British Colonies Dbq

The arduous effects of Great Britain’s actions provided Colonists with many reasons to fighting for independence and breaking away from the threatening state. Under British rule, Colonists faced unconstitutional abuses directed at colonial liberty, in the form of harsh taxes causing their justifiable mutiny. One of the earliest orders the British enacted on the colonies, was the Stamp Act. The 1785 Stamp Act, created by the British Parliament, imposed a tax on all printed paper in the colonies.

There are three ways that the colonist protested against the British which are the Boston Massacre, The Stamp Act and the Boston Tea Party. One of the ways the colonist protested against the British is the Boston Massacre. They were mad that the soldiers because they took their jobs. The colonist were also mad at the British for stealing their goods from shops. They were also mad about the taxes. The colonists protested by a mob moving toward the customhouse where the British taxes were collected. The protesters picked up sticks, stones, and clubs. The crowd threw sticks and stones at the soldiers. They knocked down a British soldier. The British redcoats got mad and shot and killed 5 colonists which is why it was called a massacre.

The tension between the colonies and Britain was nothing new. There were several occasions where the colonies became greatly infuriated with the unpleasant treatment they were receiving. Prior to the year 1770, much of the outcry came from the acts passed by the British government, such as the Stamp Act, Quartering Act, and Declaratory Act (“A Timeline of the American Revolution”). Even though the colonists were infuriated, it would take something more to push them over the edge. This something would turn out to be what is now called the Boston Massacre. Although the Boston Massacre won’t go down as the deadliest massacre in American history, it will go down as one of the most pivotal turning points due to the colonists’ depiction of the event.

The Boston Massacre took place on March 5th, 1770. This historic event was caused because of an ongoing conflict between the British soldiers and the people of Boston. According to George Hewes account, “Crowds of artisans and laborers joined the elite in protesting British policies, although their differing points of view revealed the divisions within colonial society.” People were upset over the British passing the Towsend Act, which was a surplus of unpopular taxes. The people of Boston also resented the British troops, who were also looking for jobs.

On March 5 1770, a union of colonists gathered at the Customs House where they protested and harassed soldiers standing outside. These colonists were representing The Sons of Liberty, a secret organization aiming to rebel against the British Parliament. There was an abundance of tension between the colonists and Great Britain after new taxes were passed and British troops arrived in Massachusetts to enforce them. After many hours of chanting and protesting a shot was fired; the atrocious event left five men dead. The question society still ponders over 200 years later is what really happened and whose fault was it? The Boston Massacre initiated because of miscommunication; it was not a massacre but a mutual riot.

There were multiple things that happened before the Boston Massacre but the major one was the taxing of tons of products like lead, paper, and sugar. The colonists strongly disliked the taxes Great Britain was placing on them and were outraged. They thought that it was against there rights and unfair. Because of the taxing, they started protesting British goods. One event that happened just before the massacre was the Townshend Acts; this was when Britain placed a tax on things like glass and paint. From this source it says, “Just like when Britain imposed the Stamp Act, the colonists began to protest and the British brought in soldiers to keep order”(ducksters.com). Besides protesting, things then started getting violent. To try and keep stuff in order, Great Britain decided to send some of their soldiers to the colonies. All of the different taxes Britain placed on different things sparked a rebellion within the colonies. Finally, the colonies realized that they wanted to be free.

When colonists were required to actually start paying their taxes to Britain, they became outraged causing Parliament to repeal the Sugar Act. Additionally, the Stamp Act was the first direct tax on the colonists. By requiring a tax to be paid on nearly every colonial document, colonists could not bear the oppressive Stamp Act. This act was also het with heavy opposition and it would set the volatile scene for Britain’s next laws and acts that would ignite “The Boston Massacre.” The most prominent taxes that were placed on the colonists right before “The Boston Massacre” were the Townshend Duties. This law taxed paper, lead, paint glass and tea. Colonists were furious with Britain’s various taxes, provoking boycotts and high tensions. (Arrison) With opposition increasing in the colonies, the British Parliament felt it was necessary to place British soldiers on watch in the colonies under the Quartering Act. However, the soldiers’ presence was not the only annoyance the colonists would have to suffer. The colonists were responsible for providing for the soldiers’ necessities. This included providing shelter that in most cases was shared between the colonists and the soldiers. Most notably, the soldiers were often unruly, drunk, and pugnacious and treated as low-paid civilian servants. (Gilje) Personally, if I was a colonist forced to surrender my own space for disrespectful

On March 5, 1770, colonists were taunting a British sentry outside the Customs House. This was common for a day in colonized America. However, this day was more meaningful than any other before. The British sentry retaliated causing a considerable mob of colonists to get involved. Then some more British came to aid their comrade. Amid the chaos, the British fired their muskets into the crowd killing five and injuring three. This would later be referred to as the Boston Massacre. A lack of discipline by the British Soldiers prompted the Boston Massacre.

With anger and hatred growing in the colonists, no one expected the following event to occur, the Boston Massacre. In early colonial times, people wanted freedom and they fought for it hard. They put everything on the line, even their lives. When the colonists thought they didn't get what they deserved, they took to the streets to protest, but this time it ended up in a bloody occurrence. Most people believe that the event started with British soldiers firing into the mob, which ended up wounding many and killing five people. This raised anger and eventually led to a famous trial where John Adams took a brave patriotic stance; he defended the soldiers who took 5 of the colonist's lives. Below is a timeline event of what happened during these times, which illustrates the many reasons why the colonies were upset with England.

Some of the ways in which the colonists responded to British actions between 1765 and 1770 were the Stamp Act, the stationing of British troops in Boston, the Townshend Act, and the Tea Act 33. The Stamp Act was put in place so the colonist would pay tax on every legal paper, license, newspaper, and almanac. The stationing of British troops in Boston were because the Boston and Philadelphia both agreed to not give goods or take good from Britain until the Stamp Act was taken away. The Townshend Act was placed a year after the Stamp Act was taken away. The Townshend Act was almost like the Stamp act but it did not place a tax on every little thing, it was the more important things they placed a tax on like glass, lead, paint, and paper also

The economy of the colonies was also impacted. Britain's attempts to raise revenue after the war caused tension among the colonies. With the end of salutary neglect, a stricter enforcement of mercantilism and new policies soon replaced it. Facing the enormous debt of the war, the British realized, “not only [was the] revenue impaired, but the commerce of the colonies diverted from its natural course” (Doc F). In order to resolve this issue, they decided to impose taxes on the colonists through various acts such as the Revenue Act, Sugar Act, and, most notably, the Stamp Act of 1765. The act, passed by British Parliament, imposed a direct tax on the colonists, requiring them to pay for a stamp on all printed materials. These various acts sparked

The British colonist of North America had many reasons of why did they dissolve all ties with England in order to form a new country. In this essay, I will talk about the top 5 reasons of this issue, these reasons are the Stamp Act in 1765, Boston Massacre in 1770, Tea Act in 1973, The Intolerable Acts in 1774, and Lexington and Concord in 1775. All these reasons led the British colonists break away from England.

The Boston Massacre is know as the unjust killing of five American colonists by British soldiers on King street on March 5, 1770. This massacre fueled the rage of the colonist which was already burning in them from eighteen months prior when the British sent four regiments of soldiers to Boston. The four regiments contained over two thousand soldiers who were sent to patrol a town that only contained about one thousand six hundred, and the majority were children. With these statics there was about one red coat or British soldier for every two grown men. Which just cause more tension between the colonist and the soldiers, and some that even led to violence.

The next grievance the colonies faced would be the British forcing taxes upon the colonists, without their consent. During this time, Parliament was full of British people and no colonists. This was a problem because the Colonists then had no vote or say in anything they passed. Through not having any colonists vote, they passed an act that put taxes on all colonial good exported and bought. After it was voted in, the colonists were made and coined the term “No taxation without representation”. This term meant that they can not get taxed if they were not apart of the vote or in Parliament. The colonists agreed and put this into the document of declarations and resolves, and said “every idea of taxation internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in America, without their consent.”

Great Britain saw their relationship with the colonies as a way to make money. The colonies were a source of the raw materials they needed such as sugar, tobacco, and hides. The colonists, in turn, were restricted in their trading so they relied on Britain for all their imported goods and the supplies they needed. England provided great amounts of money and protection to the colonies so they believed they had full authoritative control over the colonists. This can be seen in a quote from the Declaratory Act which states that all “All resolutions, votes, orders, and proceedings in any of the said colonies, whereby the power and authority of the parliament of Great Britain, to make laws and statutes as aforesaid, is denied, or drawn into question,