British Taxation
in the
American
Colonies
SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
The British need money
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As a result of the French and Indian War, the British
were left with a massive debt to pay
The British government passed several new tax laws
for the American colonists in order to make the
money
Unfortunately, the American colonists did not have
representation in the British government, so they did
not have a vote in these new laws
Many colonists were unhappy that they were paying
taxes to make money for war they didn’t want to
fight
They were also unhappy they didn’t have a vote in
the new laws
This is called taxation without representation
Sugar Act
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The first of these British taxes was the Sugar Act
passed in April 1764
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This placed a heavy tariff on the importation of
sugar produced on non-British plantations in the
Caribbean Islands
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This led to widespread protesting in the colonies
because most of Britain’s sugar was more
expensive than other countries’
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Britain was making sure that they made the
money on sugar consumed in the colonies, not
another country
Stamp Act
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This tax, passed in March 1765, placed a tax on
paper
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It required ALL newspapers, legal documents, and
pamphlets printed in the colonies to use paper
produced in Britain
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The paper was “stamped” to prove where it was
made
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This was so unpopular in the colonies that 9 out of
the 13 colonies voted to boycott British paper
goods
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The British government eventually repealed the
act in 1766 because the boycott was causing
them to lose money
The Boston Massacre
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In 1768, the British government send soldiers to the
American colonies because they were worried
about the unrest that was happening
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Two years later, in March 1770, a group of
colonists began protesting near a group of British
soldiers in Boston
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One of the soldiers was knocked down as a result
of the protest and fired his gun into the crowd of
colonists
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5 colonists were killed
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This caused even more anger among the
American colonists against the British
Tea Act
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In May 1773, the British government passed a law
outlawing the sale of any tea in the American
colonies unless it came from a British company
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This angered colonists since they felt it was unfair
and allowed Britain to charge high prices for the
tea
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Groups of colonists got together to protest and
another group met in Boston to decide what to
do
The Boston Tea Party
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In December 1773, American colonists, disguised
as Native Americans, climbed onto a British ship
and dumped 340 chests (about 92,000 pounds) of
British tea into the Boston Harbor
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King George III and the British government were
livid because this was a massive loss of money for
them
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They knew they needed to respond swiftly and
harshly to this protest
Intolerable Acts
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In May 1774, the British government passed 4 laws
known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts
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These were mainly aimed at the Massachusetts
Colony (where Boston is located)
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One of the laws closed Boston Harbor until the
money for the tea was repaid
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British soldiers were also given more freedom to
deal with protests by colonists more harshly
They were punishing Massachusetts and the rest
of the colonies for the Boston Tea Party
First Continental Congress
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In September 1774, colonists from almost all
American colonies met in Philadelphia to discuss
a response to British taxation and other laws
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Only Georgia did not send anyone to the congress
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The colony was still too new and dependent on
Britain
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The group wanted the British government to treat
the colonists more fairly and to allow them
representation in the British government
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They sent their list of demands to the King
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They decided on a large-scale boycott of all
British goods until their demands were met
Battle of Lexington
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The First Continental Congress had warned the
colonies to begin storing weapons and other
supplies in preparation for possible conflict with the
British soldiers, especially in Massachusetts because
of the Intolerable Acts
Once King George III learned about this, he
declared the Massachusetts Colony to be in
rebellion
British soldiers arrived in Lexington (a town outside of
Boston) to search for the supplies
Colonial soldiers, however, had been warned and
moved the supplies out of the town
Gunfire erupted between the British and colonists
with the colonists eventually retreating
Battle of Concord
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Colonists gathered in Concord received word of
the shots being fired at Lexington
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They marched toward Lexington, eventually
meeting up with British soldiers heading towards
Concord
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The British soldiers headed into Concord to search
for the missing supplies that had been moved out
of Lexington
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When they met up with the rest of the colonial
military in Concord, a battle erupted with small
losses on both sides
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The colonists ended up winning the battle after
the British retreated
Second Continental
Congress
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After the battles of Lexington and Concord, the
Second Continental Congress met in June 1775 to
decide on a plan of action
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Colonists from 12 of the 13 colonies met in
Philadelphia
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Georgia did not send a representative when the
congress first began meeting
They appointed George Washington as
commander of the Continental Army and
managed the beginning of the Revolutionary war
effort in the colonies