How Did The Taxes Lead To The American Revolution Dbq

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 demand for no taxation without representation was the primary force motivating the American revolutionary movement, and for many it became a symbol for democracy. Throughout the late 18th century, the British colony of America was oppressed by Parliament from "across the pond". This oppression included unequal rights compared to English citizens that lived on the mainland, unneeded taxation, and no representation in Parliament, which resulted in many laws that were unfavorable to the American colonists. It was this "taxation without representation" that was a powerful catalyst in firing up the American revolutionary movement. America was "all grown up", and no longer needed to be monitored on by Britain.

     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.

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

     The Stamp Act, however, created much more protest. In 1765, Parliament passed an act requiring the colonists to pay tax stamps on any paper product. The act infuriated colonists because this act was a direct attempt to raise money without the consent of the colonial assemblies. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation. With great anger, colonists refused to allow the tax stamps to be sold. Merchants even agreed not to order British goods until the act was abolished. Then, in October of 1765, delegates gathered to discuss the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act Congress stated that the right of taxation belongs only to the people and their elected representatives. Also, they decided that Parliament couldn’t deny their right to trial by jury. They argued that Parliament didn’t have the power to tax them because they had no representatives in Parliament. They denied Parliament’s right to tax them for revenue. The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, but following that, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. It stated that the kind and Parliament had full legislative power over the colonies regardless.

All the documents had to be formally printed in England and were distinguished by a special stamp. Then these pieces of paper had to be bought from a special agent at a price. This meant that the colonists had to pay taxes on every thing they bought from the British government. It was expected that this tax would raise 60,000 pounds annually. The colonists despised this and tried to buy as little as they could from England. After this act the colonists realised that the British government was revenue-raising. The colonists felt that the British Government should be helping to protect ones property not to take it. The colonists argued that they had no say or representation in the government and that is when the outcry started, “No taxation without representation!”

The Stamp Act was an important act introduced by the British Prime Minister George Grenville that was then passed in March 1765 by the British Parliament. The purpose was to raise money for national debt of Britain after the Seven Years War and Parliament needed means to help fund expensive costs of keeping troops inside the colonies. The act levied a tax on legal documents, almanacs, newspapers, and nearly every other form of paper used in the colonies. The British Government felt that the colonies were the primary reason of the military presence and should pay a portion of the expense. The American colonies did not take kindly to this matter.

In an excerpt from the Second Continental Congress, the colonists questioned, “What is to defend us against so enormous, so unlimited a power?” (Document 5). They felt as though they were unprotected under British rule. King George of England acted as a tyrant, freely taxing the colonies for no good reason. John Dickinson, a leader who served in the Stamp Act Congress, stated, “Never did the British parliament, (until the passage of the Stamp Act) think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising revenue” (Document 2). After the Stamp Act, none of the taxes were justified; the colonies were being taxed simply to create income for Britain. With the unlimited control and absurd taxes, the colonists were bound to start a

A major discrepancy the Colonists argued for in the Declaration was Parliament’s act of “imposing taxes on us without our consent”. Becoming a rally cry in the fight for independence, “no taxation without representation” was a consistent belief felt throughout the colonies. The Stamp Act, the first of many taxes to be imposed on the colonists, sparked this belief. The Stamp Act was classified as a direct tax, one the colonists all felt the impact of. There was no way to avoid this tax as it was added onto the price of the item as you were buying it. Document C illustrates this point. When asked about a direct tax, all Benjamin Franklin had to say was that the direct tax was forced upon the people, without their consent and without and representation. His view represents the view of the majority of the colonists. The major reason the colonists felt this tax as unfair was because this tax was levied without their consent, it was decided in Parliament, thousands of miles away, where no American represented the colonists. The Stamp Act was not the only tax the Americans had a problem with. Another tax was the tea tax. Outraged on the East India Trading Company’s monopoly on tea, the Sons of Liberty dumped tea into the harbor in protest of the tea tax. The result was the Boston Port Bill which closed down the Boston port until the colonists paid back the Crown for the lost tea. The Boston Port Bill

Unlike other acts and taxes imposed by the British parliament the Stamp Act effected everyone in the colonies even the colonists who remained loyal to King eventhough, all the colonies were all equally effected by this act imposed by the British. This meant that all legal documents including permits, contracts, newspapers and even playing cards had to carry a tax stamp, the revenue (collected by American customs agents) was supposedly to be used for "defending, protecting and securing" the colonies, but the patriots would have thought differently. They just wanted to be independent from Britian. There was little expectation from Britian and the members of parliament of how intense of a protest that the Stamp Act would generate in America. As mentioned before, the colonists didn’t like to be taxed by Britian any more because they felt living separate from the mother country would only decrease the amount of taxation not

The Stamp Act, which was passed in 1765, had many reactions from the colonists. When the British passed the Stamp Act it taxed everything printed like newspapers, dice, playing cards, legal documents, etc. They all needed a British stamp on it. George Grenville, the prime minister, proposed it because of the debt from the French and Indian War. The colonies were the least taxed of the colonies, but they were enraged because they had no representation. After the British passed the Stamp Act the colonies weren't happy.

Like it was stated before, one of the problems was that the colonists wanted independence from Britain. They felt that it wasn’t Britain’s place to tax them or to govern them and they wanted to be their own country. Britain wanted them to stay as their colonists so that they portrayed more power than some other countries. For example, in the first article of our pre reading, it states, “British leaders expected the colonists to help pay.”C. Adams, 1851. It was not the colonists’ war, so they were upset because Britain did not even ask for their help or consent, they just took it by creating the Stamp Act in 1763. Some people tried to find ways around it, like selling products on the black market, but most of the time it did not work because of the important seal missing on the paper that concluded they had payed the extra three pence. The excerpt from the document also holds statements from John Adams, a young lawyer that worked in Braintree, Massachusetts. One of his statements that is on

In the same year, another important policy Stamp Act was promulgated. “Law passed by parliament in 1765 to raise revenue in America by requiring taxed, stamped paper for legal documents, publication, and playing cards”(Goldfield, P124). Pleasant hours fly past; this law aroused public discontent. Colonists fought against this policy. For example, a group of people planned to intimidate Andrew Oliver to make him quit office in August 1765. (Goldfield, P125). And they also required British government to repeal Stamp Act. Finally, in 1776, parliament ended the Stamp Act, but it approved the Declaratory Act at the same day (Goldfield, p126). This was a statement saying the colonies should serve Britain, and that Britain government could promulgate any law (Goldfield, p126).Although, British repeal Stamp Act, they didn’t stop demanding taxes. In 1767, Parliament promulgated some new taxes policies called the Townshend Duty Act, which stipulated that British

To help pay off their debt, England scheduled the initiation of the Stamp Act, which placed a tax on fifty different documents, on November 1, 1765 (Gale Par. 2; Brindell 13). This act was to put a tax “upon every paper commonly called a pamphlet and upon every newspaper” (Copeland 193). Because the Stamp Act was an internal tax, which meant this tax law was only enforced in America, this made the colonists even

“The Revenue Act of 1764 did not bring in enough money to help pay the cost of defending the colonies. The British looked for additional sources of taxation. Prime Minister Grenville supported the imposition of a stamp tax. Colonial representatives tried to convince Grenville that the tax was a bad idea. Grenville insisted in having the new taxes imposed and presented to the parliament. The parliament approved the tax in February 1765. The colonies responded with outrage. It was considered a “shocking act”.(2)