Essay On The Thirteen Colonies

The thirteen colonies had a major impact on the independence of what is now present day United States of America. Of the three different types of colonies, there were two colonies: (the most northern colonies)New England colonies and the Middle colonies. The New England colonies consisted of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The Middle colonies included New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The two separate colonies had both some similarities and some differences.

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

Before the colonies became states they had a few issues. They had a statement that said “no taxation without representation” this means that they believed that the parliament could not tax them and that only their own government could tax them. After the French and Indian war, the British had a really bad debt from the war and they were already having everyone in England pay enough so they decided that they were going to tax the colonists. The first thing they passed was a law called the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act taxed anything that was printed that included legal documents, bills of sale, calendars, pamphlets, contracts, ships papers, donations, diplomas, certificates (including marriage), Any kind of decelerations, official documents, advertisements in papers, licenses including liquor, playing

After the first few struggling settlements in the New World progressed, more and more colonies sprung from the untested North American soil. Eventually, there were three main categories to the European colonies. They were each unique, although one certain class stood in stark contrast to the other two. This group, the Middle colonies, was a halfway point between the New England and Southern colonies – and not just geographically. The Middle colonies extracted parts of its neighbors, like farming habits and spiritual sects, but the middle group managed to retain its own flavor.

Huge debts were owed to Great Britain for supplying the colonists with military support and supplies. To pay the dues, there was the establishment of the Stamp Act, the taxation on domestic goods and services. A tax on domestic merchandise brought even more anger to the colonists. The Sugar Act, the Townshed Duties and the Tea Act were also all introduced with the same fundamentals: applying tax on goods whether it be directly or indirectly, domestic or international. “British commercial regulations imposed a paltry economic burden on Americans, who enjoyed a rapid economic growth and a standard of living higher than their European counterparts” (McGaughy). Each act resulted in irritated colonists. Some even retaliated by tarring and feathering certain English tax enforcers living in the colonies.

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

There were several acts that were passed without the consideration of the colonists that would force them to pay a ridiculous amount of taxes to the British mainland. One of these acts was named the Stamp Act, which was enacted in 1765, forced the colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper that they used. This would include legal documents, license, commercial contracts and newspapers in the tax. This tax mostly effected the wealthier and influential of the colonists and would force them to unite in opposition. There were several other acts that would be passed that would force the colonists to pay undue taxes to the British, such as the Quartering Act and the Tea

When Great Britain controlled the colonies, the Colonists could not live the life they wanted to. They had low paying jobs, were not treated well by the king and his soldiers, and on top of that Britain posted extra taxes on goods. The colonists were already poor from low pay jobs, so taxes just added

The colonists believed they had a right to be represented in Parliament before being taxed or at least vote for the taxing officials. The phrase “no taxation without representation” began to become popular within the colonies.

For the people of Europe the Americas was a place to prosper, worship in there own way, and expand there kingdoms. The only problem is that they attempted to settle in their own way and all failed dismally. The New England, Mid-Atlantic and Southern Colonies grew differently in various ways, but each with the same state of mind, “do it our way”. Examining the three sets of colonies will prove that they were all different in religion, government, and ways of expansion.

During the early days of colonial America, the colonists viewed themselves as British citizens who had British prerogatives listed under the English Bill of Rights. They were happy to call themselves subjects of the British crown. This sound citizenship ended when the need to pay for the French and Indian War forced Britain to tax the American colonies. Multiple acts were passed, such as the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Declaratory Acts in 1766. It was not the initial implementation of the edicts that pushed the Americans to rebellion, but the fact that they were enacted without any of their consent. It is from this conflict that the phrase “taxation without representation”

     Religion was a very important part of everyday life in colonial America. Sometimes people were not allowed to question what they were taught, and if they did so they were punished accordingly. Before 1700 some colonies had more religious freedom then others. While others colonies only allowed religious freedom to a select group, others allowed religious freedom to all different kinds of religions. In the overall there was quite a bit of religious freedom in colonial America

The Massachusetts colony, otherwise known as the ‘Massachusetts Bay colony’ was originally settled by Puritans in 1630. They were plagued by the religious persecutions of King Charles I and the Church of England. Weary from this dogged torment, they left England under the leadership of John Winthrop. These original colonists quickly established many small towns in the name of high religious ideals and strict societal rules. They also planted churches, spread Puritanism and religiously educated the masses, as these were some of their goals. A utopian society that other colonies looked upon with high regards was the ultimate goal.

The infringement upon their liberties to which Richard Henry Lee was referring was largely an economic concern for the colonists. Taxes and duties implemented solely by the British government and the Navigation Acts limited trading rights. The colonists believed that they held the right to tax themselves, especially since there were no Americans in Parliament. After this claim England replied that colonists were represented by “virtual representation” as a result of the Magna Carta. The inferred inferiority of the Americans to Britons by this fallacy insulted colonists and further pushed them into unrest, causing a movement that resulted in the Non-Importation Agreements being enforced The Non-Importation Agreements demonstrated the power of the American colonists over the depressed English economy. Once the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts were repealed, there was no turning back for the seditious Americans; they had discovered who truly was dependent on whom.

University of Gloucestershire students, Brooke Grasso and Ben Anderson, let us into their beliefs on Britain’s pride in greater social acceptance and how the US Presidential Election was portrayed in England during their time in Cheltenham. Aside from learning how to play Beer Pong and making them bacon sarnies, they reveal the undeniable challenges of adapting to our British culture and the attitudes which we see call home.