Representation In Parliament

As generations grew up in America, nationalism within the colonies grew towards their new country. These settlers slowly lost their patriotic tie to Great Britain and it’s ruler, King George III. So when the French and Indian War ended in America, and the indebted England needed some compensation from American settlers in the form of taxes, the colonists questioned the authority of England and their ability to rule them. British imperial policies such as the Sugar Act of 1764 and the Townshend Tea Tax caused uproar within the colonies against British rule without

The problem with the Plan was that the leadership community of the American colonies was more conservative and it was a small government, as well as the fact that the British were not ready to give up such control during a time of war to their own colonists. The British began to tighten their grip on the American colonists with the Proclamation of 1763 and the increase in troops that were present in the colonies. The Proclamation of 1763 dealt with the “Indian” problem, essentially ignoring the native people and restricting colonial ventures to all territory east of the Appalachian Mountains.

During the war, the colonists who were fighting, began to realize just how much they were deprived. The colonists observed how much more the British possessed and wanted the same since they were still Englishmen (Doc D). The English officials that came to lead in the colonies were not the most pleasant to work with and also were not superior listeners. The officers ignored what the colonists said, even if it was a colonial military leader. The colonial soldiers were seen as weak and inferior and were not respected by the officers. After the war, the taxes the colonists had to pay, also created new opinions in their minds (Doc G). Colonists began considering more about becoming separate from England and governing their own government. Revolutionaries propagated their ideas of disbanding as well. These theories created unity in the colonies but weakened the link between England and various colonists.

In 1764, the irritated Americans, who failed to persuade the British government to give their provincial assemblies the same intrinsic rights as the House of Commons in England, turned the tide of the debate on the meaning of representation. The Americans were angry at the British for taxing them without letting them have a representative of their own at the Parliament, who could stand for their political interests. Instead of seeking for a compromise, the British offered the Americans a ridiculing notion known as virtual representation in which the august body, that had no direct contact with the colonists, "virtually" represented its subjects' interests. At this critical point, Americans were not intending to step back.

Although there were some aftermath consequences of the revolution, the people of Virginia had to revolt against the governor William Berkeley because of, unjust taxes , of government policies and because the poor colonist felt the government should keep them safe. Moreover they also felt the lack of protection from the governor and revolted against him, for helping the indians and not keeping them safe. However despite all the struggles of the revolution the poor people were the one mostly affected..

Over ten thousand Tories fled the country after the war, leaving behind the question: Why did some choose to fight for the king? The king has done so much for us already. Going against him is like going against God himself. Britain tried to make the American colonies pay for most of the debt from the French and Indian War. Through the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and other taxes. The American people were strongly independent. They wanted to do things for themselves. Great Britain was a long way away. The Americans didn't want them ruling the Americans across an ocean.The Americans also thought they should be able to send a representative to Britain's Parliament or at least be able to vote for Britain's lawmakers.This combination of taxes and the

'So you've been gone a couple days,' Alison said. 'Hmm, what'd you miss...A celebrity did drugs. Politicians disagreed. A different celebrity wore a bikini that revealed a bodily imperfection. A team won a sporting event, but another team lost.' I smiled. 'You can't go disappearing on everybody like this, Hazel. You miss too much.'" ~John Green. John Green is criticizing how Americans only care about irrelevant events going on in the world. Americans would choose to hear the latest celebrity gossip, over an event that affected the world. John Green is comparable to Mark Twain, whom also is a big critic of American society. Mark Twain used humor to make fun of family feuds, hypocrisy among religion, and the gullibility of people to fall for a prank. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain used satire to his advantage and humiliated many aspects of American society.

Exasperated Americans saw that they had no sort of representation in England. No person of leadership was asked to sit in Parliament and voice any colonial concerns. The colonies did not have any sort of representation within the British Parliament. Without representation, the colonies were being taxed without any sort of consideration for the people. The Patriotic slogan for this particular upset was “No Taxation Without Representation”. Samual Adams used this phrase to gain more followers and to build a force against Britain. Adams was ready for a war, he wanted separation from England before others even thought

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

The Tories were American Colonist who supported the British army during the American Revolution. They were also called Loyalist and they were hated by the American colonist. There were punishments for being a Tory but there were also benefits to being one. Some of the punishments included banishment, being stripped of your goods, and being tossed onto the street as well as being insulted. The few benefits of being a Tory were that you were spared if the British army attacked and you could seek refuge in Great Britain. There were many more punishments/benefits to being a tory that shaped the way they were seen by the Americans.

First came the Proclamation Act of 1763. This act dictated where the colonists could live or not live. Then the Sugar Act of 1764 was implemented. This put extra taxes on sugar and other goods that were brought to the colonies. It also enforced stricter penalties for smuggling these goods. Americans were not happy about this and they felt as if their rights were being violated. Britain did not back down but

Why weren’t the thirteen colonies willing to abide by England’s laws? While some people were horrified with the Stamp Act, others were completely accepting of this new act. Janis Herbert stated in her book, The American Revolution for Kids, that after the French and Indian War, England had many debts, which obviously needed to be paid (3). England’s Parliament decided the American colonists needed to pay their debts for them. England went about this matter by raising taxes and requiring a stamp for fifty different documents (Gale Encyclopedia Par. 2). Since America was not yet a country, and had no representation, they were trapped with the laws Parliament passed. Even though England was trying to pay off their debts from the French & Indian War, they went about it the wrong way, because they expected the American colonists to pay by increased tax dollars. This is an example of taxation without representation, because the American colonists didn't have representatives, or the opportunity to vote.

The Tea Act of 1773 was a tax on tea but, the British lowered the cost of tea significantly enough that even with the tax, British tea was cheaper than Dutch tea. Also to keep the price down, the British East India Co. got rid of the middleman in the colonies and opened up their own shops. If the colonists bought this tea, they would be accepting the fact that the British could tax without representation. On Dec. 16th 1773 the ships docked at the Boston ports. The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Indians and threw 324 chests of tea into the water. England responded to the Boston Tea Party by the Coercive Act of 1774.

There were many events that led up to the American Revolution. After the British defeated France and the Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763, Parliament began enforcing colonists to help pay for debts that were accrued during the war. George Grenville, Britain’s chief minister, constructed laws such as the Stamp Act, Sugar Act and Quartering Act. These new policies that set in place tariffs on imports, exports, and regulations on trade, infuriated colonists (Tindall & Shi, pg. 121). Colonist did not want to allow such imposed taxes because the people themselves were not represented as equal British subjects. “The issue of taxation became a question of the colonist’ place in the imperial system” (Calloway, pg. 14). Also, after the British victory in the Seven Year war settlers were eager to expand west. British government wanted the colonist to stay east where trade was a major profit, and to navigate to the north or south. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 establishes the Appalachian Mountains as the boundary line between British and Indian lands. This was in part to keep Indian alliances and to keep control on the settler’s expansion. Henry Ellis, Governor of Georgia, spoke of

Consequently, the British Parliament imposed taxation on the colonists in the 1760’s. The colonists resented this intrusion, for they felt they were not truly represented in the British government. Taxation without representation became the rallying cry of the colonists.