Since we learn our first history lessons, we are instilled with the belief of the lionized legacies of our founding fathers. We are taught that George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and their fellow-founding fathers were heroic men fighting for a noble cause. We are supposed to ignore the fact that these men were little more than rebels filled to the brim with paranoia that used immoral tactics in war, and refused to pay their debts for the protection they had from Britain. People tend to give the colonies the heroic stance of the war, when in reality the cause of the war was a complex one with both sides displaying less than moral principles. The sides of the war were a money-hungry empire that was starving financially and …show more content…
For the English government this success meant that they had eliminated their major rival in settling colonies in the new-world. For thirteen colonies, this was a bittersweet time as the war had given them major profits, and the aftermath gave them their own small debt, which was insignificant compared to England’s amount, but nevertheless, they were relieved to be out of the war and back into a peaceful setting, albeit one that was temporarily. The sense of victory would last very shortly, as Britain elected a new Prime Minister, George Grenville, who was given a colossal amount of debt because of the war. The French and Indian war had cost Britain over 129 million pounds, and 4.5 million pounds per year with interest, (due to inflation this was a massive amount at the time equaling 21 billion and 720 million dollars respectively) in soldiers and weaponry, and due to the fact that this was the first time in nearly eighty years that England wasn’t at war with any other countries, they decided to move on into internal affairs, that included taxing. According to Aronson, “…people in England would not stand for any new taxes-they were already the most heavily taxed people in Europe,”, and since Grenville wouldn’t force any new taxes on people who were already paying so much, he decided …show more content…
The tea trading in American colonies imported an amount of 562, 281 pounds of tea to Britain, but smuggled 900,000 pounds to France and the Netherlands. In the January of 1773, the East India Company, another colony of England located in India, was in their own heavy financial debt with their conquest over Bengal. England decided to attempt to get other areas of their empire to help pull the weight, specifically the American colonies, by making them pay a rebate on the tariff. When news broke out that the colonies were going to be forced to give the company a little more than they were accustomed to, the Sons of Liberty were prepared to meet the threat. (Allison
As the population was growing bigger the colonies seemed to be getting bigger and stronger. The were even big enough to make their own coutry. But yet the still didnt have the power they deserved. They should have had more power over them selves then they actually did have. Then the british decided they wanted to tax the colonist now.
Georgia 's most heralded female participant during the Revolutionary War was Nancy Hart. An earnest patriot, Hart gained reputation during the revolution for her determined efforts to disembarrass the area of Tories, English soldiers, and British sympathizers. Six feet tall, very sinewy, and a proclivity to expeditious anger ; Nancy heart became a spy for the colonial militia who captured, and surprised many loyalists during the American Revolution. Being able to dress up as a man and pull it off, she spied on the British and got information to assail them indiscriminately.
The French and Indian war doubled the crown’s debt so Britain increased the colonies’ taxes. They heavily taxed items such as tea, glass, paper, and sugar. The colonists weren’t happy because
One loud shot was fired, leaving everyone with the question of “who fired first,” The Revolutionary War had begun. The American colonist were unquestionably right in waging war and breaking away from Britain. The colonist no longer wanted to be under Britain's strong mercantilist. Conflict had rose between the mother country and the colonist. The American colonist were justified in waging and breaking away from Britain because of taxes, treatment, and mercantilism.
The American Revolution was caused by violation of Rights which were. Taxation was another code for the American revolution. Also it was caused by the Boston Massacre. Theis are some of the reasons for the american revolution. Violation of rights was the one of the causes of the american revolution.
The American Revolution united the United States. The United States was strongly affected by the Revolution economically, politically, as well as socially. Ideas such as the abolition movement and the fight for women’s rights became events that socially affected the United States. Document J is the perfect example of the fight for women’s rights. The main message of Document J is that the woman speaking, Molly Wallace, was given difficulties due to her sex.
The reason why the American colonies would not pay the taxes, tariffs and other payments to the British Empire was because they felt they should not pay to any country where they have no representation. The British parliament would then remove virtually all taxes initially imposed on the American colonies leaving only the tax on the tea imports, which was done to show that despite the fact that the British would allow Americans not to pay all taxes, they still had the ability to impose them and to assure that everyone pays them. I have to add here that in the summer of 1773, the British would create a rather smart money-generating plan. The British East India Company was given the exclusive right to trade tea to America thus becoming the monopoly and the controller of this commodity to the colonies (Hakim, 140). Yet in order not to make Americans angry, the British would somewhat reduce the duty Americans were paying for the tea to assure that it would be unprofitable for the Americans to start their own tea trading business because the tea was as cheap as never before (Wiegand, 93).
Many of the reasons the American colonies believed they were justified in their rebellion from England lay in trade and taxes. When George III inherited the throne at the end of the Seven Years’ War England’s debt had risen to 145 million pounds and his chief minister believed that the American colonies needed to help shoulder the debt. (Nash, et al., 2007. , p. 134) In attempting to collect these taxes from the colonies to relieve the mounting debt Parliament passed a range of acts, which led to discontent among the colonists as many of them restricted trade, their political maneuverability and left many believing they infringed upon their “right to be taxed only by their own consent.”
Between 1763 and 1775, there were three ‘Imperial Crises’ which occurred between the British and the American colonists. The conflict that was produced during this period arose through an undefined balance of political and economic power between the two parties. In 1763, Britain had just concluded the French and Indian war and was left with an immense and almost crippling debt of around 140 million pounds sterling (“Turning Point In American History”). In Britain’s eyes, the most effective way to reduce this debt was increased taxes. Unfortunately, the people of England were already massively overtaxed, which meant the last option for the British was to tax the American colonists.
The French and Indian War left England with a debt of £130,000,000. To help pay off the debt Britain set up taxes, to collect money, on frequently used products by the colonists. The Molasses Act put a six pence tax on every gallon of molasses. The colonists thought this was a lot of money to pay so they did everything to avoid it. This act was not really enforced and the colonists did not really obey this act.
Soon after the Seven Years’ War, the British and the colonists learned that victory came with a rather expensive price (Kennedy, Cohen, & Bailey, 2010). Great Britain tightened its grip on the colonies in North America, expecting colonists to pay for their financial struggles. In order to make colonists pay for the war, Great Britain reminded the North American colonies who had authority by controlling the colonists to submit to various ordinances ratified by British Parliament. This action only showed that arrogance leads to rebellion socially, economically, and politically. Socially, a lack of communication between Great Britain and the North American colonies was to blame for the Revolutionary War.
After the French and Indian War in 1763, economic elements forced Britain to feel the need to raise funds to pay off the war debt. The policies that were enforced by the new prime minister resulted in America's fight for independence. Some of the taxed imposed upon the colonies included the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act and the Tea Act. All three of these acts forced the Americans to pay a tax on everyday goods. 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).
The Britain felt that it was only natural that the American colony would pay the mother country more for their protection after the Seven Years War with France. England was trying to relieve some tax burdens by increasing the tax on the colonies (xix). “that the main purpose of country’s overseas possessions were to serve the business interest of British merchants and manufacturers and to provide the mother country with raw materials” (xvii). However, such increase in demand, and pressure seemed unfair to the American colony despite the fact that they had been paying less tax compared to an English
By the end of the war, the loyalty that the Colonies had to England was gone. Before the war the Colonist would 've done anything for Britain and would fight till the death for them. This could be seen for the many wars that the Colonist aid England in even though they didn’t why they were fighting. In Document C, George Washington wrote a letter to Robert Orme showing his dying love to be in service for General Braddock and the British empire quoting, “ believing a more favourable opportunity cannot offer, than to serve under a Gentleman of General Braddock’s abilities and experience”. Serving for British could have one of the most honorable thing that the Colonist could have done.
Although the British proved to be triumphant in the war, they lost a lot of money and a lot of soldiers. During the course of the years, Britain wanted economic relief and turned to the colonies. After the War, amplified British taxation on the colonies ruined the relationship that they had with the colonies. The British said the taxation