British King’s Tyranny over the American Colonies---Is It Real
The declaration of Independence claims that “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States” with a list of grievances of American colonists. Even though the grievances can be proved to be facts, the ruling of the King George III of United Kingdom over the American colony should not be properly called “Tyranny”. “Tyranny” means “arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority.”People blamed King George III for supporting taxation, limiting the colonists and other laws not issued by him, while he made his decisions over
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George became the king of England in 1760, during the French and Indian War, when France and England was fighting for their dominance in North America. Many British troops were sent oversea to fight for the colony. Even though Britain eventually got victory, its economy was the on the edge to collapse. Statistics shows that the British National Debt doubled from £70 million to £140 million. On the other hand, American colonists, even though had participated in the war, had a minor amount debt of £3.5 million. British taxes per capita was 26 shillings a year while Colonial American taxes was 6 pence, fifty-two times less than the British taxes. Before the Independence War American colonists were legitimately citizens of Britain and it is reasonable to made colonists, who did not contribute much to the mother country, share the costs after the war and balance the British wealth. Some in American colonies argued that without the representation in the Parliament, there should not be taxation. However, direct representation was not quite necessary: “each member of Parliament sat ‘not as Representative of his own constituents, but as one of that august Assembly by which the Commons of Great Britain are represented.’’’ The consciousness of self-sufficient independence among colonists led to their resentment of taxation, but not the tyranny of the King George. In short, King George did not abuse his authority by adding tax for appropriate
King George III is described a very respected leader, and loved by the people. In almost all decisions he had the support of not only the people, but also parliament. This is very confusing to me. I
That’s when he got the brilliant idea to start taxing the colonies, all the way from food tax to stamps taxes. To make sure that the colonists were paying up he sent tax collectors to retrieve his money which he desired so much. The Colonist did not like this at all so they decide to start capturing the tax collectors and they would tar and feather them which was a very cruel thing to do, this made King George despise the colonist even more than he already had, so he would send more tax collectors along with troops this time to take
According to the Declaration of Independence, King George III was responsible for the American rebellion against the British Empire. The colonists listed 27 abuses committed by the king in the document. These repeated maltreatments established a tyrannical government in North America, which eventually led to the colonist’s revolt. The first 12 abuses established King George III’s authority as despotic instead of allowing a representative government for the colonists. For example: abuses 8 and 9 explains how King George III would further tighten his control through the judiciary.
Paine furthers his point by stating, “Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to tax) but ‘to bind us in all cases whatsoever,’ and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious, for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.” (Paine 161). Most, if not all, of the colonists were heavily religious people who placed God above all else. Paine points out that what the British King is doing is something that should only be in God’s power, going as far as calling it “impious”.
In the first sentence of the article, “Objections to the Taxation of our American Colonies by the Legislature of Great Britain Briefly Considered,” Jenyns says the right to tax the colonies is “indisputably clear” and later says “The liberty on an Englishman cannot mean that is, an exemption of from taxes imposed by the authority of the Parliament of Great Britain. Likewise, his counterpart Johnson in “Taxation no Tyranny” says “A tax is a payment, exacted by authority, from part of the community, for the benefit of a whole.” These articles are written from a very strong British stand point that clearly states the British Parliament felt as though it was their right to govern over the
Like systems seen before under British rule in America and event eh systems of monarchy observed in Britain and France, power was concentrated. A small portion of the government held power which dictated the lives of everyone, without the voice of everyone, hence “taxation without representation.” Locke states “they must not raise the taxes in the property of the people without the consent of the people given.” The Virginia Declaration replicates this statement “cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses without their consent.” The Declaration of independence models after, making one of its complaints on the British “for imposing taxes on us without our consent.”
Since the settlement of colonial American and the migration of individuals from different ethnicities and backgrounds, the United States of America has been as a melting pot. After the immigration of former Europeans, to colonial Americans, citizens felt displaced with the lack of national identity from 1810 to 1840. Politically, the United States lacked a problem of representation within their government. As former members of Great Britain, Americans were only aware of what they did not want, a monarchy, which led to their dismissal. Voting, Americans could not justify a system that allowed everyone to feel satisfied with.
The American Revolution was one of the most important wars that was fought in the history of the United States. The Patriots and the British had two different views on how things should be run in America. Many people have different opinions on why, where and how the war was started. There were a few key battles that helped to influence the outcome of the war. The outcome of the American Revolutionary War influenced the United States way of Freedom and the way the American people live today.
This is not to say the colonies did not levy taxes. The colonists were angry because the taxes from Britain were administered without their consent. The Declaration of Independence claims “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” The colonists viewed actions such as taxation without representation to be tyrannical. The forced taxation infringed upon the colonist’s right to property.
Declaration of Independence Precis Thomas Jefferson in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), asserts that the colonies should break free from Britain’s tyranny. Jefferson supports his assertion through the use of anaphora, parallel structure, imagery, emotional appeal to patriotism, and logical appeal to the colonist’s basic rights. Jefferson’s purpose is to advocate for the separation of Britain and the colonies in order to escape the British tyranny that King George imposes on the American colonists. Jefferson writes in a measured tone for the British parliament, King George, and for colonists who have been a victim of Britain’s oppression.
The colonists had similarly been taxed by Britain. Nevertheless, those taxes were meant for regulation and not revenue. In such like treatments, the colonists did not
Mid-term Essay Tyranny The word tyranny can have several different meanings. Thomas Jefferson meant to use the term in its essential meaning – adding “absolute” to reinforce the meaning: oppressive power exerted by the government. In today some people may think the word means all people are equal, but according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word tyranny can be defined as, “cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others. It can also be defined as: “a government in which all power belongs to one person: the rule of authority of a tyrant.”
The colonists wanted representation when it came down to being taxed, but the British government would not allow it. The government wanted full control over the people, so they made sets of acts and laws that were placed on taxation. For example, the Stamp Acts of 1765. These acts taxed all papers, pamphlets, newspapers, and cards. The Townshend Acts of 1767 were also a large part of taxation.
The French and Indian War was important to the American Revolution because the debt from the war was the reason that Parliament started taxing the colonists. Also, the French and Indian War made Britain very weak, making the colonists’ actions work a whole lot better. Since France was not happy with the outcome of their war with Britain this was a main reasons for France’s interest in helping the now Americans throughout the Revolutionary War, which was very important to the colonies’ victory. The reason why Britain started to tax the colonists was because of the debt resulting from the French and Indian War. The first tax was the the tax on sugar, which was put on the colonists to help pay off the war debt.
Colonialism has brought bad blood between nations, some were beneficial to the colonizers, and some former colonies are still struggling to rise today and are dubbed “third world countries.” Three hundred years ago, parts of the world today did not exist for themselves; they existed for others. Colonialism has been long fought against and the wars that occurred in the light of freedom paved the way to the world today: interconnected, independent. Albeit European colonialism brought a wider global coverage and led to the discovery of new nations, it also benefited them the most in terms of the superiority they gained by colonizing and being wealthier by creating new economic ports around the world. Racial discrimination and thirst for economic gain derived from the lasting effects of colonialism, but above all this infused the spirit of nationalism and thirst for equality, and the improvement of cultures and men’s and women’s roles in society.