Political Characteristics Of The American Revolution

In The Radicalism of the American Revolution Gordon Wood attempts to disprove the common thought that the American Revolution was simply a war for independence from a tyrannical mother country. He explains how America formed such a unique from of government. The form that American government took was a collaboration of many different forms that emphasized the rights of individuals. Woods finds it essential to explain colonial life and the factors that dictated people’s lives to understand how radical the revolution was compared to other revolutions. In the 1700’s it was impossible for people to imagine a society operating independently of government, but through shifts in society and through parallel shifts in government that is what emerge. Up until the American Revolution society and government were interwoven.

Protests broke out all across the colonies, with revolts, boycotts, and even fights. British Parliament established the acts to raise revenue through trade taxes on the American colonies. The Sugar Act was established in 1764 to increase controls on non-British trading and taxed not only sugar but other materials such as; coffee, coconuts and different animals parts. The Stamp Act was established in 1765 to tax people for a royal stamp, it also taxed paper, shipping and legal documents, pamphlets, and many more. The act was not as large as other taxes, but it changed the way of Parliament authority, from trade to direct taxes on the colonies. The famous saying “no taxation without representation”,

The taxes passed by Parliament angered the colonists because they were unconstitutional, and did not give Americans representation in the courts. In a resolution, the text states “... This tax… [is] unconstitutional. We have always understood it to be a grand and fundamental principle.. That no … man should be subject to any tax to which he has not given consent… In the … courts one judge presides alone! No juries [are allowed]” ( Document 1). Here, John Adams is informing his peers of his negative opinion on the first of Parliament’s taxes, the Stamp Act, which was passed on November 1, 1765. This act required Colonists to pay unreasonable fees on almost all printed documents. It is an

The first Act was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act was passed March 22, 1765. This Act made it so that colonists had to pay tax on all types of printed paper(playing cards, newspapers, licences, etc.) and also needed a stamp on them to prove they payed it. The colonists were definitely mad, but they weren't mad about the price, they were mad about the standard it set. For example, before, the colonists only had to pay tax for commerce, now they were paying it to raise money for all the debts that Great

In 1765, British Parliament passed the Stamp Act (Document 3) to pay for the French and Indian War. This law taxed the American colonists on things like newspapers, almanacs, and calendars. The colonists became angry about the new taxes because they had no representation in the government or say in their taxes. They believed that it was unfair for Great Britain to tax them without given them the right to a representative in Parliament.

By 1765 when Parliament passed the Stamp Acts, the colonies were already governing themselves so a certain extent and smuggling goods to avoid the British taxes. The colonists were being taxed extensively so that Britain could pay back their debts from the Seven-Years War, which was not fair for the colonists to be paying for, seeing as the colonies had absolutely no involvement in the Seven-Years war.

a) The Stamp Act was issued in 1765 by Parliament, and it forced colonists to pay a tax on all printed documents such as newspapers, pamphlets, college diplomas, land titles, and playing cards. This tariff was created in order to cover part of the cost of stationing the British troops in America which proved to be very costly.

The Stamp Act was one of the initial problems brought in by the British rule to tax the colonies in an attempt to recoup monies that were lost during the Seven Years War. It was supposed to be a tax on paper goods and included such things as cards and dice. The law was opposed, often violently by the colonists from almost every colony. The colonists boycotted, rioted, and intimidated stamp distributors to avoid paying this tax.

Stamp Act: basically required the colonists to pay a tax on every single paper document or products made out of papers (for example, dice and paper cards). This Act was passed without colonists’ approval, which is why the issue of Taxation without Representation within British Parliament became a controversial issue.

The imposition of taxes on the American Colonies by the British Government in the 1760s set in motion a series of action and reaction that led to a break between the components of the British Empire. Americans responded with much anger and public resistance to the Stamp Act in 1763. Much of this resistance was expressed in the colonies of Massachusetts and Virginia. In Massachusetts, the mobs not only threatened violence, but damaged and at times destroyed the property of officials who were involved in the Stamp Act’s implementation. Virginia on the other hand took legislative action denouncing the imposition of taxes on the Colonies by Parliament. It was Virginia’s example that was followed nine of her sister colonies when their legislatures made similar resolutions. These actions also lled to the formation of the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 (Middlekauff, 2005). This Stamp Act Congress sent an appeal to Parliament and the King requesting the repeal of the Stamp Act with the justification that the costs associated with the act would prevent the colonies from purchasing British goods (Brown & Carp, 2014).

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22,1765. It was a taxation on any piece of paper like, legal documents, playing cards, newspapers, etc, and once payed it got a stamp put on it. The reason for the act was to help pay the debt of the Seven Years’ War (French and Indian War). This act affected all the colonists from the wealthy to the poor. What affected the colonists the most was that they had to pay in silver coins and silver was very difficult to find in the colonies. Like the Sugar Act many colonist protested violently and nonviolently. One violent protest was “harassing” tax collectors by destroying their homes and threatening them. A nonviolent protest was boycotting British goods hoping for the act to be repealed.

This tax was on paper products in the colonies. The colonists responded with protests and riots.

During the 18th century, the Thirteen Colonies set the stage for copious amounts of tension and political unrest. Colonists grew frustrated with Great Britain and its newly implemented policies, which led to protests and talks of independence. People simply felt they needed a few of their basic rights to be addressed. The British empire continued to push boundaries and attempted to regain control, but at this point, the damage done was irreversible. As we now know, this eventually caused the outbreak of the Revolutionary War.

This tax was different from the rest because the other taxes were to regulate trade. Colonists reacted by riots, boycotts, the forming of the Stamp Act Congress, and Sam Adams organized the Son’s of Liberty. The Stamp Act was the first external tax. The colonists felt that they were being taxed without representation.

The American Revolution was revolutionary because revolutionary means to engage in or promote political revolution. That is exactly what the colonies where doing when they were trying to get rid of being under King George III power. The American Revolution was revolutionary because the colonist fought for freedom from England.