The American Revolution 's Fights Over Taxes And Social Rights

The American Revolutionary war began in-part because of economic struggles England faced after securing safety for it’s colonies during the Seven Years War. England needed to increase their taxation on the colonists after the war to pay off its war debts. Prior to these taxes, the colonies were wholly content while under the wing of the British Empire. Not only because the protection the British provided, but also because of their deep reverence for the Motherland. Colonists were angered by with Parliament due to their lack of acknowledgement towards colonists rights and opinions. Colonists stood together in a defiant motion towards liberation from England’s tyrannous acts of lawless duplicity. Before British government was able to fully

There are three ways that the colonist protested against the British which are the Boston Massacre, The Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. One of the ways the colonist protested against the British is the Boston Massacre. They were mad that the soldiers because they took their jobs. The colonist were also mad at the British for stealing their goods from shops. They were also mad about the taxes. The colonists protested by a mob moving toward the customhouse where the British taxes were collected. The protesters picked up sticks, stones, and clubs. The crowd threw sticks and stones at the soldiers. They knocked down a British soldier. The British redcoats got mad and shot and killed 5 colonists which is why it was called a massacre.

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 Revolutionary War was fought by two sides, those being the British and the American colonists, fighting for whether the colonies would remain under British rule, or become their own independent country, and they both had advantages and disadvantages over the other. The Americans were eventually victorious, forming what is known today as the United States of America. It will be discussed in this essay just what advantages and disadvantages each side had, and how these played into the eventual outcome of victory for the colonists.

The American Revolution, mostly known as the War of Independence, arose from tensions between the residents of Great Britain´s 13 colonies and the British crown. The colonies´ desire to obtain independence from the people that started their civilization was followed by a series of riots that led to a full-scale war. Indeed, the fight towards independence followed seven years of senseless war. (McCurdy, 516)

These stamps were required on bills of sale for trade items, and on various types of commercial and legal documents, anything from playing cards to diplomas to marriage licenses. Grenville claimed that the Stamp act was needed in order to help defray the cost of keeping British troops stationed in the colonies in order to protect them. To the colonists this was an invalid answer, because the French were out of North America, and they no longer needed protection. Instead, this Act was viewed as a tax solely to make money for England: "A right to impose an internal tax on the colonies, without their consent for the single purpose of revenue, is denied..." (Document B). Also, anyone that disobeyed these laws was tried in the admiralty courts, were juries were not allows, and you were guilty until proven innocent. In response, the colonists formed the Stamp Act Congress, in which the members drew up a statement of the rights and grievances of the colonists to send to the king, however it was ignored by England. Instead, they started a steady boycott of British goods. It is after this that the colonists realized that they were being used by England, and began their cry of "no taxation without representation!" Parliament had thought that it was making easy money off of the colonies; instead it had started the fire of rebellion burning, and the Stamp Act was soon repealed.

By suddenly ending “salutary neglect”, the British Parliament had, unknowing, prompted the beginnings of the Americans' grievances. Though not much protest occurred in response to the Proclamation (most colonists moved West anyways), the Act itself would set a precedent for Americans' sense of anxiety. The first direct tax on the American colonies, the Stamp act, contributed significantly to the beginnings of pre-Revolutionary unity. With the rallying battle cry, “No taxation without representation”, the American colonists proceeded to call together the Stamp Act Congress. Not only was this event significant due to the fact that it was another group meeting, automatically signifying at least some unity, but major proponents of Revolution, such as Samuel Adams, started new efforts towards uniting colonists against Britain, such as the Sons of Liberty. The following several years, though not marked with tremendous amounts of unification, definitely contributed to a growing sense of anxiety and oppression amongst the American colonists. With more direct taxes such as the Tea Acts, Coercive Acts, and Quartering Acts. Grievance after grievance, the number of “unreasonable” British actions inevitably forced the Americans into a dilemma. While some colonists, such as Richmond Henry Lee, equated such acts to the British desire to “ruin” the colonies, others, such as Mather Byles, believed that a radical

The stamp act put a tax on paper transactions including marriage certificates, ship’s papers, legal documents, newspapers, and playing cards. The colonies reacted strongly even engaging in violence. The sons of liberty destroyed the stamps and burned the house of the lieutenant governor. The colonist were not justified in reacting in the way that they did. The taxes were already imposed on Britain based citizens, their trade was protected, and the British were paying off the colonists debt.

The American Revolution, one of the most significant events in our world’s history, has established a huge impact on not only life back in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but our society today. The Acts of Parliament highly benefited the British but did not afford those same rights to the colonists until the formal issuing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, in which colonial freedom was granted. The most controversial issue is which group caused it; a result of propaganda by the colonists. Multiple acts and protests contributed to this war, three influential ones being the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

They formed many groups and executed riots to protest against this serious disregard of human rights and pride. One way they combated this crude injustice was The Boston Tea Party. At this time, Britain was taxing America’s tea heavily, an imposition that the colonists did not agree to. Rebels involved were members of The Sons of Liberty, colonists vying for freedom and individual rights. The rebels dressed as Native Americans and stormed an incoming boat carrying a fresh load of tea. They dumped the tea into the Boston Harbor as a form of protest; a refusal to pay Britain’s taxes. John Adam, in The Boston Tea Party (Doc. 2) concludes that Britain’s actions have created a much larger and public form of protest. More rebels were coming out into the open as the revolution gains momentum. This proves that the taxation aggravated the colonists as the abuse accumulated, urging them towards rebellion. Colonists also took up tarring as a form of discipline as a response to taxes created during the Stamp Acts. Angry Americans poured hot tar over tax collectors and covered them in feathers to express their displeasure at the imposed taxes. Those fortunate enough to avoid this public humiliation fled or became too scared to go about their collecting duties. In a letter from John Hancock regarding the Stamp Act (Doc. 4), he stresses that these taxes wrongly pressed upon them didn’t have to be

Great Britain and Parliament passed a variety of laws and did many things to cause the American Colonists’ want to revolt and fight for independence. Things definitely went from bad to worse when the British decided to heavily tax the Colonists’ daily used items, such as tea and stamps. British rule forced them to house, clothe, and feed British soldiers, without any Parliamentary representation. These actions ultimately led to the desire and need for independence, because the Colonists could no longer tolerate being under Britain’s rule. There were many things England did to turn the American Colonists away from the crown.

The Stamp Act was one of the first attempts by the British to collect taxes from the colonists in 1765. The colonists were vehemently opposed to it and boycotted, rioted, and intimated stamp distributors. These acts were performed largely by a group known as the Sons of Liberty who were present in each colony and were able to intimidate each colony’s stamp distributor to stop selling the required stamps. Finally, “crowd politics” played a crucial role in this early opposition to the Stamp Act because the large crowds were able to overcome potential obstacles such as law men and voice their opinion as a whole to the chosen party. What is known as the Stamp Act was a law passed by British Parliament in 1765.

Beginning with the Stamp Act in 1765, Parliament passed several measures aimed at taxing the colonists without first considering the colonists’ beliefs of taxation or granting them representation in Parliament. Colonists did not regard those who individually supported the taxes imposed by the British or attempted to adhere to or enforce them kindly. The Sons of Liberty in New York City concluded that anyone who supported such taxes was, “an enemy to the liberties of America.” (doc 7) This was part of a series of resolutions passed by the Sons of Liberty, a radical group that often took action upon the laws passed by Britain. Their background influenced their writing because they were much more likely to take more radical positions on all issues. While they were more likely to take action in response to British legislation, they still possessed many of the same core beliefs as the colonists. As a result of these unfair taxes, many colonists engaged in primitive forms of defiance against these laws. For example, colonists simply refused to pay the taxes imposed on them or found ways to get the goods without paying the required taxes, such as smuggling goods sold by another nation. Consequently, the colonists only paid one twenty-fifth of the amount of taxes that people living in Britain did. (doc 3) However, the colonists did not threaten to defy

Colonists became furious with the Stamp Act and many people boycotted. They refused to pay taxes, ignored the stamps, and they even formed a secret society called the Sons of Liberty. Eventually, Parliament repealed the act but created the Declaratory Act. This showed that the Parliament had the right to make any laws. In 1767, they passed the Townshend Act which placed taxes on glass, lead, paints, paper, and tea. This angered the colonists once again because it took power away from colonial

The American Revolution, which occurred approximately from 1765 to 1786, is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, for good reason. The conflict rose from rising tensions amid the people of Great Britain’s thirteen American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Clashes between Britain’s troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. The American Revolution had tremendous consequences, and was not simply a victory of arms on the battlefield, but also a feat of economic and political ideals, and vital societal changes. This huge period of history set into motion greater changes in American life and created a country, demonstrating just how this revolutionary age in time more than earned its name. This battle of independence waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a young, largely divided nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.