To What Extent Were The Colonists Justified In Declaring Independence

Within the colonies, economic elements influenced the British to generate taxes on the colonists in order to bring in additional revenue to cover their war debt. Some of these taxes that were put in place include the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Tea Act. All three of these acts forced the Americans to pay a tax on everyday goods. Whereas Americans viewed the new tax on sugar and other imports as a burden and violation of their rights, for the British, the taxes were a modest imposition necessary to pay for the cost of eliminating the French from North America and administering the colonies (Keene, 101-102). As a result of their two different views on the taxes, the Americans and the British were set up to have conflicts. Because of their

On July 4 1776 in Philadelphia the continental congress and the founding fathers sing the final draft of the Declaration of Independence separating them from britain. The colonist were sick of Great britain’s king using unfair power on them. What were the reason the colonist declared their independence from britain? The colonist wanted independence because they wanted liberty, freedom of choice, and peace.

Imagine everything that is said is heard in a British accent. It sounds funny now, but that's how it could have been if the colonists had never declared their independence from England. That isn't what happened though. Grievances were made, events came to pass, and the Declaration of Independence was written. Taking a look at the documents from that time, as well as treatment of other colonies by the British one can see that the colonists were completely justified in declaring their independence from England.

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

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

In 1776, the original thirteen colonies officially declared their independence from Great Britain after the American revolution. This fight for freedom was not an easy one however and was brought on by a chain of events following the French and Indian War in 1754. After fighting in the French and Indian War, Great Britain had greatly over-extended itself, causing a period of severe debt. To cope with this debt, Parliament started trying to generate revenue for the country; one way this was done was though the passing of acts. In 1764, under the order of George Grenville, Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, the Sugar Act and the Currency Act were implemented. These two acts were consumption taxes on sugar and printing currency, respectively. Not too long after these acts were passed, the Stamp Act of 1765 occurred, requiring colonists to pay for an official seal to have their mail sent. After this act was passed, colonists were becoming angry that they were being taxed on nearly everything. This anger led to the

England passed a series tax laws and demanded the colonists pay back the debt. In 1764, the Sugar Act was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, reducing smuggling yet increasing the cost of imported goods in the American colonies and decreasing exportation to non-British markets. The Currency Act of 1764 did not forbid colonies from releasing paper money, yet it did ban paper money from being used to pay of private or public debts. In 1765, the Stamp Act was established in order to raise revenue from the American colonies by taxing stamps which were required on all legal or commercial documents, newspapers, licenses, and diplomas. Great Britain benefited from the passing of the Stamp Act which enriched their economy. The colonists, however, believed that the Act was taxation without representation and the power to tax is the power to destroy. In 1767, a series of laws known as the Townshend Acts placed taxes on tea, glass, paper and other materials. This again benefited Great Britain and upsetted the colonists because of the high payments enforced on these

The American colonies had good reason to suspect some other motives were at play in Britain and with their fears came more taxes. With their ever-growing belief that in some way Britain was devising a plan to seize their liberties, colonists started to boycott British luxury goods so Britain would have to stop the taxes since they would not be making revenue. However, this did not stop Parliament from adding new taxes to the list. In 1767, the Townshend Revenue Acts were imposed and set a new series of taxes on the colonists to offset the costs of administering and protecting the American colonies. Items taxed include imports such as paper, tea, glass, lead and paints. The restrictions Britain

The first of these restrictions occurred after Parliament passed the Proclamation of 1763, in which Parliament prohibited colonial settlement beyond the Appalachian Mountains. In Harold H. Eibling’s map of the lands delegated to the British colonists by the Proclamation of 1763, the British government reserved the majority of North America not controlled by Spain for the Native Americans and the colonists could settle in the remaining areas. (doc 2) Eibling’s purpose in creating this map was to indicate the startlingly low percentage of land that the majority of people living in North America could settle on and the vast quantities of land reserved for a small minority of North American settlers. This purpose is significant because it demonstrates the spatial restrictions imposed on the colonists by Parliament. As a result of this legislation, the colonists began to feel that their freedom to settle in lands which belonged to their government. Furthermore, the colonists had little to no influence in their own government. According to the Albany Plan of Union, the President-General and Grand Council had the “power to make laws... as to them shall appear most equal and just.” (doc 4) The colonists and the British government cooperatively established this plan of union, therefore Britain had an influence in what was being written and what would be

The colonists did not want to be directly taxed so they boycotted and petitioned the tax. An example of this boycott is evident in a colonial newspaper that’s heading had skull and crossbones where the stamp should be placed (Doc 7). Other examples of the new taxes that were imposed on the colonies are: The Sugar Act, Townshend Duties, and the Tea Act. The British also began heavily enforcing the Navigation Laws which basically prevented the colonies from trading with anyone but themselves. The British justified these taxes and policies with the fact that the colonies were costing them money to maintain, therefore they should be taxed to pay for these costs (Doc 6).

The passing of a series of laws regulating trade and tax, most notably the Sugar Act (1764), the Stamp Act (1765), and the Tea Act (1773) increased tension between Great Britain and its colonies in the period 1763-1776. Near the end of the French and Indian War, Great Britain was in desperate need of money to pay for their war debts. The British Parliament believed that they had a right to tax their colonies. Their legislations placed duties on certain imports that had never been taxed before. By the end of 1764, tensions heightened between colonists and imperial officials as they were disagreeing more and more about how the colonies should be taxed and governed. These feelings of dissatisfaction would soon swell into rebellion, leading to the American Revolution.

“The Quartering Act forced colonists to provide British troops with living quarters, food, and supplies” (Doc G). Even though the colonists didn’t want more British troops living in the colonies in the colonies, they still had to use their own money to provide thing the soldiers needed. “The law stated that the colonies could not move westward over the Appalachian Mountains. Those settlers who were already living there were to return to the east” (Doc A). When the British defeated the French in the French and Indian war, they won all of France's land in America. But, the British would not let the colonists live passed the line they called, The Proclamation of 1763, because they thought it would help the colonists by preventing conflicts with the Native Americans, and the British would not have to station more British troops in the colonies. These Acts placed on the colonies, just created more and more tension and anger between the colonies and

British parliament’s main goal regarding the colonies, as stated by John Dickinson in Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania, was to “regulate trade.” Regulating the colonial trade would suppress their economy allowing Great Britain to take control of it. However, after the passage of the Stamp Act, it became clear that parliaments greed had finally shown through. The reason for the Stamp Act was to allow the British to financially benefit from the hard work of American colonists. In the year 1765 it was hard for most colonists to provide food for their families without extra costs. After the Stamp Act was passed, finding the means to get food became almost impossible. Passing Acts that the American Colonists had no vote in is just one of the many wrong-doings that the British did

In order to combat the debt, British parliament began to tax the colonies more heavily, along with introducing several new acts increasing taxes on items. The British passed the Stamp Act, Townshend Acts, Sugar Act, etc, which all caused an uproar within the colonies. The act most impactful was the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act required all newspapers, legal documents, publications, etc to be printed on paper beating special stamps which costed money. Due to this, the Stamp Act was the first tax to apply to everyone since it was bound to the media which was heavily used during the 3rd period in order to receive news.

As the colonies and England grew further apart the resentment of additional taxes and tariffs increased the distance between the two. England came up with the Tea Act, Sugar Act, and Stamp Act, all of which were designed to regain the money England felt was due. All tea imported to the colonies was hit with an additional tax covered by the Tea Act. The Sugar Act allowed British troops to enter, search, and seize any items that they desired without probably cause, this supposedly allowed them to control the flow of illegal and untaxed goods. The Stamp Act was a tax placed on all paper goods including those materials that could possibly be made into paper. These three taxes were collectively known as the Intolerable or Coercive Acts. Probably the tax that hit