Revolutionary America: Change and Transformation, Chapter 4

Transcription

1 Revolutionary America: Change and Transformation, Chapter 4

2 Tightening the Reins of Empire Chapter 4-1

3 Taxation without Representation In 1763, Lord Grenville the Prime Minister, discovered while conducting an audit of imperial revenues that the American colonies were paying far less than they should have been according to existing laws. The Sugar Act 1764 reduced tax on Molasses, increased tax on sugar, and increased penalties for smuggling and allowed for them to be tried in Admiralty courts (non-jury) Many colonists saw the act as a violation of their rights as British citizens. The English Bill of Rights entitled them to a trial by jury and guaranteed that taxes would only be raised by their representatives in Parliament (the colonies had none) The British government saw the taxes as a modest imposition necessary to pay for the cost of the French and Indian War and for administering the colonies and felt that the colonies were represented by Parliament the representative body of the British people (although indirectly).

4 The Stamp Act Crisis The central government responded to the colonists resistance to the Sugar Act by imposing another, harsher tax, the Stamp Act (1765). This act required the colonists to purchase special stamps and place them on everything from newspapers to playing cards. The government thought that the fact that people in Britain paid a similar tax and that the colonists would pay it at a lower rate would be accepted they were wrong. The Stamp Act burdened lawyers and printers most some of the most influential colonists. Nine of Thirteen colonies sent delegates to New York to petition the King, issuing The Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonies Angry crowds attacked tax collectors and government officials, in some cases even attacking the homes of British officials. Parliament passed the Declaratory Act (reaffirming Parliaments authority in the Colonies) and repealed the Stamp Act

5 The Great Financier, 1765

6 An Assault on Liberty Britain's government still needed revenue and the colonists became increasingly determined to resist further efforts to tax Americans Parliament passed the Townshend Acts (1767) Established taxes on glass, paint, paper, and tea imported into the colonies. British officials misjudged the reaction to the Stamp Act, believing the tax itself was the issue. They thought customs duties, instead of local taxes would be accepted. Colonists responded by clarifying their views on taxation they expressed their belief that Parliament had no authority to tax the colonists. Americans also responded by beginning a nonimportation movement an organized boycott against the purchase of any imported British goods. The British responded by transferring troops from the frontier to major seaports to enforce the new laws. The British seized John Handcock s ship Liberty for suspected smuggling Bostonians rioted in The British sent more troops into Boston which eventually erupted into the Boston Massacre in 1770

7 The Intolerable Acts and the First Continental Congress Parliament repealed most of the Townshend Acts in 1770, but relations with the colonies remained tense. In 1773, Parliament decided to help the East India Company increase its tea sales to the colonies by passing the Tea Act. The law lowered the price of tea to Americans, kept the tax on tea, and gave the East India Company a monopoly on the tea trade with the colonies. In December 1773, the Bostonians dumped over 340 chests of tea into the harbor in The Boston Tea Party. To punish the colonists, Parliament passed the Coercive Acts known as the Intolerable Acts in the colonies which closed the Port of Boston, annulled Massachusetts charter, allowed for the quartering of troops in private homes. The colonists form the First Continental Congress to better organize the boycotts of British goods and resist the British laws.

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9 Lexington and Concord As resistance to the government s policies increased, the British took a proactive approach to preventing widespread rebellion they sought to confiscate the colonists weapons from colonial arsenals. British troops were dispatched to Concord in April 1775 to seize gunpowder and other military supplies. At Lexington 700 British regulars met colonial militiamen who exchanged fire before the militia dispersed. Lexington marked the first military conflict between Britain and its American colonies. The British next marched on Concord where they found a larger, better organized force that caused them to retreat. The first battles of the Revolutionary War had begun.

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11 Questions: Why does the British government issue new taxes in the 1760s? What arguments did colonists use to oppose the Stamp Act?