the revolutionary drama between the two sides. The Sugar Act, which happened in 1764, was a lowering of the tax on sugar, to half the price that it was. Simultaneously was the widespread of smuggling ended and judged very harsh and “They saw the measure not as a welcome reduction in taxation but as an attempt to get them to pay a levy they would otherwise have evaded” (Foner, 142). This says clearly that the colonials weren’t satisfied with this. The Stamp act is kind of combined with the Sugar Act. The Stamp Act occurs at almost the same time and the Parliament just tried to earn money, which could pay for “the stationing British troops in North America without seeking revenue from colonial assemblies.” The Stamp act affected everyone which challenged the locals who were ready to defend their rights. As stated in foner, “Nearly all colonial politics leaders opposed the act. In voicing their grievances they invoked the rights of the freeborn Englishman, which, they insisted colonists should …show more content…
In 1768 a confrontation between British troops and a snowball-throwing escalated. Five Bostonians died. What happened with the soldiers were, as stated, “Ably defended by John Adams, who viewed lower-class crowd action as a dangerous method of opposing British politics, seven were found not guilty, while two were convicted of manslaughter” (Foner, 147). Afterwards did Paul Revere paint a picture, which represented the British army very badly, because they stood in a circle, and were armed, around the Bostonians, who were
Protests broke out all across the colonies, with revolts, boycotts, and even fights. British Parliament established the acts to raise revenue through trade taxes on the American colonies. The Sugar Act was established in 1764 to increase controls on non-British trading and taxed not only sugar but other materials such as; coffee, coconuts and different animals parts. The Stamp Act was established in 1765 to tax people for a royal stamp, it also taxed paper, shipping and legal documents, pamphlets, and many more. The act was not as large as other taxes, but it changed the way of Parliament authority, from trade to direct taxes on the colonies. The famous saying “no taxation without representation”,
The Act of 1764, also known as The Sugar Act, lowered the taxes on molasses but also it had more ways to enforce the tax. In addition to the tax on molasses they taxed things such as silks, wines, and potash. The Americans were outraged with this new law. The colonists did whatever they could to ignore this new law. The British passed the Quartering Act which basically said that the American colonists have to house and feed British forces who were serving in North America. This inflamed the
While not much can be said from looking at Paul Revere’s engraving about how the riot began, one can compare the actual riot to the eye witness testimonies. When comparing the witness testimonies of the Boston Massacre themselves a few differences are noted. Add to the mix Paul Revere’s engraving and even more differences are seen. However, there are things both witnesses agree on that are not depicted in Revere’s engraving. One such similarity is the crowd throwing snow balls at the troops and being armed with clubs (Preston, Page 2 and Boston Gazette, Page 1). In Revere’s engraving the crowd appears to be unarmed, and many of those who don’t appear to be dead look to be running away from the troops. It would seem that Revere’s depiction of
Overall, the colonists responding negatively to the new act being imposed upon them. The Sugar Act was disliked because of the impending loss of profits from their rum trade due to the new regulations (Schultz, 2009). In addition, the Quartering Act appeared to be invasive to the colonists. Furthermore, the Stamp Act incited stronger reactions of the colonists for three reasons: it applied to goods used by merchants and lawyers, which agitated the educated and influential opposition, it gave the colonists times to coordinate since the act did not go into effect when passed, and it undermined the colonists’ liberties of self-rule, by taxing the colonists to pay the officials which the colonists had been doing on their own accord.
The stamp act eventually lead to serious things. The stamp act caused the Boston Massacre. The Boston Massacre started when a group started throwing sticks, stones, and other things at British soldiers. The stamp act eventually led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was a war between the Colonist and the British. The thirteen colonies fought against the British. The stamp act is what caused all of this destruction. The british should have just let the colonist be them They had to try to be the boss over everything. It eventually came back on the British. I think if the British wouldn't have been
Though the colonists were angered, they didn't yet protest until the Sugar Act. The Sugar Act was placed in 1764 and as the name implies, it had added many goods to the ‘taxed list’. This affected the colonists quite dearly for this tax was passed during a time of economic depression. It was an indirect tax, but the colonists were still well aware of its presence. Once 1765 arrived, two more laws had been pushed out by King George. This was The Quartering Act of 1765 and the Stamp Act. The Quartering Act declared that the colonists were to house British soldiers and provide for them. Though most of the colonies suffered this, New York was the main victim of this act. The Stamp Act gave a direct tax on newspapers, licences, legal documents, and other business papers. In response to these acts, James Otis, a man part of the Massachusetts legislature, and Patrick Henry, a man who sat in the Virginia House or Burgesses, came together to create The Stamp Act Congress. Leaders from all nine colonies attended this meeting to
The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.
In the painting, Revere gives unique and detailed facial expressions to each of his characters. The citizens have an expression of horror and fear and the British Red Coats seem to wear a sadistic smile. The appalled and panic-stricken faces of the civilians amplify the sense of evil and further condemns the soldiers. These ruthless smiles convey to the audience that the soldiers delight in inflicting pain on the public and would gladly repeat the offense. However, the innocence of the civilians displayed by the painting is deceiving. US History.org states, “In the heat of the confusing melee, the British fired without Captain Thomas Preston's command.” This means that the rioting people of Boston created such chaos, that it threatened the soldiers, who then acted in self-defense. Even though, “The British officer in charge, Capt. Thomas Preston, was arrested for manslaughter, along with eight of his men; all were later acquitted,” states History.com. This reveals another untruth within the painting because Captain
Beginning in 1764, Great Britain began passing acts to exert greater control over the American colonies. The Sugar Act was passed to increase duties on foreign sugar imported from the West Indies. A Currency Act was also passed to ban the colonies from issuing paper bills or bills of credit because of the belief that the colonial currency had devalued the British money. Further, in order to continue to support the British soldiers left in America after the war, Great Britain passed the Quartering Act in 1765. This ordered colonists to house and feed British soldiers if there was not enough room for them in the colonist’s homes. An important piece of legislation that really upset the colonists was the Stamp Act passed in 1765. This required stamps to be purchased or included on many different items and documents such as playing cards, legal papers, newspapers, and more. This was the first direct tax that Britain had imposed on the colonists. Events began to escalate with passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767. These taxes were created to help colonial officials become independent of the colonists by providing them with a source of income. This act led to clashes between British troops and colonists, causing the infamous Boston Massacre. These unjust requests and increasing tensions all led up to the colonist’s declaration as well as the Revolutionary War.
In Parliament some members saw how the boycotts endured by the colonists were affecting the British merchants. One member in Parliament saw how the colonists had grown and had united. For whatever reason the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, however this did not stop the disagreements about taxation and lack of representation. In 1774, the Coercive or Intolerable Acts were passed. these were meant to punish the colonists for the evil they had committed, especially to punish the city of Boston for their acts at the Boston Tea Party.
Soon the Quartering Act was passed, directing the colonies to provide quarters for British soldiers. Americans found this oppressive because it meant that soldiers were placed in colonial homes. In 1764 Parliament passed the Stamp Act, putting a duty on most printed materials. This was a normal tax for the British as it had been going on in Britain for a long time, and it made sense that the rest of their empire would pay the same tax. This placed a burden on merchants and the colonial elite who did most legal transactions and read the newspapers. Also passed in the same year was the Declaratory Act, which stated that the colonies were subject to the will of Parliament. This made a lot of sense to the British, as Parliament was their ruling body, but, to the colonies who had become used to their own government during the years of salutory neglect, this was a direct threat to their way of life.
While all of the above social, cultural and economic circumstances were playing out and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution, several important political developments came to fruition in the concluding half of the 18th century that sealed the certainty of the American Revolution and made it inevitable. These developments, namely, the relative strengths of the local and colonial governments at the time, the betrayal of the colonies by the British Crown after King George’s War, and the end of Salutary Neglect, proved to present insurmountable odds to the colonists.
As the colonies and England grew further apart the resentment of additional taxes and tariffs increased the distance between the two. England came up with the Tea Act, Sugar Act, and Stamp Act, all of which were designed to regain the money England felt was due. All tea imported to the colonies was hit with an additional tax covered by the Tea Act. The Sugar Act allowed British troops to enter, search, and seize any items that they desired without probably cause, this supposedly allowed them to control the flow of illegal and untaxed goods. The Stamp Act was a tax placed on all paper goods including those materials that could possibly be made into paper. These three taxes were collectively known as the Intolerable or Coercive Acts. Probably the tax that hit
The passing of the Stamp Act by Parliament in 1765 caused a rush of angry protests by the colonists in British America that perhaps "aroused and unified Americans as no previous political event ever had." It levied a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspapers, and nearly every other form of paper used in the colonies. Adding to this hardship was the need for the tax to be paid in British sterling, not in colonial paper money. Although this duty had been in effect in England for over half a century and was already in effect in several colonies in the 1750?s, it called into question the authority of Parliament over the overseas colonies that had no representation therein.
The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American