The U.s. War Of Independence

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 18th century can be marked as a period of internal and external struggle for the American colonists. From improper representation, to unfair taxes, such as the Stamp Act, to being overall abused by Britain, the colonists were justifiably angry. From this anger, the slogan “No taxation without representation” was born and quickly began to emerge from the lips of almost every colonist all across America. The demand from colonists everywhere for no taxation without representation weighed heavily as a symbol for democracy, as it revealed the mindset of many – Britain was using the hardworking colonists and took their money without even giving them a say – and laid the foundation for the American revolutionary war, allowing more arguments and

The years of 1763-1765 were truly defining moments for colonist of the colonies, soon to become the United States of America. ‘’War! War! This is the only way!” American Colonist shouted,as they took to the streets proclaiming defiance of British rule. “We as a people shall fight for our freedom and have victory.No more shall we continue to let others control our countries and give our money to a monarch who has no concern for our right’s, dedication that was put forth to help fight and respect us as loyal subjects.We must fight for our freedom!” When American colonist waged war it proved to be the only way for the colonies to become free from Britian. In turn, the colonist were justified in breaking away from England because of: The

What made the taxations so unfair in the eyes of the colonists, was the fact that they had no representation in the parliament and no one was looking after their interests when the laws were being passed in England. The colonists felt left out, their own country was treating them as if they were foreigners and using them to improve the economy of mainland Britain at the expense of their own. Rebellions continued and independence talks began. "No taxation without representation!" Was a common phrase that echoed around the colonies.

King George took a stance with the government to improve their economic status to gain more power, harming his own people in the long run. He imposed and put resistance in his set of laws but the colonists objected his sudden orders due to the unjust taxation on random products. The Sugar Act, Declaratory Act, Tea Act, Townshend act, and Intolerable Act repress the colonist’s freedom. These acts guaranteed the rights of Parliament and taxed many important items such as tea, sugar and wine. “No Taxation without representation,” (a term the patriots adapted to their revolutionary movement) refers to a situation that involves the government imposing taxes, in this case the British, on a particular group of citizens (American colonists.) The colonies in America were forced to pay a large amount of money without having representation in the British Parliament. This whole situation backfired on the Parliament with rebellions and violent acts such as the Boston Tea Party and the Boston

“No taxation without representation!” That is what every colonist in the Thirteen Colonies shouted before the revolution started. Or that was what most people thought. Not all colonists wanted to gain independence like people today thought they did. In the mid 1700s, the colonists decided to go to war with the British to gain their independence. This was called the American Revolution. However, not all colonists agreed to do this. About ten percent of the colonists were loyal to the King. They were called Loyalists. About forty percent wanted to declare independence from the British. They were called Patriots. The other fifty percent didn’t care one way or another and were neutral. This created a lot of tension due to the diverse point of views.

However, the colonists started to bite the hand that feeds them once Parliament imposed direct taxes like the Stamp Act of 1765. Colonists believed Parliament did not have the right to directly tax the colonies when the colonists had no representation in Parliament. "No Taxation Without Representation" became a slogan the colonists used to protest the taxes implemented by Parliament. Even though British cities also did not have representation in Parliament, they also were not 3,000 miles away from Parliament. How could Parliament impose taxes on the colonies when they were thousands of miles away and did not know how it felt to live there? Shaped by the Enlightenment thinkers, colonists thought that people were born with natural rights that the government could not take away, such as life, liberty, and owning property. The Stamp Act of 1765 required the colonists to pay a direct tax on the majority of printed materials, this tax threatened the colonists' liberty which spurred the colonists into various protests and only then did the British repeal the act. Furthermore, the Proclamation of 1763 forced colonists to remain east of the Appalachian Mountains, colonists felt this took away their right to property because why did they fight long and hard for the lands in the French and Indian War just to not colonize them? Why would the colonies be a part of an empire that constantly took away their

The next grievance the colonies faced would be the British forcing taxes upon the colonists, without their consent. During this time, Parliament was full of British people and no colonists. This was a problem because the Colonists then had no vote or say in anything they passed. Through not having any colonists vote, they passed an act that put taxes on all colonial good exported and bought. After it was voted in, the colonists were made and coined the term “No taxation without representation”. This term meant that they can not get taxed if they were not apart of the vote or in Parliament. The colonists agreed and put this into the document of declarations and resolves, and said “every idea of taxation internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in America, without their consent.”

Since the colonists had a different structure of government, they did not think of themselves as living under a monarchical government. Even so, they still had a personal duty to respect the king and the English Constitution, because they were entitled to the same rights, liberties and privileges as the people living in England. The king stripped these rights away from the colonists by forcing them to pay his high taxes, which caused the colonists to rebel and come up with the slogan, “no taxation without representation.”

The colonies had little to no rights or authority due to being controlled by the government. Therefore, they wanted to break away from Britain, have freedom and no longer to be taxed by the British Parliament. British America’s perspective over the debate on taxation and representation was that the American colonies did not have any representation, therefore meant, that they had no say over the British rule. British Americans demanded that they had the right to have their own representation in the Parliament. “That it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted right of Englishmen, that no taxes be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives”(Dickenson, The Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress). However, the British believed that the colonies had a form of representation, a “virtual representation” they called it, but the colonists demanded an actual representation since they believed the British was doing them

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.

The Seven Years War in 1763 was an instrumental turning point for the American Colonies. Shortly after the initial excitement of winning the Seven Years War ended, tensions between the American colonies and the British Empire rose. These tensions were largely due to the financial mess that was created by the war, miscommunication, and a struggle for power. The British Empire’s need to regain power over the American colonies and organize the new territories gained by the war served to intensify the tension. These tensions set the stage for the beginning of a new era in the Americas, which led to the Declaration of Independence. Overall, the American Colonies declaring independence from Britain was inevitable and a very logical thing to do.

Many people are aware of the different aspects of the American Revolution and the war of Independence, especially consisting of the people directly involved within the Americas. Of course the people of the colonies were involved because they were the main participant in the war and the British were involved because that is who the colonies were fighting to gain independence from. The Indians were involved in a minor way, mainly on the British side. The African Americans also played a part in helping the Americans. The French also played a role among the side of the Americans. As these many different types of people participated in the revolution directly there was also a ripple effect of events that followed the American war for independence. One part of the American Revolution that is not discussed quite as much is this sequence of events that occurred after the war. The events and the partaking’s of the war for independence, along with the reasons behind the war and the outcome, spurred other places to take similar action, specifically in the Atlantic World.

Why weren’t the thirteen colonies willing to abide by England’s laws? While some people were horrified with the Stamp Act, others were completely accepting of this new act. Janis Herbert stated in her book, The American Revolution for Kids, that after the French and Indian War, England had many debts, which obviously needed to be paid (3). England’s Parliament decided the American colonists needed to pay their debts for them. England went about this matter by raising taxes and requiring a stamp for fifty different documents (Gale Encyclopedia Par. 2). Since America was not yet a country, and had no representation, they were trapped with the laws Parliament passed. Even though England was trying to pay off their debts from the French & Indian War, they went about it the wrong way, because they expected the American colonists to pay by increased tax dollars. This is an example of taxation without representation, because the American colonists didn't have representatives, or the opportunity to vote.

Furthermore, Great Britain had commanded new payment methods which created a ruckus with the Americans causeing great anger. Rebellion and discontent were rampant. The colonies started rebelling against ‘Mother England’ because of taxes issued to the colonies, in as much, England’s power did not allow them to have representation. The Revenue Act of 1764 made the Constitutional issue of whether or not the king had the right to tax the people who are living in his kingdom or the thirteen colonies. Eventually, this "became an entering wedge in the great dispute that was finally to wrest the American colonies from England" (Carey 48). "It was the phrase "taxation without representation" (Montgomery 138) that was to draw many to the cause of the American patriots against the mother country. That has royal authority to be able to term public opinions into a revolutionary battle.