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Stamp Act Dbq

Decent Essays

The French and Indian War caused Britain to go into debt. Parliament decided that the colonists had to take part in paying the debt. So, they passed acts that taxed British goods. When the colonists found out they had to pay taxes without representation, they were furious. One act that the colonists were upset by was the Stamp Act. The colonists´ reactions brewed up a lot of tension which led to the formation of the United States of America. When the Stamp Act was passed by the British in 1765, the colonists had several reactions. George Grenville, who was the British Prime MInister, persuaded Parliament to pass the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act caused several reactions because it was a law that taxed all printed goods, this included …show more content…

Britain wasn't giving up their hopes, they were still going to try to make the colonists pay the taxes. Since the colonists were still boycotting British tea, the British East India Company ( B.E.I. Company) lost a lot of money. To try to save this company they passed the Tea Act. The Tea Act was a law that allowed the B.E.I Company to sell their tea directly to the colonists. Originally, the B.E.I. Company sold the tea to merchants and from there, merchants sold the tea to the colonists with a higher price. But instead, they bypassed the merchants and directly sold the tea to the colonists, at a lower price. The colonists still didn't buy the cheaper tea because there was still a tax on tea! In order to protest, the colonists had public meetings and vowed to stop the B.E.I. Company from unloading. When the ships arrived in Philadelphia and New York, they forced them to turn back. In Charles Town, when tea arrived, it was seized and stored in a warehouse. But, in Boston, it wasn't as smoothy a process to turn back the ships. When three ships arrived in Boston Harbor, a royal governor whose house had been destroyed by Stamp Act protesters, refused to let the ships turn back. He then ordered them to unload the tea from the ships. In response to this action, the Sons of Liberty organized the Boston Tea party. They also organized the Boston Tea Party because they were mad and angry. When they passed the Tea Act and lowered the tea prices, they thought it was a trick to make the colonists pay the taxes. These actions by the British resulted in protesting, and eventually led to the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party was held on December 16, 1773. That night approximately, 50 or 60 men disguised themselves as Native Americans and were armed with hatchets. They then went to the wharf and boarded three ships that contained boxes of tea. Swiftly and quietly, they broke the boxes of tea with their

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