30 April 2010

Tax Resistance from the Colonists

The colonist combined themselves to force the British to back down and reduce the taxes.

The tax resistance took three forms:

1. Intelectual Protests: these were pacific protest were the colonists wrote panflets, drafted resolutions, wrote speeches and sermons against the raise in taxation.

2. Economic Boycots: a more extreme kind of protest. The colonists abstained to buy any kind of product that was British made. These affected directly the British economy since one of the greatest profits came from the colonist.

3. Violent Intimidation: in this protest the name says it all. The colonist were willing to use violence against the British in order to get the taxes reduced.

No representatives for the taxes



After the seven year war there was a huge dept that had to be paid. To do so, the parliament decided to increase the taxes. Colonist disliked that a lot.

Colonists thought that the stamp act hid conspiracy from the British to destroy American liberty. They also thought it was not fair since there were no representatives of the parliament in the colonies. They had to send representatives across the Atlantic. Since the distances were very long it would take lots of time for the instructions to arrive from a place to another.

America wanted to put their own taxes since they were so important, and wanted the parliament’s approval.

Essentially, "No taxation without representation" really meant, "No taxation by Parliament. No representation in Parliament. Let us run our own affairs."


The Sons of Liberty


The sons of Liberty is a kind of group formed by the patriots that are against the taxes imposed by the British government. Samuel adams formed part of the sons of Liberty he was cousin of John Adams and also he wrote the constitution.
once to rebel themselves they attacked taxer collectors.
They had many ways of torturing some of them was the "Tarring & Feathering" and also they pour hot tea on their throats, because of this there were no people to collect the taxes because they were afraid of the sons of liberty.

27 April 2010

Colonist got upset because of all the taxes imposed

The British dept was doubled as a consequence of the seven year war. They also gained some territory that now they had to protect.

British in England pay for the taxes and the depts. They pay more taxes than the ones in the colonies. For

these reasons the parliament said that colonies had to pay more taxes.

In order to pay for the dues, colonial merchants relied on smuggling.


George Grenville proposed raising money by raising duties already there.

That’s how all the acts rose.


Sugar act: a revenue raising act. The Molasses act had imposed a tax of six pence per gallon of molasses. It had never been effectively collected due to colonial evasion. By reducing the rate by half and increasing measures to enforce the tax, the British hoped that the tax would actually be collected.

Molasses: Thick syrup produced during the refining of sugar.


Quartering act: this act was used by the British in the colonies to make sure that the soldiers had housing and provisions. People were told to let the British soldiers live at their house and provide them food.

Stamp act: was a tax imposed by the British Parliament on the colonies. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London and carrying an embossed tax stamp. These printed

materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used in the colonies. Like previous taxes, the Stamp ta

x had to be paid in British money, not in colonial paper money. The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops.

British Government

It was divided into three branches:
-Executive: corresponding to the monarch or king.
-Legislative: Parlament or Congresss, divided into two:
-House of Lords: An inherited seat of someone of the nobelty.
- House of Commons: Elected by people that were property
owners and those who payed taxes.
-Colonies: - Elected Assembly: elected by colonists.
- Council of Prominent: Appointed for life by governor or king.

The Revolution & it's Causes


The colonist enjoyed the protecton of British during the French & Indian war. Colonists cherish their rights as colonies because they were as well part of Britain. Then they started to protest because british were taxing them without being represented at the parlament. This was called Taxation without representation.

Before the revo! The SEVEN years war


The French and Indian War is the common US. name for the war between great britain and France in north america from 1754 to 1763, which is the same as the seven year war but this name is more common in Canada.

The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Native Americans forces allied with the French.

The war was for the control of the rich Ohio Valley and basically was a war of imperialism. Because of European competition, both France and England wanted to extend their "world empires".

One of the main events that led to this war was the disputes between the British and French for possession of territory. They met once, in Paris in the summer of 1750, but the result was predictable, they ended with no agreement at all.


After this, since nothing was resolved they didn’t find an exit so… war erupted.

At first the British were loosing the war. Then the French destroyed British forts: Lake Antamo and George. British caught up French ships and the Indians deserted because they didn’t get any supplies.

In 1763 there was a treaty called the Treaty of Paris which was a kind of reconciliation between British and USA.