July 4, 1776, marked the date the Second Continental Congress declared independence from Great Britain in the Declaration of Independence. Less than two decades ago, the French Indian War was fought to protect the colonist from the Native Americans. The war left the British in heavy debt and the British felt that the colonists should share the burden. The British began to place taxes on British goods, such as tea, which was a staple in the colonist lives. Protests, at the colonists own volition, broke through New England and tensions between the British and the colonists arose. The colonists were justified in separating from Great Britain by declaring independence. Unfair taxes levied by the British parliament were a reason why the colonists were justified from …show more content…
First, the colonists should share the burden from the French Indian War. According to Document 1, Britain protected the colonists in the French Indian War. Since going to war was costly, and the the colonists primarily benefitted, they should have helped pay the war debt. Secondly, the colonists had no reason to protest. When the Stamp Act was first passed by the British Parliament it did not affect many of the colonists (Doc 3). Many of the colonists didn’t read or use paper and the tax hadn’t even been levied yet, so there was absolutely no reason or justification for protesting. Lastly, the colonists practically asked Britain to have a tighter hold on them through their childish acts of terrorism. Document B describes the chaos throughout New England, such as the tarring and feathering of tax collectors and the protests. The reason why the British had to establish a more tyrannical government was because the colonists were out of control. If the colonists weren't even able to control themselves, how would they even be fit to run a country? Thus making the colonists unjustified for splitting from
with a great amount of nationalism. While this was happening, the mother county, the British Empire was in debt from the war. The only way the mother country could receive the money was by taxing the colonists. Most of these taxes were already in the law but were never enforced. Amazingly, this angered the colonists. Most of the colonists were influenced by the small percentage of people who riled up the rest. ( Document 4). Thes pople were called the Sons of Liberty or Patriots. It wasn’t long before the colonists started a revolution So the question is were the colonists were justified or unjustified in waging the revolution and braking away from the mother
Nonetheless the colonists were justified because
The Americans were justified in separating from Britain because of taxes. The first example of taxes was the Tea act. In Document 13, it states that it's an act to allow a drawback of the duties of customs on the export of tea to any of his majesty’s colonies in America to empower the commissioners of the treasury to grant licenses to the East India Company to export tea. This is important because the tea act
Some could say the American Colonist were not justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain because the British protected the colonist, but the Colonist were justified because of how the British government treated the colonists. British made Americans pay taxes to pay off the debt from the French and Indian war. There was the sugar act, stamp act, and other taxes to make them pay.
In document 1 written by Thomas whately the author of the Stamp Act is saying how the colonists would agree to pay taxes since britain is offering protection, but the british taxed the colonists way to heavily and abused them cruelly with such acts as tarring, boston massacre, Quartering act, etc. In document 3, a letter that was published in the Boston Gazette Supplement says that taxing on newspapers should not affect colonists very much because not many people even end up buying newspapers. The british think that taxing the colonists with other minor things isn't a big deal but the taxing on newspapers may cause conflict. In document 5 it explains how the colonist keep canting, whining, and insinuating. The colonist are doing these things even after torture from the king such as the tarring and feathered , burnt down homes, because the colonists think all this is
The American colonists were justified in fighting a war to break away from Britain because they were not being represented by Britain. For example, a member of the British Parliament was against taxing without representation. He said that taxation and representation are inseparable. In addition, the colonists were
One of the reasons for the colonies breaking away from Britain was how King George mistreated them. We can see this in Document 7, as Jefferson writes about the grievances the colonies have against him. He implores the king to be more “open...to liberal and expanded thought”. Still the king ignores both the Olive Branch Petition and Declaration of Rights and Grievances that the Continental Congress sends him. This shows his lack of care for the colonies. Another mistreatment that the colonists receive from the British is the Boston Massacre. This event raised tensions in the the colonies against the British, who were perceived as attacking unarmed citizens. Soldiers killed innocent people that night with guns, angering many colonists. Finally, the Intolerable Acts were a large reason that the colonists felt justified in declaring independence. Document 15 by Samuel Adams talks about how the colony of Boston is punished for the Boston Tea party “by the shutting of the harbor and other marks of revenge”. The retaliation from the British after the protest in Boston Harbor was an overreaction that angered many colonists. There
Colonists sought independence from British government for a multitude of reasons. Tension quickly rose between England and the thirteen colonies due to the unjust taxing without fair representation in Parliament, the colonist’s rights to assemble were taken away by the British, and there were many unreasonable Acts and laws put into place in attempt to have complete control over the colonists as well as intimidate them. For these reasons and the suffering that the colonists endured at the hands of the British government, I feel that the colonists had plenty just causes to separate themselves from England.
The British King and Parliament were depriving colonists of their natural rights, therefore justifying the colonists' actions of rebellion and independence.
Omanand Chris Bookay). This was unfair to the colonists because they were not a part of the British Government, and still under it’s control. Consequently, the early Americans were justified in their rebellion against
Relationships between the colonists and the British Empire dwindled more after the seven years war in ended in 1763. The taxes of certain cargo and acts developed more occurrent with both the British citizens in England and the colonists in America. The colonists grew towards the idea of independence during the time period of 1763 to 1783, due to the British taxes and tariffs placed upon the colonists and the political influence from both legislatures on the people.
war, it is a sign of radical action. Britains' army was four times as big
The first reason that the colonists were justified in breaking away from the British was because the British Parliament and soldiers made unjust decisions for their own personal gain and abused their powers over the colonists. As stated in Document 2 of the packet “Document-Based Questions--Path to Revolution”, the British parliament taxed the colonists for the sole purpose of levying money upon them (Stamp Act). The taxes was also mainly used to pay for the French-Indian War, which seems like it justifies the British taxing, except for the fact that it was taxes without representation, which can be labeled as tyranny. This supports my argument, as the American colonists didn’t like having to pay for the war, and let Britain take money away from them for profit. Another piece of evidence that supports my claim would be that on Document 10 of the packet it was stated that, “We have understood it be
There were several reasons colonists wanted to break away from the English. A large reason the colonists wanted to break away from English rule was the amount of high taxes that they had to pay for almost everything, because they essentially had to foot the bill for a war. The colonists also had no say on the laws that were passed by a government that was across an ocean, thus the phrase “No Taxation without Representation.” Paying high taxes and having no say in what laws were passed obviously made the colonists angry with the British government, but another factor was the British would not let the colonists trade with anyone else besides them. This means that all trades going in or out could only be done with Britain. Forcing the colonists to pay whatever the British merchants wanted to set their price at because there was no major competition. All of these things as well as not letting the colonists expand past the Mississippi River, would calumniate into a revolution in which the colonists would form their own government and finally fulfill their wish of breaking away from British rule.
And in order to collect the taxes, the Bratians raisen the Sugar Act and Stamp Act to put more restrictions on colonial trade and forced colonists to buy special stamped paper. That makes conlonist getting angry and to against the "Taxation without representation", the only thing they want to do is to elect their own colonial legislatures. Also the Proclamation of 1763, bans them from crossing and going to the settlement of the west. So the colonial rebellion is reasonable, they just deserved to have much more control over their own government. For the resistance, colonies coordinate to boycott the British goods. And the matter was worsened when the British government enforced the Townshend Acts through force, it imposed taxes on imported goods from Britain, which really hurt many colonial merchants. And colonies respond that with more boycott. Although the Tea Party removed taxes on tea sold by British, but American tea still taxed. So on the December 16th, 1776 the Boston Tea Party dump 90,000 pounds of tea into the ocean to resist. But after that, British soldiers flooded into Boston, and colonists had to feed and lodge them. The Continental Congress was formed to reason the King George, in the attempt to keep the peace between Britaish and colonies, but he refused the negotiation, and sent troops to