The Boston Tea Party was the final act of focused rage against a Parliamentary law. The Americans were well organized to resist new financial demands placed upon them by the British Parliament. In 1765 the secret organization known as the Sons of Liberty was created to boycott British products. By early 1773 the assemblies of Massachusetts and Virginia had created the Committees of Correspondence, which were designed to communicate within the colonies any threats to American liberties. The Boston Tea Party was an important event of civil disobedience against the Royal Company that fired up Americans about the problem of the sugar act, the tea act and helped trigger the revolutionary war.
Socially they developed an identity by uniting because of hardships of British taxation, and regulation. Constitutionally they developed identity through coming together by drawing out freedoms, in which Britain did not allow, creating a sense of being their own nation. Thus, throughout the revolution colonists created a sense of identity as Americans through conventions like the Albany Conference, unity because of British oppression, and creating freedoms which physically set them apart from Britain. Politically the colonies developed identity by unifying through conferences like the Albany conference. The Albany conference of 1754 which adopted Ben Franklin’s plan of union, which proposed that Indian affairs, Western settlement, and other items of mutual interest be placed under the authority of one general government.
A comparison of the Virginia Resolutions on the Stamp Act (1765) and the Association of the New York Sons of Liberty (1773) Darrell Hareford 9/23/2012 An examination of two documents from Eric Foner’s Voices of Freedom reader – Vol I and their relevance to the historical point in time in American History. The hearts of men were lifted in anger, reflecting the stirrings of rebellion at yet another taxation scheme imposed upon the British colonies of North America by Great Britain. Taxation was stirring sharp conflict between Great Britain and the British colonists of North America in the mid-18th century. The British colonists of North America lived under a quasi-selfgovernment created in the early 1600’s. Powerful men in the colonies established their own devices and alliances for the raising and spending of money.
In order to avoid fight between the American colonists and Native Americans, Great Britain passed the Proclamation Act of 1763, creating a boundary beyond which colonists could not settle. In 1764 Great Britain passed the Sugar Act of 1764. The Sugar Act strictly enforced the tax on molasses importation, extended the tax to cover “sugar, certain wines, coffee, pimiento, cambric and printed calico”, and increased regulations on lumber and iron exportation. The Act almost caused the colonies rum industry to decline and significantly harmed the colonies economy by reducing their markets and the amount of currency. The Stamp Act of 1765 was another attempt to control the colonies and raise revenue, this time solely to support British troops in the colonies.
NTRODUCTION During the last half of the 18th century, members of the 13 colonies(with the exception of the Loyalists and Tories) of North America came together to revolt against the mother country and eventually combining to become the United States of America. BACKGROUND The document of the Declaration of Independence was the ultimate step in an evolutionary process during which many colonists gradually stopped seeing themselves as British subjects and began to embrace the concept of self rule. After a series of victories by British forces, the Seven Years War ended the French military threat to British North American colonies. Large numbers of settlers in the Atlantic coastal colonies saw the removal of France as enabling
They revolted by not allowing British soldiers to come into their homes. This was another factor that led to America creating a centralized government, because the American colonists wanted to create their own laws and policies. The Tea Act of 1773 greatly intensified colonial resistance to the British. The Tea Act was the cause of The Boston Tea Party. The British put a direct tax on tea.
Under the control of England, the colonists experienced their fair share of ups and downs from the year 1750 until 1776. Oppression from the British was an important issue that the colonists felt needed to be addressed with action. By the eve of the Revolution, the colonists had established their own identity which led to them uniting in opposition to the British. It was important that the colonists established an identity for themselves because it set them apart from the controlling Britons. In his notes for speech in parliament on February 3, 1766, Edmund Burke elaborated on how the colonies were too different from the country of Great Britain and that they could not blend in with the mass.
Growing Sense of Independence through Salutary Neglect The irony of Britain’s policy of Salutary Neglect was that although the goal was to maintain control of an improved America, it resulted in an opposing effect. Instead, when the British turned their back on America, it became the catalyst for the independence of the colonies. The purpose for this policy was to allow the American colonies to grow stronger on their own. The British’ inattention resulted in colonies gaining a strong sense of independence demonstrated by their implementation of Legislative Assemblies, commerce, and religion during this period of Salutary Neglect. During this phase, the colonies began developing their own government.
PROTEST WIDENS IN THE LOWER SOUTH • Stamp Act resistance spawned several riots and revolts against the British, who were described as wanting to take away the colonists’ freedom. • North Carolina Regulator Movement began in 1766, targeting the colonial elites as well as corrupt local officials. They even refused to pay taxes. • South Carolina Regulator Movement sought to bring order to the backcountry, and reduce crime. • Eventually in 1769 a court system was established for the province.
PROPERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPINESS Ever since the 1600’s British settlers have come across the ocean to the “new World” and have set up colonies. It is now 1775 a new king is on the throne, His Majesty King George the VI. The distance of the colonies from Great Britain has created an independence that was hard to overcome. Those who colonized the new world usually had new opportunities and more freedom. Over the last half of the 18th century the king has imposed new acts of parliament that would apply to the colonies such as the proclamation of 1763, which prohibited settlements, passed the Appalachian Mountains.