Free Sample Essays > United States History
American War of Independence
prosecuted without juries. Revenues from the act were intended to pay part of the cost of maintaining a permanent force of British troops to enforce the peace between the colonists and the Native Americans of the western frontiers. The Stamp Act provoked almost undisputed opposition among the colonists, who regarded it as a violation of their rights. From their beginnings, the colonies had been in charge of their own internal affairs. Britain had only been responsible for external matters such as declaring war and peace. In a colonist opinion the Stamp Act violated the right not to be taxed without representation; it impaired their independence and it appeared to be one step in a plot to deprive them of their liberty.
A storm of protest arose against the Stamp Act. In the months before November 1765, when the act was to go into effect, riots broke out petitions were sent to Parliament requesting its cancellation. To add strength to the protest, American merchants banded together pledging not to buy British goods. This boycott was so effective that trade between Britain and America came to a standstill. In March 1766 the British Parliament revoked the Stamp Act due to the demands of economically depressed British merchants.
Many American merchants were also feeling the affects of the trade boycott and this was the start of the division among Americans. This division would later spark off an American Civil War with the three groups being:
I The American Royalists – the portion or Americans who supported British Rule in America and would remain loyal to the British Crown, Parliament and their rulings.
II The American Patriots – the portion of Americans who stood true to their country throughout the war. They supported American independence and the right to a free state.
III Those who chose to ignore the events happening in America. They believed in the principle that “ignorance is bliss”.
Although the act of taxing imports to America was cancelled by Parliament, the duty on tea remained to affirm the principle of the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. This soon became a political issue. On December 16, 1773 a group of Boston citizens protested against the British tax on tea imported. The citizens would not permit the unloading of three British ships that arrived in Boston in November 1773 with 342 chests of tea. The Royal Governor of Massachusetts to the British throne, Thomas Hutchinson, however, would not let the ships return to England until the tax had been paid. On the evening of December 16, the group (many of them disguised as Native Americans) led by the American patriot Samuel Adams boarded the vessels and emptied the tea into Boston Harbor. This was to become known as the Boston Tea Party. When the Government of Boston refused to pay for the tea, the Britain closed the port.
British actions continued to bluntly provoke American protest. On June 21, 1768 customs [next page]