Chapter 5 Lesson 1 Tensions With Britain

Taxes French and Indian War cost a lot of money. Parliament (the British government) decided to tax the colonies to help pay for defending the colonies. Stamp Act of 1765 placed a tax on all printed material, such as newspapers and playing cards.

No Taxation without Representation Colonists were angry about the taxes. The colonists claimed “no taxation without representation” because they were being taxed but had no vote in Parliament and had no say in how the colonies were being governed. Stamp Act

Colonists take Action Important people from all over the colonies held a meeting called the Stamp Act Congress to ask Parliament to repeal or cancel the Stamp Act. Individual colonists started to boycott, or a refusal to buy certain goods, from the British. Colonists also protested and hung effigies of tax collectors.

Tar and Feather The Sons of Liberty organized protests and used violence to scare off the tax collectors. The Stamp Act was repealed because of all the protests.

The Townshend Acts The King wasn’t happy over the colonists’ refusal to pay taxes. He wanted the colonists to understand he had the right to tax them. His finance minister, Charles Townshend, suggested new acts.

And. . . . The Townshend Acts were enforced. This placed tariff or tax on imported goods such as glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea. The Townshend Acts also gave soldiers the right to search colonists homes with warrants known as writs of assistance. These writs could be issued without probable cause to search homes for smuggled goods.

Protests Continued Colonists began to protest/boycott in many ways. -made their yarn to make clothes -by poems, plays, and writings that promoted opposition to the British -Liberty Tea The boycotts were successful and Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts. Tension with Great Britain was never tighter and British warships now harbored in colonial waters . Townshend Acts