The United States : An Independent World Power

The 18th century can be marked as a period of internal and external struggle for the American colonists. From improper representation, to unfair taxes, such as the Stamp Act, to being overall abused by Britain, the colonists were justifiably angry. From this anger, the slogan “No taxation without representation” was born and quickly began to emerge from the lips of almost every colonist all across America. The demand from colonists everywhere for no taxation without representation weighed heavily as a symbol for democracy, as it revealed the mindset of many – Britain was using the hardworking colonists and took their money without even giving them a say – and laid the foundation for the American revolutionary war, allowing more arguments and

4. What was the Revolutionary movement, at its core, really all about? Was it about the amount of taxation, the right of Parliament to tax, the political corruption of Britain and the virtue of America, the right of a king to govern America, or the colonies’ growing sense of national identity apart from Britain? Was the Revolution truly a radical overturning of government and society—the usual definition of a revolution—or something far more limited or even conservative in its defense of traditional rights?

     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 Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, but only after agreeing to pass the Declaratory Act, which informed the colonies that Britain did in fact have the right to legislate for the

Firstly, the reason for the taxes imposed on the 13 colonies was one that was for the

When America’s founding fathers broke away from England, they weren’t the first colonial Englishmen on the American continent, there were plenty of French, Spanish, Dutch and even Russian colonial outposts established before them. What makes the English colonies along the Eastern seaboard story so important, was the fact that 13 colonies joined together to form what is now known as the United States. Furthermore, this 13 colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia risk their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors to start a new nation free from Great Britain’s rule. In the mist of declaring independence from the most powerful nation on earth, America’s founding fathers created a governmental system that was unfamiliar during their era. America’s founding fathers created a government designed to protect civil liberties and encourage independence, a complex yet young and evolving system.

Between 1754 and 1763, Britain and French were involved in the French and Indian War, which was a territorial dispute between Britain and France. With the help of the British-American colonists, Britain was able to maintain and increase its borders in America, but the funds needed to support the war caused Britain to go into debt (“French and Indian War/Seven Years' War 1754-1763” 1). Not willing to tax its own citizens any further, Britain decided to tax the American colonies more in order to generate revenue. Before the war, American colonists were paying a fraction of the taxes than those living in Britain, and even after the imposed taxes, the average American would pay less taxes than the average Englishman (“British Acts on Colonial America” 1).

When Great Britain controlled the colonies, the Colonists could not live the life they wanted to. They had low paying jobs, were not treated well by the king and his soldiers, and on top of that Britain posted extra taxes on goods. The colonists were already poor from low pay jobs, so taxes just added

Due to the British tightening their control over the colonies to pay off the huge debt after the French and Indian War, patriots rebelled and started a revolution that would lead to great things. These were colonists who believed that the right to govern themselves belonged to the colonies. Britain had recently gotten into a war in the Americas against France and the Native Americans. Although they won and expanded their American empire, the debt they were in was just about up to their necks. To help solve this problem, they took more control over the colonies. Before the Proclamation of 1763, Britain did not pay much attention to the colonies. However Prime Minister George Grenville needed help to pay off the debt, and the British people were already paying taxes on several of their

America, unlike Great Britain, had the colonists pay light taxes to the colonial government, allowing for whatever needed to be done, to be done, by taxing themselves. Britain’s taxes were for regulation, and not for profit, unlike America up until 1764 when the British Parliament changed all policies and enacted laws to make money from the colonists. This new imperial system consisted of three goals: the ability to provide for colony security, the reassertion of authority over the colonies, and the shift of financial burden of war debt and

After 100 years of British colonization in the new world, a new sense of loyalty was developing. With merchants making riches in thirteen English colonies, wealth increased in the new world. Without taxation, salutary neglect fostered independence and self-sufficiency. However, these colonies were supposed to make the British Crown wealthy. Suddenly, the British entered a war with the French and money was drastically needed. In order to pay off the debts, the British Crown turned towards their colonies for financial support. With increased and forced taxation, these colonists refused to pay taxes. As the British continued to demand taxes, these colonists continued to refuse to pay. Suddenly, the colonists had to determine or not to remain

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.

When the colonies were initially created, English ruled over them. The sole purpose of the colonies from the English perspective was to improve England, which was considered “the motherland”. The English fought in the Seven Years War and defeated the French, but they had to find a way to pay off their war debt. The colonies were becoming more profitable, and the English noticed this. Consequently, the English began to put taxes on the colonies without the colonies having any representation. The colonists opposed this, but they still debated on whether to fight for independence or to continue with British guidance.

The how and why of our beloved republic, are so much better known and understood, than the who. The United States of America was born in 1776, but it was conceived 169 years before that. The earliest settlers had watered the new world with sweat, and they had built substantial holdings for themselves and their families. When the time came, however, to separate them from the tyranny an ocean away; at the best it meant starting all over again after the ravages of war. This paper gave me a whole new outlook on what the Founding Fathers of our great nation endured and sacrificed in order to bring to us the United States as we know it today. All other of the world’s revolutions were initiated by men who had nothing to lose. Our ancestors had everything

Initially, the war modified how Britain taxed and enforced laws against its colonies. This came about because after the war, England found itself in enormous debt, and began to search for a way to start paying it back and restore the economy. One way to earn money, as explained by the British treasury, was to fix the situation in the colonies, where the money being spent to collect taxes was greater than the actual income. The new round of taxes began with the Sugar Act, Britain’s attempt to pay for the upkeep of the British army in America. The colonies response to this, especially in Boston, was to boycott the tax. They reacted as such because they argued that the tax wasn’t justified due to their belief that they didn’t have representation in parliament, however, Britain countered the argument with the idea of “virtual representation” and

The British had control of the thirteen colonies for many years prior to the French and Indian War. After the war Britain took sole possession of the thirteen colonies. The French and Indian War had put Britain in debt so they began taxing the colonists. Britain also began to enforce laws made by the King of England. This led to the phrase "no taxation without representation". The colonists had no other choices but to try and settle their differences with Britain or attempt to break away.