Words to War
In the period after the French and Indian War it had become quite clear that the agendas of England and the American colonies had become severely different. It was in this time period that England greatly increased its focus on the colonies and began to, without knowing it, test the loyalty and patience of its colonies. England began to pass tariffs and tax laws that thoroughly enraged the colonists, who thought it wrong for the empire to all of a sudden take interest in them again. It became clear, after a very short period of parliament interfering with the colonies, that colonists angry words were on their way to becoming rebellious actions. It was also clear that not all of the colonists had the same goal in mind when it came to the idea of revolution. In 1765 parliament passed the Stamp Act, which put a tax on many everyday items. The Stamp Act was an internal tax that raised the cost of the goods in a way that made the colonists have to pay for it. Up until that time the colonists had seen many external taxes imposed, they were imposed in the form of tariffs used to regulate trade in the empire, but the merchants were the ones who had to pay for it. However, this new development infuriated the
Ben Franklin, seeing the tension that was beginning to build up within the colonists, stepped up to the plate and explained to Parliament why the colonists disgusted their decisions. It became noticeable that the colonists words, as well as the English's, led both sides down the road to eventual and unavoidable conflict and war. The main argument that rose out of these was that of "Taxation without representation", the colonists firmly believed that the government should have complete and total consent of the governed peoples to pass such any legal acts or laws. Ben explained that it wasn't that the colonists minded taxation; it was that they didn't like internal taxation. Late at night on December 16 a group of colonists, known as the Sons of Liberty, dressed up as Native Americans boarded a cargo ship and dumped its entire load of 342 chests of tea into the Boston harbor. The soldier supposedly hit the boy with his rifle, which then led the boy to call for help. Though they were hired by England to go and fight against the colonists they tended to fight for a little while and then plunder and party. A problem that arose quite often for the Continental Army was the fact that many of the farmers who joined up wanted to stay close to home so they could protect their land and take care of their crops and livestock. You had Patriots who would stop at nothing to see the colonies free from English rule and you had several other groups who varied in between the main two. As good as he tried his words were a complete misrepresentation of what the colonists really felt. However in 1773, due to the passage of the Tea Act, the colonists finally let their words cross into forbidden territory when they went to far and staged the Boston Tea Party. They enraged the colonists and Parliament had no choice but to chose a different means of approaching the situation. This act bewildered as well as enraged Parliament and led to the ruining of any reconciliation between the colonies and the crown. You had the loyalists who still supported England and wanted to see it rule the colonies once again.
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Acceptance Essays
