The Road to Revolution

The Price of Taxation The French and Indian War cost a lot of money. Britain was £140 million in debt. Parliament (the British government) decided to tax to colonies to help pay for it. The first tax was the Sugar Act of 1764. It placed a tax on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies. Stamp Act of 1765 placed a tax on all printed material, such as newspapers and playing cards. Though not a tax, the Quartering Act required the colonies to pay for supplies for British soldiers, as well as housing for British troops.

‘No Taxation without Representation’ 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. The colonists started a boycott, or a refusal to buy certain goods, from the British. They adopted nonimportation agreements, where the colonists would refuse to accept goods brought into harbor. Without payment for the goods, the British revenue stream took a hit.

Protest Leaders Samuel Adams led the protests in Boston against the taxes. He began a secret society called the Sons of Liberty. The Sons of Liberty used violence to scare off the tax collectors. The Stamp Act was repealed (or ended) because of all the protests.

The Townshend Acts Charley Townsend persuaded Parliament to pass the Townshend Acts in 1767. One of these was a small duty on glass, paper, paint and tea. It was designed to pay the salaries of royal governors and judges in America. Once again, colonists boycotted the acts, and began smuggling in tea.

The Boston Massacre On March 5th, 1770, a group of 60 townspeople began taunting the British soldiers. They started throwing things, probably snow balls and rocks. Someone yelled “fire” and the Red Coats (what the British soldiers were called) shot. Eleven colonists were killed/wounded. These were the first Americans killed in the war for independence. Sam Adams started calling the incident the Boston Massacre. He used the incident to get more people angry at the British. What do we call this exaggeration technique?

Taxing the Tea Parliament began taxing tea. Tea was the most important beverage in the colonies. The colonists decided to boycott all British tea. When the British East India Company faced bankruptcy, the British government allowed them a monopoly on tea in the colonies. Though the tea would’ve been cheaper, the colonists saw it as a trick by the British government to pay the tax. On December 16, 1773, a group of colonists dressed up like Mohawk Indians and boarded three British ships full of tea and dumped it into the harbor. This event became known as the Boston Tea Party.

The Intolerable Acts In 1774, Parliament passed a series of laws meant to punish the colonists for the Boston Tea Party. Collectively, these were known as the Intolerable Acts. The port of Boston was closed until the tea was paid for. Another Quartering Act was put into place which forced colonists to quarter, or house and supply British soldiers, in private homes. This resulted in more cities having ‘tea parties’.