Mercantilism was a mere seed planted in the revolution. It meant that the functions of the colonies were: to produce raw materials for the use of the mother country; to consume English products; and to foster English shipping. The purpose of the laws of trade and navigation was to ensure that the colonies followed these rules. The Americans would soon have more interest in the prosperity of there own state, which would provide lots of conflict.
In 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed, which concluded the Seven Years war. At this time the colonies were thriving and had the highest standard of living in the world. During the war they had been freed from supervision of the English because the English had to deal with constant fear of the French overtaking them. Meanwhile, the colonies had formed a federal system and every province had established a government who looked after the provinces internal affairs. Presidents were also established. After the war with France and the Indians Britain was heavily in national dept and domestic taxation had risen. They also sought to tighten its control over the colonies because they feared the colonies had gotten to powerful. The colonies were trading wherever they liked and conducting their affairs like they were independent states. The ministry of George Grenville decided it would be reasonable to make the colonies pay a portion of the costs; since Britain had protected the colonies against the Indians and the French through the war. The colonies didn’t see it like this though. Britain decided to tax the colonies and strengthen the navigation acts to control the colonies. The Sugar act, Stamp act and the townsshend duties were put into effect to finance troops in America annually.
The American Revenue Act or Sugar act was then passed in 1764. It was and adjustment of an old tax which prevented the colonies from trading with the French West Indies. It was a tariff on sugar, molasses etc. However, the colonies never really followed the act instead they smuggled the items into the colonies. After, the new act was put into effect collectors were put into place so the shippers would have to pay the tariffs. The act confused Americans extremely. The Americans thought the new tax was put into place solely for revenue and not to regulate trade. They opposed the act.
The first major tax that was put into affect was the Stamp (act) Tax in 1764. The purpose of the tax was to raise revenue. A tax was placed on legal documents and every document required a stamp. The reaction was bitter, violent and every level of society was in protest to it. The tax caused many riots with colonists. The reason the tax was imposed was just because of idea of being taxed. Colonists had no say in whether they should be taxed or not. After a great amount of protest from the Americans the British parliament insinuated that they could tax the colonies any way they liked at anytime. The Americans infuriated protested the tax was unsound under English law and became even more furious. If parliament could take them any way they wished the exactions were unlimited. They wanted to be taxed only by representatives elected by themselves in the colonies since the colonists could not be represented in parliament. The British believed, however, that parliament was sovereign over all the empire and the colonies were part of the empire, which meant they had to submit themselves to their authority.
The colonists formed a Stamp Act Congress that started sending petitions to the parliament and The Sons of Liberty was formed to challenge British ‘high-handedness’. The colonist even started to attack the stamp tax collectors out of fear that they were pocketing the money. The opposition to the tax was extensive the British finally had to remove it. In 1766 in the House of Commons, William Pitt asked for the colonies to have the right to tax themselves with parliament still having supremacy in all other matters. The Stamp Act was removed. This tax started the protest of American colonies toward the British.
The British government was still in debt and still needed funds to sustain American regiments. Charles Townshend in 1767, proposed new revenue that was similar to the Sugar act. It was supposed to make colonies follow trade regulations. It placed duties on glass, lead, paint, paper and tea imported into the colonies. Once again; however the Americans felt it was a way to collect revenue in disguise similar to the Sugar and Stamp Act. They opposed the Townshend Duties just like that had with the previous acts. They believed that the money would be used against them to reduce the power of their assemblies. It was opposed out of fear of being compelled to give the English as much money as they wanted whenever they demanded it. This time, however, the colonists took matters into their own hands. This was the first organized resistance in America against the British financial policy and the movement away from the mother country. American merchants agreed not to import British good into the colonies. As a result British imports fell by one-third which made the British listen. The duties were repealed in 1770.
The British parliament did not abolish the tax on tea. The merchants objected to importing tea just as they had not imported the previous taxed goods. Britain’s East India Company had been the chief source of tea for the colonies, but to prevent paying the duties the colonies smuggled in tea from the Netherlands. Consequently, the smuggling hurt the company financially. The company asked the British parliament for help. The parliament passed an act in 1773 to assist the company. It provided a refund of British import duties on tea-rexporting to the colonies and permitting the company to sell its tea below the price of smuggled tea, which gave it a virtual monopoly. The shipments of the English tea became a symbol of taxation tyranny to the colonists. It raised the previous concern the colonists had of unknown future tax abuses.
These act and taxes made the colonies feel that Britain was trying to deprive Americans their rights, privileges, and to take their money. This is one of the underlying causes of the revolution.
Colonial resistance culminated, which resulted in the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Citizens disguised themselves as Indians and threw the tea into the bay. This incident stimulated more bad feelings between the colonists and the British Government which almost amounted into a fully flung revolution. Parliament responded with the intolerable acts. The Boston harbour was closed; they made American homes house British troops and more. As a result the colonies held the First Continental Congress, in 1774. They discussed how they could return the state back to the state they once knew. “Parliamentary acts were declared unconstitutional and taxes were not paid, an import-export ban was established, and Colonists were urged to arm themselves.” This marks the start of the revolution.
In 1776, the second Continental Congress chose to draft the Declaration of Independence. This soon led to independence of America, which marked the beginning of the United States of America. There were many origins and causes that made this revolution. The many taxes and tariffs imposed by the British was a major factor, the two different minds clashing (English – American) and much more.
Bibliography
Andrews, Charles M. The Colonial Background of the American Revolution. New Haven: Yale University, 1958.
Boyer, Paul S. The oxford companion the united states history. New York: Oxford University, 2001.
Foner, Eric and Garraty, John A. The Readers Companion to American History. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999.
Gelb, Norman. Less than Glory. New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1984, p. 34.
http://www.ushistory.org/march/phila/background.htm
Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution. New York: little brown and company, 1943.
Norman Gelb, Less than Glory (New York: G.P Putnam’s Sons, 1984), p. 34.
Charles M. Andrews, The Colonial Background of the American Revolution, (New Haven: Yale University, 1958), p. 9.
John C. Miller, Origins of the American Revolution, (New York: little brown and company, 1943), p. 4.
Paul S. Boyer, The oxford companion the united states history (New York: Oxford University, 2001), p. 664.
Donald Kagan, The western heritage, (New Jersey: RR Donelley and Sons, 1990) p. 573.
Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, The Readers Companion to American History, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1999), p. 937.
http://www.ushistory.org/march/phila/background.htm
