Causes Of The Imperial Crisis Of The 1760s And 1770s

It was the Tea Act. This act stated that only the British East India Company could sell or transport tea. Members of parliament passed this act because many of them had stakes in the company. At the time the British India Company was going bankrupt. This act threatened all colonial businesses by creating a monopoly. In Boston, the colonists devised a plan to resist this act. Several colonists dressed as Indians to deceive the British. These colonists seized the imported tea and dumped it into the harbor. The colonists dubbed this “the tea party.” The British responded to these actions by creating four acts jointly called the Coercive Acts. These acts closed the Boston ports to all trade, increased power of Massachusetts governor, granted trials of royal officials in Massachusetts be tried elsewhere, and allowed the new governor rights to quarter his troops anywhere. These Coercive Acts only angered the colonists more. They have strengthened their non-importation of British goods. They have also begun the forming of local militia companies.

During the time period of 1600 to 1776, the relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed massively. The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies changed greatly because of three main reasons: the relationships that the colonies and Great Britain were built on, the struggles that the colonists faced because of their relationships with Great Britain, and the anger that the colonists expressed because of the ridiculous taxes that they had to pay. Once the colonists realized that they were suffering under British rule, most of the colonists became eager to be independent from Great Britain. The colonists’ Second Continental Congress believed that the acts and taxes created by the British Parliament were unconstitutional, unjust, and unfair towards the colonists and because of that belief, the Declaration signers forever changed our country.

After about 4 years the Townshend acts were passed. The Townshend acts were originated by Charles Townshend. They were meant to add even more taxes on all imported goods, which makes everything almost double the original price. Great Britain needed to pass this act because they still had so much of the debt to pay ofF. This was a huge financial burden for the colonists. There were many violent protests.This act eventually led to the Boston tea

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.

The colonists were not thrilled about the Townshend duties. However, when the redcoats were marching down the streets even though their facial expressions showed dislike they kept it down. The other 12 colonies thought that they restrained because they were scared. On, March 5, 1770, it was a turning point for the colonist because Townshend Act was repealed except for tax on tea. On this day the 60 people of Boston gathered in front of the custom house and attacked the Redcoats with rocks and snowballs. The redcoats replied by firing back at the Bostonians without Captain Thomas’ permission. It resulted in the death of 5 people which lit up their desire for independence.

The Intolerable Acts, otherwise known as the “Coercive” Acts, caused the most unrest among the colonies and led to the American Revolution during the 1700’s. In 1733, Parliament passed the Tea Act. This made it so that colonists could only buy tea from the British East Indies Company. Even though the Tea Act lowered the price of tea, the colonists thought of it as another restriction of their freedom. A group of opposers, dressed as American Indians, threw three-hundred forty chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The British were enraged and passed the Intolerable Acts. This gave the British all control over Massachusetts and forced colonists to pay back the money for the tea they ruined. Although the Coercive Acts only applied to Massachusetts,

Once again, the colonists were angry that they were being taxed on basic needs. This anger only grew through the Boston Massacre incident, where five colonists were killed, and the Boston Tea Party, where enraged colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. The last straw for the colonists seemed to be the passing of the Coercive Acts, otherwise known as the Intolerable Acts. These acts were created to regulate and basically restrict the colonists to make them realize that Parliament was in control. Colonists did not agree with this act, specifically the Quartering Act which required them to house British soldiers, as well as feed and clothe them. These acts and taxations, along with the violent incidents that occurred in Boston, and a lack of colonial representation in the Parliament caused the colonists to

The act also gave customs agents the authority to search property, including the colonists’ homes. The colonial response to these acts was increasing violence against the customs officials. In 1768, the British government sent troops to America to reinforce the Townshend Acts and protect the customs agents. At one point there were 4,000 British soldiers in a city of only 16,000 people (Phelan, 24). According to Phelan, there were “almost daily confrontations” between soldiers and civilians (38). There was increasing tension between the troops and the American colonists. Some children as well as adults tormented the troops by throwing snowballs and chunks of ice at the soldiers. There was also increasing tension between the colonists who were loyal to the Crown and those who were loyal to the colonies because some store owners broke their agreements about importing and selling British goods. Children threw trash and rocks at those storeowners’ buildings. Several days before the Boston Massacre, one of the loyalist merchants shot and killed a young man who was a part of group vandalizing his business (Phelan, 44-46). The colonists’ tempers flared.

The petition was originally created by the First Continental Congress to resist any further conflict between Britain and the 13 Colonies. The petition was earliest written by Benjamin Franklin and then Thomas Jefferson, but the language Jefferson used would only enrage the King, so when The Second Continental Congress took up the Petition, John Dickenson rewrote it. Congress passed the sending of the Petition to King George the Third and three days later the petition reached the kings presence. The king would have passed the petition if it weren’t for a letter being confiscated that John Adams wrote to a friend proclaiming his disapproval of the Olive Branch Petition and how the yearning for peace was not authentic. King George the Third received both the petition and the letter and denied the petition. He then proclaimed that the colonies were on a rebellious spree. Even though the petition was opposed, it still played a major part in the years to come for the Colonies to propel in the attempts at American Independence. It became the foundation of the beginning of the Revolutionary War and is the reason that we call ourselves Independent. Not only did it lead to the Revolutionary War, but it also inspired the idea of The Declaration of

Parliament passed the Townshend Acts, which placed taxes on paper, lead, paint, and tea that was imported to New England. The colonist began to boycott these goods which angered English authorities. They placed military officials so that they could force the colonists to pay the much needed taxes. Tensions between British soldiers and colonists escalated. This lead to the Boston Massacre; it was propagandized and impassioned many settlers to rebel. In response for the unfair taxes on tea, the colonists dumped the imported tea into the harbor. People became much more ardent to their side after the incident. You were either for the revolution; a patriot, or you sided with England; a loyalist.

First of all, the colonists were angered by King George’s rule of tyranny on the American colonies. Specifically, the British Parliament

I personally think that the Tea Act was justified and unjustified because no one should have to pay taxes unless they are represented, but at the same time, they did end up destroying someone else’s property. There could have been other actions that could have been taken for the Tea Act. But if they were to do something else instead of what they did end up doing, it wouldn’t have had to have the consequences that happened after. On May 10, 1773, parliament passed the Tea Act, which granted the British East India Company control on the sale of Tea in the American colonies.

The Olive Branch Petition was created in 1775 shortly following the disgraceful Battles of Lexington and Concord as a final attempt for the rebellious colonists to make peace with Britain. It was first written by a New York lawyer, John Jay, but later was re-examined by John Dickinson, a Pennsylvania delegate. In the petition, the colonial author stated that it was in Great Britain's best interest to continue to side with the colonies due to the slight benefits that came as a result of their alliance. In July of 1775 the Olive Branch Petition was sent to King George III but was denied by the King who soon after, on August 23, 1775, declared the American colonies to be an open rebellion.

Concord was loyal to the King and did not push for independence during most of its existence under the Crown. However, in 1765 when the Stamp Act, which set a bizarre direct tax on virtually every piece of public paper, was passed it outraged the American colonists. They protested and boycotted British imports until Parliament repealed the stamp duty. Parliament then announced the Declaratory Act (1766) that stated its power to legislate for the colonies “in all cases whatsoever” (43). In 1767, Parliament enacted Chancellor of the the Exchequer Charles Townshend’s duties on all lead, glass, paper, paint and tea improvident the colonies (43-44). This once again upset the Americans, their hostility grew not only towards the taxes, but to the intended use of the money to strengthen British influence over provincial governments. This started another intercolonial boycott of British goods. In 1768, Britain stationed troops in the town which led to the Boston Massacre two years later. Parliament

The 1773 Tea Act did cause the American Revolution in that it sparked huge opposition amongst the colonists. It was the third time that the British had tried to tax the Americans — both the 1765 Stamp Act and the 1767 Townshend Duties had been repealed due to such opposition. The Tea Act was the final straw for many colonists — the Sons of Liberty organised a huge protest in which they boarded the ships carrying the East India Company’s tea, and threw £10,000 worth of tea into the sea in defiance. This was known as the Boston Tea Party and demonstrated to the British that the Americans were not willing to accept British taxation. The slogan ‘no taxation without representation’ was frequently used, showing how the Americans felt the British, in trying to tax them, were attempting to impose a tyrannical rule. The Boston Tea Party provoked outrage in Britain, with many of the politically conscious calling for the Americans to be punished. This then led to the Coercive Acts in 1774, which aimed at isolating Boston — although it only resulted in increasing the tension between the