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How England Instigated the American Revolution |
How Nationalism In The Balkans Contributed To The Outbreak Of WW1 |
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Soon after England established the colonies in the New World, it began a
period of salutary neglect. The English rarely intervened with colonial
business. It was during this time that the colonies began gradually to think
and act independently of England. This scared England, and initiated a period
in which they became more involved in the colony's growth. Parliament tried o
establish power in the New World by issuing a series of laws. The passage of
these laws undermined the Colonist's loyalty to Britain and stirred the
Americans to fight for their freedom.
Before 1763, the only British laws that truly affected the colonists were the
Navigation Acts, which monitored the colony's trade so that it traded solely
with England. As this law was not rigidly enforced, the colonists accepted it
with little fuss. The colonies also accepted England's right to monitor trade.
The change of course in 1767 was what really riled the colonists. England began
to slowly tighten its imperial grip to avoid a large reaction from the
colonists. Additional problems began when England passed the Writs of
Assistance, which gave British officials the right to seize illegal goods, and
to examine any building or ship without proof of cause (The American
Revolution, pg.62). This was a powerful weapon against smuggling, but most
importantly to the Colonists; it allowed the invasion of their privacy. This
was crossing the line and violating the rights of an English man. During the
Seven Years War, the British sent over ten thousand troops to America to deal
with property problems at the frontier. This cost a large amount of money, and
Britain did not want to see the sum come out of its own pocket. To pay for some
of the expense, Britain began to pass acts to tax the colonists and lighten the
severe debt the empire was in.
The Sugar Act of 1764 was an example of a tax that had many affects on the
Colonial lifestyle. The act stated that any foreign exportation of lumber or
skin had to first land in Britain. It also raised the price of imported sugar
from the Indies (The American Revolution, pg.74). This act was accompanied by a
strict enforcing of the former Navigation Acts due to the sudden increase of
smuggling. This enhanced the tension between England and the New World.
"The law also changed trials for offenders; they were held away from the
place of the crime, and the judge was awarded 5% of confiscated goods,
increasing the number of guilty sentences handed down (The American Revolution:
War for Independence, pg. 96)." In reality, the laws were so regulated it
was hard not to make an error. The Quartering Act in 1765 was a burden to all
the colonists; it required certain colonies to provide food and housing to the
British Troops on demand (The American Revolution, pg.102). This was viewed by
many as an indirect tax, though an inexpensive one.
While the previously passed laws caused some protest, the one that brought out
the most public opposition was the Stamp Act in 1765. The Sugar Act had failed
to produce enough money, and Parliament was forced to pass the Stamp Act. The
Act stated that all Americans must used specially stamped paper for printing
bills, legal documents, even playing cards (The American Revolution: War for
Independence, pg. 103). England saw these taxes as reasonable; after all, the
Americans were merely paying for the soldiers in their colonies, a measure for
their safety. As Americans did not deem the soldier's presence as necessary in
the New World, obviously they despised the tax. And worst of all, these taxes
were decreed without any word from an American, as there was no representative
for the New World in the British parliament. Americans believed it was
understandable for the British to legislate when the subject involved the
Empire as a whole, such as trade, but only Colonists could tax colonists, not
the British government, 3,000 miles away and deaf to the American views. The
Prime Minister claimed that the Colonists were "virtually
represented" in parliament: each member stood for the empire as a whole (The
Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, pg.57). The Colonists disagreed
because they believed that Parliament did not care about or understand them and
therefore did not have the American people's best interest at heart. The acts
imposed by England to try to control and monitor America only succeeded in
furthering its independence. The Colonists were left with two options as a
result of the Stamp Act, neither of which were very appealing; either confront
parliament, and risk a fight with the much larger and more powerful mother land
of England, or succumb to the act without complaining and possibly give up the
right to self govern for good.
The Colonists founded many groups, among them, the Sons and Daughters of
Liberty, whose soul purpose was to intimidate the officials, who mandated the
Stamp Act, into quitting (The American Revolution, pg.97). They rightfully
assumed that if the officials who issued the act resigned the act would be
terminated. In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress met and decided that Parliament can
not tax the colonists or deny their right to a trial by jury (The American
Revolution, pg.97). This Congress was the first step towards colonial unity.
The congress, led by the elite upper class, was careful to control the
rebellion; thereby, not having to send costly troops to maintain peace.
Merchants of the colonies began to boycott British goods, and as they
constituted 45% of Britain's consumer population, this made a large impact in
England (The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, pg.73). The
business community appealed to parliament to repeal the stamp act or have all
the merchants go bankrupt. In March of 1766, the Stamp Act was revoked, marking
the first victory in the long journey to America's independence. But, it was a
small one and this was not to be the end of the struggle. In its place, the
Declaratory Act was placed. It was a subtly worded act, which confirmed
Parliament's right to legislate over the colonies always and in all cases (A
History of the American Revolution, pg.154). The Americans interpreted this in
a positive way and did not rebel, viewing it as unimportant. "The British
Parliament had meant it literally: the Colonists had no more excuses and had to
obey all laws passed by Parliament, including taxes (A History of the American
Revolution, pg.154)" The colonists wanted to forget about all the troubles
from the past, and were grateful for the repeal of the Stamp Act. They believed
their rebellion had made Britain realize their vitality to the empire and all
the anti-act groups disbanded. As time wore on the colonists gradually began to
realize that the purpose of the acts were to undermine their right to
self-govern.
In 1766, a new Prime Minister, William Pitt, was appointed who opposed taxing
the colonies. His health was poor, and his duties were soon taken over by
former treasurer Charles Townshend. He had been a former follower of Pitt, but
when he controlled the power, he began to urge parliament to tax the colonies.
Protest to the Quartering Act caused much hostility in parliament, who believed
the repeal of the Stamp Act was gift enough to the Americans. Townshend was so
angry at the protest that he passed the Suspending act, which nullified all
acts from New York after October 1st if they refuse to pay their expenses for
the soldiers (A History of the American Revolution, pg.156). The building
tension would soon undermine the colony's loyalty to England. At this point,
one of the most important weapons America held in the government was that it
paid the salaries. Townshend proposed a series of acts be passed, known as the
Townshend Duties. There was a light tax on glass, paint, paper and tea and the
revenue collected would pay the salary of the governors in the colonies. The
purpose of this was to switch the control of the Colonial Government into the
hands of England. The colonists abhorred the act, as it was merely another
effort to control them. The fact still remained they were being taxed without
representation. Despite their objections, there was little objection at the
time, for the tax was light and tea was easily smuggled.
In 1768, to control the outbreak against order, two regiments of troops were
landed in Boston. In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place, in which six
Colonists were killed after provoking a group of soldiers. This was arguably
the first blood spilled in the name of the American Revolution. More and more
British Soldiers were sent to America to enforce the Navigation act, to the
continued irritation of the Colonists. Committees were established to promote
opposition to England and its Intolerable Acts. Letters were written to rile
the colonies into shunning the acts, and Great Britain, seeing it as the
beginnings of a rebellion, ordered all colonies to disown the letters (The
American Revolution: War for Independence, pg. 128). When the colonies refused,
England insisted the Royal Governors disband the legislatures, which they did.
This spurred the Colonies to band together against this threat to
self-government and taxation without representation. The colonies also refused
to import British goods, urging the British merchants to place pressure on
parliament to repeal the Townshend Duties.
In 1770, a new Prime Minister, Lord North, was elected and he disbanded the
Townshend Duties but kept the tax on tea (The American Revolution, pg.163). In
1770 there was a drastic change in the arguments made by the colonists.
"The cry of the colonists no longer sounded no taxation without
representation, but no legislation without representation (The American
Revolution, pg163)". This change was a result of some 1,700 troops being
sent into Boston. Mere military presence provoked the people. By 1773, almost
all British loyalty had dwindled dangerously low in the Colonies. The Americans
were completely ignoring the tea tax, merely smuggling in foreign tea. Despite
the cancellation of many acts, in reality no constitutional problems had been
resolved. The Colonies had been collecting muskets and various weapons and
storing them in Concord, Massachusetts, awaiting the inevitable war between
themselves and Britain. A group, consisting of 130 minutemen, were organized as
a defensive force against an advancing 800 British soldiers. Eight Americans
were killed and several wounded. This is known as the Battle of Lexington, the
first battle in an eight-year war between the colonist and Britain (American:
Pathways to the Present, pg.98).
In January of 1776, Thomas Payne published Common Sense, a letter that stated
that kingship is dangerous to liberty and it is undemocratic. It basically
stated that all Americans should disown the king. At this point the Americans
were ready for a full-fledged revolution.
The road to revolution was irreversible when the Stamp Act was passed. It was
at this point that the different views of the Americans and the British really
began to show through. When this happened, the Americans had already developed
such a sense of independence that nothing the British could have done could
have destroyed it. Once this self-reliance was obtained there was nothing the
British could do to repress it. The road to the American Revolution was long
and difficult. Britain insisted on passing act after act to tax the colonies
and ruin their devotion to the crown. Through all of the trouble the acts caused,
it pushed the colonies into merging with each other. Once together as a whole,
the colonies were able to develop their own individuality and defeat the
British army for their independence.