The Pros And Cons Of Collonism In America

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

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making easy money off of the colonies; instead it had started the fire of rebellion burning, and the Stamp Act was soon repealed.

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

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 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

Most were outraged and spoke out against the injustice such as in the speech by Patrick Henry when he states, “We can under law be taxed only by our representatives. We have no representatives in the British Parliament...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it...King George is a tyrant” (Document 1). Speeches like this inspired the patriots to rise up and take action against the law. Many smuggled goods such as newspapers and letters while others made propaganda against the British. Colonists began protesting publicly and called much attention to the problem facing the colonies which the British did not like at all. The colonists showed so much revolt against the tax that the British Parliament repealed it only a year after it was passed. That battle had been won by the colonists but the war was yet to

After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, Britain had a huge debt that had to be paid. Unfortunately, the war had been a long and costly one and had taken it's toll on Britain's finances. In an effort to make up the debt Britain's Parliament began passing laws by placing taxes on goods purchased by the colonists in America. First, there was the Sugar Act in 1764, and then the Stamp Act the following year, as well as a variety of other laws enforced to get money from the colonists. Naturally, the colonists were not pleased with Britain's control and taxation. The colonists felt that they should not be held accountable for the debt and should not have to pay the taxes. The colonists felt that since Parliament was elected by people living in England and they did not take part in voting for members of Parliament then Parliament did not have the right to take their money by imposing taxes.

After the French and Indian War, Britain had a huge war debt needing to be paid off. The British decided to tax the colonists. The Stamp Act was a tax on the legal acclaim of documents; while the sugar act imposed heavy taxes on the sugar the colonists were trading. These acts and others were imposed onto the colonists with reasoning that the colonists were a part of their domain and English soldiers protected the colonists during the War. The colonists were enraged and did not agree with these new taxes, which they believed instilled a depiction of tyranny.

The new taxes greatly angered the colonists. The parliament did not follow the law “Taxation without Representation” which basically states that the colonists have the right to send a representative. The stamp act was a law that required colonists to pay for anything that requires a stamp. This is a great example of why these taxes were unjust because it did not follow the saying “Taxation without representation”. Document 2 says, “Levying money upon us” meaning the tax was imposed on the colonists without representation. The colonies considered these taxes to be unconstitutional which caused riots and boycotting against the government. Document 10 explains the stamp act being unjust, “...The stamp act...a very burdensome and, in our opinion, unconstitutional tax is to be laid upon us.” Another unjust law that was enforced was the Quartering Act. This law forced the colonists to house their homes to soldiers. By that means they would have to feed them and provide their homes for them to sleep. According to

The colonist also didn’t admire that they had no say in how much they are paying or what they are paying for, this wasn’t fair. “ Fundamental principle of the constitution that no free man should be subjected to any tax to which he had not given consent, in person or by proxy “ which is also “ No taxation without representation”. The Americans thought it was necessary to have legislators seated and voting in the London to be taxed. James Otis was the main person to argue for this representation in the Stamp Act Congress. On the other hand the British believed in something called virtual representation, virtual representation is a belief that a member of the Parliament virtually represented every person in the

The argument that was in the Stamp Act was that the colonist believed that they were entitled to the same rights as the citizens that were actually in Britain at that time. The colonist didn’t want to be taxed without representation. Since they were too far away to be represented, they wanted to just be taxed through their local representatives.

The Stamp Act affected everyone by placing taxes on every printed document. This included newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, deeds, wills and licenses. Britain was receiving ten times more from the colonies, and America took notice. It was an obvious attempt by England to get money from them without their approval. This made them feel hopeless until Patrick Henry spoke out on May 1765, to the House of Burgesses. Henry claimed that Americans had equal rights as the British, such as the right to be taxed by their own representative; Virginia shouldn't have to pay any taxes not given by the Virginia Assembly, and anyone who opposed the (soon called), Virginia Resolves was an enemy to the

They figured they had the right to tax the colonist and they began passing Acts that forced the colonist to pay taxes. “These taxes included the Stamp Act, passed in 1765, which required the use of special paper bearing am embossed tax stamp for all legal documents.” There were other Acts that Parliament passed, one of the acts that they passed made the colonist so furious and frustrated that they rebelled against the Parliament. This act of rebellion later became known as The Boston Tea Party. The colonist was taxed on all goods that were imported from Britain and most of the colonist believed they should not be charged those taxes since they were not passed by the colonial government. ‘In 1773 some colonist in Boston, Massachusetts demonstrated their frustration by dressing up like Indians, sneaking into ships in the harbor, and dumping imported tea into the

During the Revolutionary era, various colonists were able to successfully battle against the oppressive British empire to eventually obtain their sovereignty and become thirteen independent countries. However, before becoming the great nation of the United States, Americans still had to fight against a multitude of unjust tax reforms imposed by their tyrannical country, Great Britain. Colonists began to rally together through a series of rebellions in favor of the abolishment of these tariffs. Although the colonies eventually gained their freedom, many of these revolts were fruitless or even backfired and greatly restricted the rights of the colonists.

Before America was a country, it was a colony, and that colony was proud to represent the British Empire. The colonist still thought they were Englishmen even though they were great lengths away. It wasn’t until the economic, cultural, and political issues built up to such an intolerable extent that they decided to no longer stand beside their once beloved country. Economically the colonies were tremendously dependent on Britain for almost everything, they could not trade with anyone besides their own country. The exports were far more exceeding than the imports, costing the colonist so much more for their goods. Britain also used the slave trade to make a lot of their money, convincing the colonist that slavery was imperative to the economy and the free labor would be beneficial to them. Colonist believed that they were still close to their Mother country, it wasn’t until they no longer had the same rights that they would have if they were still living in their Mother country that they realized they were not seen that way. It put a strong wedge between the two places as they tried to deal with the economic and political issues.