Were The American Colonists Justified Dbq Essay

The American Colonists were justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain because the Britain had unfair laws against the colonists. Throughout the time the Colonists were under British rule, the Colonists were treated horribly and in a cruel manner. One of the laws the British created that was unfair to the Colonists was the Tea Act. The Tea Act was created to force Colonists to pay taxes when they bought tea. A piece of evidence that proves that Britain had unfair laws against the colonists is in document 2. In document 2, John Dickinson talks about how the British parliament had no intentions what so ever of forcing the colonists to work until the

The colonists were being heavily taxed, and treated very unfairly. With acts such as the

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

Parliament imposed the Townshend Act, which raised taxes on imported goods. According to John Dickinson, Parliament was justified in imposing the Stamp Act on the colonies. “Never did the British parliament, [until the passage of the Stamp Act] think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising a revenue” (Doc2).

War never truly has one person or side at fault; each front brings something to the table. Nevertheless, the American Revolution is a conflict that raises major debate over who to blame. The American colonies were at a standstill. How could a new nation grow with such a controlling mother country always on its back? As a result of the French Indian War, the British had to pay for their colonies war debts. For England to pay for these debts, Parliament imposed multiple harsh taxes and acts on colonists. Millions of British pounds used to fund the war were expected to be returned to Great Britain. Why does a British colony have to pay England for a war that the British were fighting in the first place? After some consideration, the

The first reason that the colonists were justified in breaking away from the British was because the British Parliament and soldiers made unjust decisions for their own personal gain and abused their powers over the colonists. As stated in Document 2 of the packet “Document-Based Questions--Path to Revolution”, the British parliament taxed the colonists for the sole purpose of levying money upon them (Stamp Act). The taxes was also mainly used to pay for the French-Indian War, which seems like it justifies the British taxing, except for the fact that it was taxes without representation, which can be labeled as tyranny. This supports my argument, as the American colonists didn’t like having to pay for the war, and let Britain take money away from them for profit. Another piece of evidence that supports my claim would be that on Document 10 of the packet it was stated that, “We have understood it be

     There was another by-product of the war for Britain; her national debt more than doubled during the course of the conflict. At a time when Britain was starting to bend beneath the weight of the debt, it was only a matter of time before parliament looked to the colonies to help shoulder some of the price incurred in their defense. The Sugar and Stamp Acts were the first of many measures to tax the colonists. The Townshend Duties and the Tea Act would follow. While these measures outraged the colonists because of their monetary implications, it was the constitutional implications brought on by the Acts that were most offensive to the colonists. Until after the Seven Years War, the colonists had been left to essentially tax themselves. Now the colonists had a rallying cry, as they deplored the idea of no taxation without representation. In 1765 the Stamp Act Congress was held, and in a bid of utter defiance the representatives agreed that the colonial legislative assemblies alone had the right to tax the colonies. Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

“Give me liberty or give me death!” Patrick Henry. I believe that the Colonists were justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain and the King. King George was making the Colonists pay very unfair taxes, he was trying to rule over them from all the way over in England, and he wouldn’t take the colonies legislators opinions into consideration. While some people may say that the Colonists were just unappreciative, that is not correct. They continued to stay with the King until the King turned on them and made them do things they didn’t want to do and shouldn’t have to do.

James Otis mentions “No part of His Majesty’s dominions can be taxed without their consent… this would seem to [contradict] the theory of the constitution” which explains that the governed must have a say in what they will be taxed on and if not, the British Parliament is par taking in illegal actions. With no representation in Parliament, American colonists who felt the taxes to be a little excessive had no other option other than civil disobedience to rebel. It is safe to to say that the colonists had every right to rebel against the British.

The first reason for the colonists’ rebelling against Britain is because of the unfair taxes the British set out. In document two John Dickinson writes, “The parliament unquestionably possesses a legal authority to regulate the trade of Great Britain, and all her colonies…[The Townshend Acts claim the authority] to impose duties on these colonies, not for the regulation of trade… but for the single purpose of levying money upon us.” Dickinson is saying that the Stamp Act and the Townshend

From the Sugar Act to the Townshend Acts, colonists were getting zero say in Parliament despite their civil efforts. There was only one choice left- a choice that would set them on the road to independence. The colonists separated from Britain with good reason. They were getting no say in Parliament, the British had been killing many without reason in the Boston Massacre, and the distance between America and Britain is so large, that there was no sense in one controlling the other. The colonists were undoubtedly justified in becoming Patriots and seeking independence from Britain.

In reaction to all these newly implemented taxes, the colonists raised the issue of "taxation without representation." That would be the major slogan that went against the British Parliament. The colonists felt they shouldn't be taxed if there are no representatives in Parliament to stand up for them. In the eyes of most colonists, the Parliament and the King were greedy and corrupt who sought to take advantage of the colonies. The hate that was incited upon the British would only pile up on the list of things that caused the revolution. The problem steadily became a large-scale political issue that rose from a small discussion within the streets to being publicized in newspapers and pamphlets such as Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Even though the Stamp Act was repealed by the Parliament, it had already created great protest and conscious thought among the colonists. Revolution was inevitable as the group's rhetoric turned to violence, creating the "incendiary atmosphere" that would start the war.

Colonists were justified in separating from Great Britain due to the heavy taxes inflicted upon them by a foreign embassy. First, the Stamp Act required colonists to pay a fee for every piece of printed paper that they used. In Document 10, John Adams provides insight on the potential of the act to be burdensome to many colonists due to the fact that it requires a tax on all imported goods made out of paper. The colonists were justified in separating from Britain due to their decision on passing the Stamp Act which added heavy taxes on the paper goods, despite having inadequate colonial representation in parliament. Secondly, the townshend acts taxed colonists for their imported goods such as glass, paint, paper, oil, lead and tea. According to Document 16, the Townshend acts were, by definition, a series of taxes set on paper, paint, lead, glass and tea, and it gave Britain the ability to trial accused smugglers in the court without juries. The taxes upsets the colonists because they were forced to spend an increased amount on the most popular drink--Tea. Colonists also felt a trial without juries correlates to a biased means of impeaching Americans in favor of Great Britain. Lastly, colonists had many grievances in regards to the Quartering Act. In Document 9, King George declares the deployment of British soldiers to be necessary in order to stop the tarring

To begin with, Tensions rose when Britain enforced taxes to the colonies without representation. Parliament first enacted the stamp act in order to raise revenue. The stamp act imposed taxes on numerous goods creating turmoil. The Colonists believed that parliament only had power to charge taxes on trade, not for the sole reason of paying debt, in document 2. This is important because it was the first act of many that imposed taxes on various paper items. In turn, the colonies consolidated together to form the Sons of Liberty resistance group to fight for their rights. Many protest were formed and turmoil arose between Britain and the colonies. Also, The colonies were unfairly taxed and were not given their own “consent.” In document 10, the people believed that given uncircumstantial taxes was a violation to their rights. Also, when the colonies disagreed with their orders, they were brought to court and

The British were taxing the colonist and giving them no representation in the British Parliament. The colonist did not think this was fair because they were getting no say in the way they were being ruled. The reason the British were taxing the colonist was because of their debt from the French and Indian War, which was not the colonists responsibility to pay for. According to Patrick Henry in his speech to the House Of Burgesses in 1765, the colonist could only be taxed by their own representatives. Henry also stated, “So how can the British Parliament place this tax on us? It is simple; they cannot! The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). The Stamp Act was one of the acts the British