Revolutionary_America

Revolutionary America Latoya Glover HIS/110 April 13, 2010 PETER GENOVESE University of Phoenix Britain’s had a great thing going with the thirteen colonies for at least a good century. The colonies soon grew wiser and understood their worth and decided to rebel against Britain. Revenue, trade, and ultimate power needs caused a Revolution to occur. Brinkley.A (2007) states: Some Americans predicted that the colonies would ultimately develop to a point where greater autonomy would become inevitable. But few expected such a change to occur soon.By the mid-1770s, however, the relationship between the American colonies and their British rulers had become so strained, so poisoned, so characterized by suspicion and resentment that the once seemingly unbreakable bonds of empire were ready to snap. George the third became King in 1770, this was a time when the American colonies enjoyed their prosperity, agreed with the British Empire and was happy to be apart. As time progressed the American colonies began to worry about bureaucratic avarice and how to acquire and maintain it. The American Colonies had a suspicion that the British officials were taxing and receiving revenue from them and using it for personal gain rather than for the royal treasury. This suspicion was the cause of the hostility that the American Colonies occurred against the British. The hostility that the Americans occurred started off at a low temperature and leading into the eighteenth century mildly progress. The American Colonies came up with a way to create local legislature to pass laws, audit accounts, and authorize military operation, and raise taxes without the British knowledge. The American Colonies accomplished quite well this secrecy against British authority. When the British official would have concerns regarding the American’s legislature doings the American’s would assure the British official that their liberty end was secure. By the end of the French and Indian War in 1773, the British officials noticed how the colonies were becoming assertive with their legislature. The British seen these things transpire but had no form of plan or agenda to keep control. With the all the past events that led to the animosity from the colonies it would seem as if the British Empire would have made a priority of tightening up their control, unfortunately for the British control was not a priority. The British Empire had their focus in another direction; which was their downfall because the American Colonies flared up in resentment at the parliamentary taxation. During the war between the French and Indian the British government was supporting the colonies financially with leadership defense and troops, but once the war ended the British government fell short on disarming the military that they provided. Instead, King George III chose to keep the military active incase something should arise with the French in the future. Keeping the military active meant that funds were needed in order to continue. Therefore, a plan had to be created in order to pay for all the troops and their defenses. This is where the different Acts come into play such as the Stamp, Sugar Act along with the Townsend duties. These were implemented to help pay for the large debt that occurred. The solution was to place military in America and Ireland and charge them yearly. The British recreated The American Revenue Act and called it the Sugar Act which soon caused the Americans to become confused. The Sugar Act was implemented to prevent trade with the French. The parliament passed a tariff on molasses, sugar, and other goods from the islands of the French West Indies. The colonist was extremely annoyed with this Sugar Act that they found ways to smuggle the goods. The Americans soon realized that the rules and authority they were suppose to follow was fraud; they were actually paying the price themselves and losing out on revenue that should have been theirs but instead half the revenue was going to the British. In order for the British to keep control of the Americans the British implemented the Stamp Act. The way the British would collect this tax is through the ministry. They created surface design of different values on all size of sheets of papers and sold them to the colonists for use as pamphlets, newspapers, and legal documents. If documents were not stamped it had no legal standing, therefore leaving the colonist to buy and pay taxes. During this Act many colonist of all levels began to protest. The colonists rage grew strong and began to attack the Parliament as well as the distributors of the Stamp Act. The colonist and the British continued to have conflict. The colonist felt since they did not elect members of the Parliament how could they be included in all the different taxing that was constantly being presented, but the British felt they had dominion over all since it was their Empire to start with. The colonist also felt that if all were to be tax then all should be including the Parliament. The Parliament passed a Declaratory Act which reestablished the right for Parliament to legislate at all times. This then brought along a compromise between the two increasing revenue for the British and saving money for the colonist. Charles Townshend of the British Empire proposed import duties on lead, paper, glass, paint, and tea. The Americans were not receptive to the Townshend duties. The Americans grew wiser and began to dispute against Britain. The Tea Act and Boston Tea Party implemented by the British were to regulate the import and trade of Tea. The Boston Tea Party was the end to all compromise and loyalty. The American colonies and the British Empire started out strong as two different sides getting along. The American colonies began to pay attention to the way they were being treated and decided to do something about it. Different taxation on the American grew weary on the Americans; they were unable to compromise any longer with the British. The way The American Colonies were being treated greatly impacted the Americans way of thinking. The Americans were able to build and grow among each other with their intelligence. This is what led to the American Revolution and the Americans Independence. References Brinkley, A. ( 2007) American History: A Survey (12th ed. ) Burr Ridge. IL. McGraw- Hill