HIST 1301 Justified Independence
Justified Independence
Kimberly White
12/18/2014
The American colonists’ were justified in declaring their independence and breaking away from Great Britain. There were many reasons the colonists wanted their freedom. Among these reasons, the most important were unreasonable taxes, control of trade, and the violent nature of Britain. The first justified reason the colonists had for declaring their independence from Britain was the unreasonable and unfair taxes that the British enforced directly on the colonists. George Grenville was noted in “Parliament Debates the Stamp Act” (1765), as saying “the stamp tax takes in a great degree its proportion from the riches of the people.” Since this tax came from the sale of all paper products, almost all colonists had to pay it. The tax covered almost everything from Wills to a deck of cards. The British imposed the tax this way to ensure that every single person would have to pay it because every single person had need for at least one of these products. There were very few that were exempt from the Stamp Act and those were the people that had no use for the products or swore off the paper products altogether. The colonists labored long, hard hours in all conditions to make their wages only for the British to take the largest portion of their pay. This left them with barely enough income left to provide for themselves and their family. Britain used these taxes to keep soldiers in America and to keep them in power. The next justified reason was their intent to control trade. Americans took notice that colonists were under strict rules for trading. When it came to trade, the British decided “Great Britain should be the commercial center, to which it should be the spring of power,” Thomas Pownall, “Administration of the Colonies” (1764). Colonists were told what they could ship, how much they could ship, and were made to pay high taxes for the allowance to do it. Also, the soldiers the British
Kimberly White
12/18/2014
The American colonists’ were justified in declaring their independence and breaking away from Great Britain. There were many reasons the colonists wanted their freedom. Among these reasons, the most important were unreasonable taxes, control of trade, and the violent nature of Britain. The first justified reason the colonists had for declaring their independence from Britain was the unreasonable and unfair taxes that the British enforced directly on the colonists. George Grenville was noted in “Parliament Debates the Stamp Act” (1765), as saying “the stamp tax takes in a great degree its proportion from the riches of the people.” Since this tax came from the sale of all paper products, almost all colonists had to pay it. The tax covered almost everything from Wills to a deck of cards. The British imposed the tax this way to ensure that every single person would have to pay it because every single person had need for at least one of these products. There were very few that were exempt from the Stamp Act and those were the people that had no use for the products or swore off the paper products altogether. The colonists labored long, hard hours in all conditions to make their wages only for the British to take the largest portion of their pay. This left them with barely enough income left to provide for themselves and their family. Britain used these taxes to keep soldiers in America and to keep them in power. The next justified reason was their intent to control trade. Americans took notice that colonists were under strict rules for trading. When it came to trade, the British decided “Great Britain should be the commercial center, to which it should be the spring of power,” Thomas Pownall, “Administration of the Colonies” (1764). Colonists were told what they could ship, how much they could ship, and were made to pay high taxes for the allowance to do it. Also, the soldiers the British