To What Extent Must Our Laws That Which Govern The People, Change Or Adapt With Their People?

The idea that colonists should have fair rights was revolutionized in the Articles of Confederation. When the first colonies were settled, the monarchy of Great Britain gave charters to groups of people to set up their own government with their own rights. After the French and Indian War, the British government had war debt. As a result, the British taxed the colonists ignoring the rights chartered to them. The British abolished self-government and took control of all the colonies. Making a colonist pay a tax for a valid reason is fine, but only when the colonist’s rights would not be violated. The Articles of Confederation was influenced by insuring each citizen's rights. All the white property owning, tax paying men could vote their state officials. In the Northwest Ordinance,the federal government allowed states to be created when 60,000 free men settled in the territory. After the territory had enough occupants, the government kept their promise by allowing the territory to become a state. Although the state had much more power, people could still fight back. For example, during the depression, the Shay’s Rebellion was a dispute between indebted farmers and the state court. However, the state courts had to pass laws to regulate such rebellions. They abolished a fair trial and grouped gatherings. They deprived some of the colonists of their basic rights. Bad ideas implemented by the British government in the American Revolution may have changed at first, but as the government matured, unfair laws were passed. By viewing the situation of the Shay’s Rebellion, the revolutionary period did not just influence the Articles of Confederation in good

This act angered many colonists as they believed they had certain freedoms that were being violated (Doc 10). The Stamp Act was unconstitutional, and invalidating to Englishmen’s rights. Colonists stated, taxes should only be imposed when those getting taxed consent to it, which the British obviously did not do. This violation enraged the Colonists, for good reason, causing their revolting actions. The Townshend Act was, yet again, a Parliament granted and freedom violating law (Ch 4.1 Notes).

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

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

Britain’s tactics to control the Americas had been causing various troubles and irritations to the colonists. The colonists had to deal with taxation without representation, also known as virtual representation such as the Stamp Act or Tea Act and also other unpleasant laws passed by the British such as the Quartering Acts. A significant event that is notable for altering the political, economic and ideological relations between the colonies and Britain is the French and Indian War. This was fundamentally the cause of the American Revolution. The relationship between the colonists and the British was already weak but after this war the ties became even weaker than imaginable.

In the chapter Kings, Parliament, and Inherited Rights, starts off with the quote about the revolution. The revolution was in the mind and the hearts of people, a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. The evolution of the revolution began was an argument over rights that changed into struggle for power of each party to assert their rights as it understood them, then afterward struggle for empire as Americans began to conceive a more ambitious and independent course for themselves. Americans believe that legally of all parliamentary statutes was measured against the constitution; on that basis, being unrepresented in Parliament, they denied the rights of the body to tax them directly according to the principles of constitutional law. A particular act focused on in the chapter is the Stamp Act, which imposed a stamp tax ranging from one shilling to six on various commercial and legal documents such as wills, mortgages, and college degrees, as well as on newspapers, almanacs, calendars, pamphlets, playing cards and dice. Also the Trade and Navigation Acts was a parliamentary revenue raised in America would make England governors and their appointees independent of local pressure and more faithful enforcing British statutes. These made the colonies more united. Colonies wanted to distance

The founders were are their way to creating a government respecting the natural rights in the case of a corrupt government the people of the nation could still have their rights. The British King did not believe in natural rights, he wanted to have power over his people therefore he created laws that would only benefit him. The colonies believed they were being treated poorly, therefore, they decided to declare independence. The colonists had no say in what the british government said or did, they could not vote for laws being made. The colonies were subordinate to the Parliament, but the Americans lost their connection to Britain and would not obey their laws due to the fact they had no

When the colonists first arrived to the New World there were very few obligations and rules that the British government had set for them and they were on their own to live their life in the way they saw fit. Throughout the years, England realized how much of an asset the New World was to their economy. Due to the American colonies great advantages to their economy and their everyday lives, Great Britain became greedy and decided that only they should be able to exploit from the colonies. This greed prompted the Crown to implement new taxes and regulations in order to obtain a larger profit. After many attempts to work with Great Britain and being dismissed, the colonist declared independence from England. This caused the Revolutionary War and in 1783 the colonists were finally free from Great Britain. The colonists drew from the positive and negative experiences from the Crown's rule when writing their own country's government. The crown's supreme rule over all aspects of the colonists life compelled the colonists to incorporate a limited government into the Constitution. Because of the lack of representation that the colonists possessed during during colonial times, when making the constitution they secured the idea of popular sovereignty as an effort to make sure that all citizens could have an opinion in their ruling. Separation of power was implemented into the Constitution for the purpose of denying one person excessive power. Checks and balances fall under

It was important for the colonists to leave the British rules, so they no longer have to follow the laws and the punishment of the British . Back when the king had control over America meanings he gets to decide what he can do, he had control of the judges. Control of the judges was critical as it dealt with assigning guilt and innocent in the courts. In addition, the king also had enough power to decide the punishment on the when he or she is guilty party. The British government holds the right to make the colonist to pay more taxes. If they don’t, they can punish them according to the law. Also, on document K the King of Britain, king George the III “has created his own set of laws and now feels that he has a right to force us to give food and shelter to British soldiers, stop us from trading with the rest of the world, and has set up too many taxes for us that we have no choice in paying. He also wants to punish people without a fair trial and jury.” King George had enough power to create all kinds of laws that made it unfair for the colonists to lead prosperous lives. Once the colonists were victorious in overthrowing British rule,

The American Revolution was an unequivocal example of the ability of a nation’s people to rise and defeat an inadequate government. When a government fails to protect its inhabitants, citizens will grow uneasy and fight for their rightful cause. The British government’s rule over its colonies was erroneous and harmful to the colonists’ best interests. Best described by John Hancock, the British government’s rule caused many colonists to become despondent with their ruler. “As though they thought it not enough to violate our civil rights, they endeavored to deprive us of the enjoyment of our religious privileges; to vitiate our morals, and thereby render us deserving of destruction.” Evidently, the American Revolution was sparked by a

Neither citizens were given any sort of power in government. The king and Parliament of Britain were running rampant without power. The British Constitution stated that there was to be a House of Commons along with a Parliament (Document #1). This was to allow citizens to have power and a say in government. Sir William Meredith, a British politician, referred to Britain as a republic. Thomas Paine, the author of Common Sense, laughed and stated that the government was not worth of that title (Document #1). Thomas Paine understand the entire extent of the king’s overwhelming power. If the House of Commons (the people) was listened to, then the king’s power would have been lessened. The king wanted to be the most powerful and have the last and most important say in all matters. Because of this, the king made sure his power was taken seriously in all spaces of the realm (Document #1). Thomas Paine states that the reason colonists are not retaliating is because they think they have power because they have the House of Commons (Document #1). But what they don’t realize is that their opinion is not listened to. Thomas Paine wanted to pursue the ideas of important figures that were fighting for independence. He attempted to persuade other Americans that were hesitant to join the dream for freedom. He wanted everyone to follow the new nation and its goal to institute a new superior government that will allow them to have more power in say in the

To further prove this point is Document 4, an illustration of the Boston Massacre made by Paul Revere, a member from the Sons of Liberty. The painting shows several British soldiers firing their muskets to unarmed colonists. Colonists who disliked the British thought the depiction of the massacre was what truly happened, though it can been seen as propaganda as Paul Revere has a bias towards Americans rather than the British. Nevertheless, this pictured resulted an increase in colonists pride and even more hatred to Parliament and King George himself. Another method King George abused his power was the Declaratory Act. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, the Parliament passed the Declaratory act, a law that basically told the colonists that the Parliament would always, “bind us in all cases whatsoever” (Document 6). This document caused the creation of the Second Continental Congress, as colonists were tired of the lack of freedom and rights the British were providing them, and wanted to depart from their ruling as soon as possible. Moreover, the colonists wanted to separate from the British because of their hatred to the king, and believed his ruling methods were completely one-sided. To colonists, they concluded that, “kings are servants, not proprietors of the people” (Document 7). This meant that kings should be more liberal by considering what the people think rather than have laws that only benefit themselves. In general, propaganda and many of the patriots’ speeches made colonists think of the Parliament was an enemy to the

For many years, the American colonists have tried to fight for their independence from Britain. The British needed financial support because of the debt of the French-Indian war and looked towards the colonists. The British taxed in various acts including the Stamp Act and the Townshend Act, which taxed daily goods and all stamps. At the same time, the Boston Massacre and propaganda news was being spread causing even more uproar. All of this uproar, would have never happened if the British were justified for their actions.

The authors felt that the colonies were obligated to become free and independent from the tyrannical King George III because of the many atrocities that were being committed by his government at the time. Jefferson et al believed that the British government had fallen away from their ideal of what a just government should be like. The authors believed that there were certain rights that could never be taken away and that everyone has “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” According to Jefferson et al, whenever a government fails to uphold those rights, the people should replace it with a new one. The Founders felt that the thirteen colonies were not only obligated to break away from the tyranny of British rule, but also

The infringement upon their liberties to which Richard Henry Lee was referring was largely an economic concern for the colonists. Taxes and duties implemented solely by the British government and the Navigation Acts limited trading rights. The colonists believed that they held the right to tax themselves, especially since there were no Americans in Parliament. After this claim England replied that colonists were represented by “virtual representation” as a result of the Magna Carta. The inferred inferiority of the Americans to Britons by this fallacy insulted colonists and further pushed them into unrest, causing a movement that resulted in the Non-Importation Agreements being enforced The Non-Importation Agreements demonstrated the power of the American colonists over the depressed English economy. Once the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts were repealed, there was no turning back for the seditious Americans; they had discovered who truly was dependent on whom.