Leading Up To American Independence

The Tea Act of 1773 was a tax passed by the British Parliament, which lowered the tax on tea, meaning Parliament could sell their tea cheaper than the American merchants. The Tea Act angered the American colonists because the act gave Parliament a monopoly over tea sales in the colonies. In response to the Tea Act, many colonists dressed up like Indians and dumped tea into the Boston Harbor to protest against the Tea Act. George Hughes stated on December 16, 1773, “ … We then were ordered by our commander to open the hatches and take out all the chests of tea and throw them overboard, and we immediately proceeded to execute his orders, first cutting and splitting the chests with our tomahawks…” (Doc. 1). Hughes go into detail explaining how he and the other colonists executed orders to dump the tea into the Boston Harbor because they

It was the Tea Act. This act stated that only the British East India Company could sell or transport tea. Members of parliament passed this act because many of them had stakes in the company. At the time the British India Company was going bankrupt. This act threatened all colonial businesses by creating a monopoly. In Boston, the colonists devised a plan to resist this act. Several colonists dressed as Indians to deceive the British. These colonists seized the imported tea and dumped it into the harbor. The colonists dubbed this “the tea party.” The British responded to these actions by creating four acts jointly called the Coercive Acts. These acts closed the Boston ports to all trade, increased power of Massachusetts governor, granted trials of royal officials in Massachusetts be tried elsewhere, and allowed the new governor rights to quarter his troops anywhere. These Coercive Acts only angered the colonists more. They have strengthened their non-importation of British goods. They have also begun the forming of local militia companies.

Common Sense was an incendiary document, an attempt to change peoples' minds, influence their opinions, persuade them to want independence and a call to action. In arguing for American independence, Paine criticized the monarchy and argued that people are born into a state of equality. An advocate of natural rights theory, Paine claimed that there are no natural rulers among men (Bill of Rights Institute, 2010). He then proposed a system of representative government for the colonies. Finally, Paine stated his reasons why the time was right for the break from England. The pamphlet was published and widely read (Bill of Rights Institute, 2010). According to Esly Argueta, Congress approved the Declaration of Independence months later, and Common Sense is believed to have greatly influenced support for the cause. The Declaration of Independence was more tranquil and sensible, beginning with an outline of the British and American perception of the purpose of government, then explaining the reasons why the colonies had decided to declare themselves independent and then finishing with a long list of perceived abuses of King George III. Thomas Jefferson uses

Once again, the colonists were angry that they were being taxed on basic needs. This anger only grew through the Boston Massacre incident, where five colonists were killed, and the Boston Tea Party, where enraged colonists dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. The last straw for the colonists seemed to be the passing of the Coercive Acts, otherwise known as the Intolerable Acts. These acts were created to regulate and basically restrict the colonists to make them realize that Parliament was in control. Colonists did not agree with this act, specifically the Quartering Act which required them to house British soldiers, as well as feed and clothe them. These acts and taxations, along with the violent incidents that occurred in Boston, and a lack of colonial representation in the Parliament caused the colonists to

When the year 1776 began, few colonists could have predicted what lay ahead.Most colonists still hoped for a peaceful end to the quarrel with Britain.Both patriots and loyalists were in a minority at the start of 1776. Many colonists were in the middle,with no strong feelings about the dispute with britain. Even within the continental congress,support for independence was limited to about one third of the delegates.Patriots such as John Adams found it hard to win others to the cause of independence.Adams complained that loyalists used the prospect of independence as a way to frighten people into giving up the struggle.In January 1776,a 50 page pamphlet titled common sense was published in pliladelphia.The pamphlet simulated broad support for independence.The author, Thomas Paine, called king george a “royal brute.”Paine ridiculed the very idea of rule by kings.Americans,he said , would be far better off if they

The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773, and is marked as one of the greatest catalysts of the American Revolution. Colonists were enraged by British taxation without proper representation after the French and Indian war. The war had cost the crown dearly and in response, parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765 and the Townsend Revenue Acts in 1767 as an effort to replenish their depleted treasury. Parliament retraced the Stamp Act and the taxes put in place by the Townsend Acts, except for a duty on tea; a "demonstration of Parliament's ability and right to tax the colonies"("The Boston Tea Party"). This caused patriots across the country to refuse to allow ships of tea to land as a protest of Parliament's unfair taxation on the

On December 16, 1773, American colonists disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, and threw chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The Boston Tea Party was an act of protest against Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, that was passed in order to save the British East India Company from bankruptcy. After the Boston Tea Party, Britain passed a series of laws that became known as the Intolerable or Coercive Acts, so that they could punish the Massachusetts colonists for their rebellious behavior. These series of acts consisted of the Boston Port Act, Massachusetts Government Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act, and Quebec Act. With that being said, Massachusetts colonists felt outraged that Great Britain placed restrictions on their self-government

After the costly Seven Years’ War, occurring from 1754 to 1763, between the British Empire and the French and their Indian allies, the British Parliament needed a way to gain revenue to pay for the war because they were in debt. This costed a lot because the British government needed to pay for the necessities of war, such as an army and a navy. To do this, the British Parliament decided to issue taxes and passed many acts. Acts such as the Stamp Act, Tea Act, and Sugar Act had terms to them, as well as having adverse effects on the colonists living during the mid to late eighteenth century, mainly the years 1754 to 1775.

Thomas Paine was responsible for some of the most influential works of the revolution. Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense was a very crucial part to America and its movement of independence from Britain. Paine was effective with his writings by being very plain. He wanted both farmers and officials to understand what he was talking about and be able to comprehend his ideas. Paine wanted to put his ideas out to the people of the American colonies so that they could understand it just by reading and not have to analyze and decipher what he was really trying to get across. He wanted to let the colonist know that there was no more room for talking about a split from English rule but it was time for the colonies to unite and take up arms against their British oppressors.

After the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 the American people had taxes placed on them by the British. The British Parliament claimed that by placing the taxes they were defending the colonies for the Americans. During the twelve years following the war, the British enacted a numerous amount of taxes that allowed them to raise revenue from the American economy. This taxing of the American people hurt the American economy and started to push the American colonists toward an independence movement so they could have a free economy. Over the course of the twelve-year period there were six acts enacted to take money from the American economy.

The French and Indian War, also known as the Seven Year War, was an important event in history, because of the tension the war created between Britain and the American Colonies began to go downhill, ultimately leading up to the American Revolution and the colonies desire to be independent from Britain. The French and Indian War altered the relationship between the American Colonies and Britain positively as well as negatively, due to Britain’s inactiveness in the American Colonies. However, the war caused many political and economic changes in the colonies, such as the British government imposing taxes to eliminate the war debt Britain had gained due to the war they had participated in. Therefore, by imposing the new tariffs and multiple new

Common Sense was a pamphlet published by Paine that argued freedom over the American colonies. Through the 1700s up until 1776, American colonies were set under British rule. In Paine's pamphlet, it states “we have been driven to the necessity of the breaking off all connections with [Britain]” (Paine). Thomas Paine argued that American citizens should obtain a government not dependent of Britain, equal liberties, and freedom of being tier own, instead of subjects of Great Britain. significantly , Paine was a man who spoke freedom and defended freedom within his writings.

During the years leading up to the American Revolutionary war, America was debating whether or not they should stay or separate from Britain. In 1776, Thomas Paine decided to publish his views on the separation with Britain. In his pamphlet "Common Sense" he wrote about how America would do better in the future if we (Americans) separate from the British. Throughout Paine's pamphlet, he uses diction, bias words, and a tone to create an effective argument on why America should gain independence and separate from Britain.

On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense. In the Pamphlet, Paine is supporting independence from Great Britain to the residents in the Thirteen Colonies. Paine’s pamphlet became popular and effective because of its clear and persuasive language. The advantage of the pamphlet was that is discussed why the thirteen colonies needed immediate independence from Great Britain. Paine greatly impacted the colonies because the uneducated people were now aware of the political world. As a result, the arguments and his motives plainly worded in his pamphlet made sense to everybody, including the people there were incapable of reading. Thus, the name Common Sense became the title of Paine’s pamphlet.

The Tea Act of 1773 was a tax on tea but, the British lowered the cost of tea significantly enough that even with the tax, British tea was cheaper than Dutch tea. Also to keep the price down, the British East India Co. got rid of the middleman in the colonies and opened up their own shops. If the colonists bought this tea, they would be accepting the fact that the British could tax without representation. On Dec. 16th 1773 the ships docked at the Boston ports. The Sons of Liberty dressed up as Indians and threw 324 chests of tea into the water. England responded to the Boston Tea Party by the Coercive Act of 1774.