Important Themes And Trends In Early American History

The taxation of the colonists was very important to what would eventually be the American Revolution. The people of the colonies were finally united, though they have not called for an army to be made or haven’t talked about independence, they are starting to come together, and make their differences blur.

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.

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.

In 1607, the first colonists came to settle America and founded Jamestown Virginia. Hoping to escape religious persecution, the Puritans followed in 1620 after trekking across the Atlantic Ocean in the Mayflower. The first winter faced the homeless and foodless Puritans with brutal conditions. After only being there for eight months, half of the original group died, leaving them with only four women. Following the first harvest, those still alive celebrated their well being with the first Thanksgiving. From 1630 to 1647, more Puritans came over and settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. At the same time relationship tensions with the neighboring Native Americans became heightened (Campbell, 2011, para. 5). By 1636, the first war against

1773, December, England, the establishment of the Parliament Tax had started being forced on Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and Charleston, and by threatening the captains of every ship that, “If they are to return to English soil still obtaining tea without a signed, dated receipt, it could conclude in the loss of their ships and personal possessions, and devastatingly could be executed.” England was enabled to force the Parliament Tax on the colonies of America, because the citizens of the America colonies would not give England the pleasure of annihilating honorable and religious men, who had aided them in complicated times.

The United States of America was Britain’s crown jewel. The colonists were happy to be a part of the Empire and the British were making a profit from the trade; a win-win situation. But after the Seven Years War, it all shifted. The British were oppressing the colonists and the colonists were angry enough to revolt. The American Revolution was a major turning point in the First British Empire, which led to the British paying attention to the Pacific. What happened that turned the Americans from happy colonists to angry, revolting colonists? Taxes. The colonists felt so threatened by these taxes enacted by Parliament because their liberties and rights were infringed. This paper will discuss the acts and reforms the British initiated following the Seven Years War that led to the American Revolution. I will also discuss how the colonists’ rights were infringed by these reforms.

The first problem Britain had was an extreme national debt from fighting the war. The national debt had grown to 133 million pounds by 1763 and the interest on the debt required 60 percent of the nation’s budget (Henretta, Edwards, & Self, 2012). The answer to this problem seemed to be easy for British Parliament, tax the colonists more. They believed that since they were providing security to the colonists they needed to pay their fair share. This created the slogan no taxation without representation. Many colonists rebelled against the taxes due to the fact that they had no say in how or where these funds were utilized.

Carl Delger argues that the American Revolution was a political rebellion led by group of reluctant revolutionaries who opposed Parliament’s attempt to impose taxes without the consent of the colonist. Degler describes in “A New Kind of Revolution” how government policies in colonial America, threatened the colonies actions and lack of obligations Britain showed to the colonies. He goes to descried how the colonies believed the British had no right to tax the colonies for revenue proposes. Taxation was an idea neither party agreed upon because colonists said that British taxes were not use commonly and therefore” unconstitutional”. He states how taxes was commonly use to better the economy, which benefited both the colonies and Britain. However, the British wanted to change this because of the large war debt they accumulated. He then speaks on how Americans wanted to retract the Tea Act, Hat Acts, and Woolens Acts, and to protect “the freedom that is our birth right, and which we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it” (Degler 133).

The sounds coming from the crowds in Boston were like silent growls coming from an hungry lion. Parliament continued to take their money, tax after tax. Boston squirmed with people trudging through the cold with faces holding nothing but hard frowns. Patriots filled the streets dressed in long coats and mittens. Some rode in buggies blocking the wind with their quivering hands. Others walked slowly dreading to purchase the food for their meals. Everyone was already paying the taxes from Sugar and Stamp acts, which was more than enough. Everything we bought, everything we needed, there was a tax.

Slavery has always remained at the forefront of early American history. Although it has proven to be rather unjust, it has had a profound impact on how we view the world today. As American colonies were becoming more established in America, English settlers begun to produce cash crops and other agricultural goods. However, as more and more of these agricultural goods were being produce, laborers also grew more in demand. In the beginning, many of the colonies established plantations. With these plantations, many owners would need a large abundance of laborers and workers. Although indentured servitude was prominent, it was not simply cutting it. As a result, many British colonists traveled to Africa and Haiti, as a means of collecting slaves. Held against their own will, many of these slaves were loaded on to large and crowded ships. Many of which, contained famine, and made many passengers susceptible to starvation.

In 1754, the British colonized in America, there was a strong infleunce of britsh culture. In America the british quiclky gained a sense for nationalism and indivudsality.. Since the british lack of enforcing laws America gained this sense of individuality, this was called the saltiaru neglect. America was already used to thr lack of of ruling in Britan so when Britan started enforcing laws the colonist got angry and started revolting. The birtish started enforcing laws on taxes because the war that took place during the time which is known as the French and Indian war. Therefore, the idea of taxation without representation was push foward for the American Revolution and was a significant symbol of democracy.

The American Revolution was a brutal war which lasted for many years, where many brave men lost their lives. A war of this scaled didn’t spontaneously occur, many laws, acts and events drove the colonists over the edge to rebellion. The colonists were taxed heavily prior to the revolution to fund Britain’s wars (1), as well as were required to shelter and provide food for any British solider when requested. After many more outrages laws were passed with no representation of the colonists in the creation of these laws (2), an uprising against Britain began, leading to the American Revolution.

Every vacuous act and tax slowly added more heat to the pot, and soon it would boil over and lead to a revolution. The madness with taxes had begun after the Seven Years War, when the British had gone into debt, and needed more money. Britain's solution to their problem was to viciously attack the new colonies with inequitable taxes, the most outrageous being the Stamp Act. With this act, many paper materials would be taxed, which brought outcry and aggression to the colonies. Although the act was repealed shortly after it was created, it still brought hatred towards Great Britain, and brought the tea to a broil. The people of the new world had grown and learned from the Age of Enlightenment, and had realized that they too deserved rights, and should not be unfairly taxed by their biased ruler. With these concepts, America pushed to go to war, and revolted against their king with the American Revolution. After they had ended the bloodshed, and won, they had decided that with their new independence, they needed to form a bill to protect all Americans from what the British had been trying to oppose on them. With this idea, they harnessed the great Enlightenment philosopher John Locke’s ideas and applied his work into the Bill of Rights, which even helped progress into the Constitution of the United States of America. With his concepts, America was able to give citizens the rights to own property, freedom to

During the eighteenth century, Great Britain was a mighty empire. The British began to immigrate to the New World to settle it and, in some cases, escape conflicts that they faced as Englishmen. Prior to the Seven Years’ War, a war fought between the French and English, the colonists benefitted from salutary neglect, in which taxes existed, but were not enforced. The English won the war, but was left with a devastating debt. Because they had protected the turf of the American colonists during the war, they thought it just to begin imposing the taxes. The taxes were indeed enforced, but the English dramatically reduced the tax, in some cases, from the original value. Nevertheless, the colonists were seething. They felt the taxes were unjust because they had to readjust their lives around a smaller net income. In years following the end of the era of salutary neglect, the colonists devised the Declaration of Independence, which served as a guide for them in their beliefs to carry out the war. Within the span of twelve years, a desire for rebellion grew within the colonists until the first shot at Lexington and Concord ignited the American Revolutionary War. The actual American Revolution began in 1775, but the powerhouse of the revolution began ten years earlier when the American identity blossomed in the minds and communities of the colonists. The major battles of the revolution were fought within the proclamation line, the thirteen colonies, and a limited minority of battles

Taxation has been a part of the United States history since the U.S. became an independent country in the 1700’s. It was one of the main reasons for the U.S to rebel against Great Britain, as a result, the American Revolution occurred due to the unfair taxes and the taxpayers felt that they were being taxed with no representation since they were not able to vote on the taxes they had to pay (Smith,