Next came the Sugar Act. It started in 1964 when Parliament tried to collect a series of taxes from the colonies to ease the war debt and strengthen the British empire. The strongest opposition to this was in Boston, because that was the city that depended most on shipping and trade. All duties, or taxes on molasses and sugar imported to North America from places outside the British empire would now be strictly enforced. High duties were also placed on other foreign imports commonly used by the Americans such as textiles, coffee and wine. This hurt businesses and customers alike, for everything was now very expensive in the colonies. This act widened the division between Britain and the colonies. Americans resented having no representation in Parliament to determine how their tax money would be spent by British rulers. This was both a political and economical problem.
In 1765 Parliament passed a tax on all official documents and publications in the colonies. This is known as the Stamp Act. To be official, marriage licenses, mortgages, diplomas and newspapers had to bear an official stamp of seal, showing duty had been paid. The tax money was for keeping British troops in North America. Colonists agreed that Parliament had a right to levy an external tax, but the Stamp Act was an internal tax. Protest over the Stamp Act united the colonies who all agreed that taxation without representation was tyranny.
You soon see the idea of the colonies separating from Britain begin to form. It started with economic factors, such as who had a right to tax them and moved to political factors such as who had a right to govern them without any input from them. A movement towards self-government began to take shape. It seemed that speeches and petitions against the British laws were not enough, a more effective form of action needed to be taken.
The Sons of Liberty was soon formed. This was a network of local groups to organize opposition to the Stamp Act. These groups were led by men of high position and who didn’t hesitate to resort to violence. They destroyed homes of British officials, forced stamp agents to resign and enforced a boycott of British goods. The protest seemed effective, but the economic impact of the boycott was much stronger. In place of the Stamp Act, Parliament passes the Declaratory Act. This law gave Parliament the right to make decisions concerning the colonies without their consent.
Conflicts over taxation prompted Britain to send troops to Boston to enforce laws and maintain order. This only increased tension and clashes between the citizens and the soldiers. This led to the British Massacre. This was a period of extreme violence but was followed by a period of uneasy calm. There were many non-violent protests during this time.
Next was the Tea Act, to save the East India Company from bankruptcy. This law stated that only the East India Tea Company could sell tea to the colonies. Most Americans resented this monopoly on selling tea. To protest the tea tax, Boston’s Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawks and dumped 342 chests of newly arrived tea into the harbour. This is known as the Boston Tea Party and resulted in a closing of the Boston Harbour until all the tea was paid for.
It was all of these things that led to America’s fight for Independence. They were tired of living under British control. The did not agree with all these taxes and resented that they had no representation in Parliament or say in how their money was being spent. I would have to agree that the War of Independence in the Thirteen Colonies was primarily caused by economical factors but only to an extent. Other factors were political and a sense of justice with citizens standing up for their rights and wanting a say in how their country was run.
