Trouble over Taxes
The colonists and the king came closer to armed conflict
with each set of new taxes levied by the king.
A. Sugar Act of 1764
1. Passed to pay for the standing army needed in the
colonies to protect the colonists from Indian attacks.
2. It was the first law designed specifically for raising
money in the colonies.
3. It taxed all sugar and molasses imported
into the colonies.
B. Many colonists were upset at Britain's tax
policy.
1. The people believed that Britain did not have the
right to tax the colonies without the consent of the
people.
2. "No taxation without representation."
3. James Otis, a lawyer from Boston, and Sam Adams
were the first to be very vocal about the taxes.
4. To help unite those opposed to the tax policy,
colonists formed Committees of Correspondence.
These committees talked with other towns to keep
everyone informed about new tax laws. Many
committees organized boycotts of certain goods.
C. Stamp Act of 1765
1. Prime Minister Grenville in London asked the
colonists to come up with a better solution to raising
money.
2. When the colonists couldn't, Grenville proposed the
Stamp Act.
3. It required the colonists to pay for a stamp on any
paper item like newspapers, pamphlets, licenses, legal
documents, and playing cards.
4. This hit the colonists hard since everyone bought
paper items or got licenses.
5. Colonists who refused to pay for the stamp could be
turned over to the Vice-Admiralty courts.
6. Grenville thought this was fair since the people of
England paid a similar tax, but the colonists were
angry at this first tax to actually tax colonists directly,
not just the trade goods.
7. Even colonists who supported taxes on foreign trade
goods were upset at this tax
directly on the people.
D. Organized Defiance of the
Stamp Act
1. Many colonies formed secret societies called the Sons
of Liberty to oppose the Stamp Act.
2. The Sons of Liberty harassed and threatened tax
collectors.
3. Some local businesses refused to charge the tax on
customers.
4. Many local courts shut down because people refused
to pay the tax.
5. Due to the widespread anger and defiance of the act,
Parliament eventually
repealed the Stamp
Act in 1766.
E. Townshend Act of 1767
1. This was a tax on imported items such as glass, lead,
paints, paper and tea.
2. The revenue generated was used to pay for military
personnel in the colonies and the salaries of the
governors.
3. To enforce the tax, British officials used Writs of
Assistance. These were special search warrants used
by tax collectors to search for smuggled goods. It also
created the Vice-Admiralty Courts to try smugglers.
4. Colonists thought this took too much power from the
colonial courts and gave it to the royal courts.
5. This led to another widespread boycott of British
goods made possible by the Daughters of Liberty.
The Daughters of Liberty were women who made
items to replace those that could not be bought in the
boycott.
F. Response to the Townshend Acts
1. Sons of Liberty and Committees of Correspondence
led by Sam Adams wrote letters opposing the tax.
When tax collectors captured John Hancock’s ship,
The Liberty, the Sons of Liberty attacked and
destroyed the homes of tax collectors.
2. Troops were called in to restore order and the
Massachusetts colonial assembly was disbanded.
3. This was seen as a threat to the colonists.
4. On March 5, 1770, the tension finally erupted into
conflict. Angry colonists in Boston surrounded a
lone British sentry. He was taunted, and colonists
hurled rocks, bottles and snowballs at him. A
group of reinforcements was ordered to protect
him. The crowd of colonists grew until the troops
fired into them. Five Bostonians were killed,
including Crispus Attucks, the first African
American to die in the American Revolution.
5. This is called the Boston Massacre, and it greatly
angered the colonists.
6. The soldiers were tried for murder. Two were
convicted and branded on the hand. This quieted
the unrest for a while.
7. The Townshend Acts were
eventually repealed.
G. Tea Act
1. Britain realized American boycotts were hurting
their economy, but also realized the colonists
bought tea despite the boycott.
2. The English East India Company proposed to
Parliament that they could sell cheaper than
anyone, still collect the tax, and pay some of
England's debt.
3. Parliament agreed and allowed the company to
sell directly to the colonies.
4. This put many colonial merchants in jeopardy of
losing their business, and created a situation where
the company may gain a trade monopoly.
5. In December of 1773, the Sons of Liberty,
disguised as Indians, boarded three ships of the
East India Company and threw the tea overboard
into Boston Harbor.
6. The colonists dumped more than 340 chests of
tea, worth about $2 million today, into the harbor.
8. This is called the
Boston Tea Party.
H. The Coercive Acts
1. In response to the Boston Tea Party,
Parliament passed the Coercive Acts to punish
the colonists.
2. The colonists called them the Intolerable Acts.
3. There are 4 parts to the Acts.
a. Boston Harbor was closed until the colonists
paid for the tea thrown into the harbor.
b. Massachusetts' charter was cancelled and the
legislature only met when and
where the governor commanded,
c. Trials for royal officials were moved from the
colonial courts to London to get a more sympathetic
jury.
d. Colonists were required to house and supply
British soldiers (Quartering Act).
e. General Gage was appointed governor to rule
with military power
I. In response to all the taxes, the colonists decided to
organize an official stand against The British.
1. In 1774, the colonists called the First Continental
Congress in Philadelphia.
2. Many colonial leaders, including John and Sam
Adams, John Hancock, and Ben Franklin, gathered
to decide what to do to solve the current conflict with
England.
3. Some wanted to fight while others wanted to avoid
more bloodshed.
4. In the end, they decided to continue to boycott
goods, warn the militias to be ready, and present
a list of 10 resolutions to King George III.
5. The Declaration of Resolves included what the
colonists saw as their rights, including "life,
liberty, and property."
6. The king was outraged and sent troops to seize the
weapons of all the militias.
7. General Gage began marching for Lexington. Paul
Revere carried the message that the "British were
coming."
8. The troops reached Lexington on April 19, 1775.
About 70 militiamen met them. The colonial
commander ordered the men, "Don't fire unless
fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it
begin here!"
9. No one knows which side fired the "shot heard
round the world," but both sides then began rapid
firing in the first armed conflict of the American
Revolution.
9. It was a major defeat of the colonists, but they
followed after picking off British troops one by one
as they made their way to Concord.