Preview

Was America Justified In Achieving Independence From Britain?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
500 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Was America Justified In Achieving Independence From Britain?
Britain was the abusive father in the “family” with the colonists being the sons. Due to the French and Indian war, Britain began to take advantage of the colonists, which caused America to revolt after unfair taxes and laws. So, were the Americans justified in declaring independence from Britain? I believe America was justified in declaring independence from Britain because of unfair taxes and laws, knowing they were able to be independent, and knowing that a few men died fighting for the right cause.
Britain began to take advantage of colonists with unfair taxes and laws. Due to the passing of laws like the Tea Act, colonists started a movement against acts like the Boston Tea Party (doc. E). Colonists knew they wouldn’t be able to live fairly without representation, so “No taxation without representation” (doc. A) was a movement started by colonists. The movement was largely due to unfair taxes and laws. Again, colonists were fed up with these taxes and laws, and it felt like life would never be fair. Colonists couldn’t take any more unfair taxes and laws, and they knew everything they owned was going to be taken away from them.
…show more content…
Thomas Paine first proclaimed this opinion-turned fact in his book Common Sense: “faithfully serve the power that hath carry fire” (doc. D). Paine and other motivators all looked at the situations and one conclusion was evident: independence. John Dickinson broke the situation down and asked us “the” question on the benefit that comes with Britain. He, not surprisingly, determines we are “abject slaves” (doc. B). Dickinson is spot-on with this analogy, and knew nothing from Britain can benefit America. With nothing supporting America from Britain, colonists determined their way of life was functional without

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Thomas Jefferson states in A Summary View of the Rights of British America that they "possessed a right, which nature has given to all men." The British deprived the colonists of these rights when they did not allow a representative in the House of Commons, as decided in the Resolutions of the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. This was especially unfair for the colonists for they were not only being taxed, but also received nothing in return for their own benefit. Additionally, the taxes did not profit the colonist itself. Rather, all tax profits went to Britain. It was a way for the British to reimburse the financial debts from the Great War for Empire. Taxation on the colonists was a way the British "liquidated its war debt," as stated in Document N. As said in the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Document I), The colonists did not give consent to Britain to take away their money by exploiting the land by heavy taxes. They felt that only they had the power and the right to tax themselves.…

    • 612 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stamp Act Dbq

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the 1760s the British passed some laws and taxes to help repay war debts from the French and Indian War. In spite of this the Americans took action against Britain. The taxation without representation and the acts England passed on the colonists caused them to demand independence from England. The taxes such as the stamp act and tea act made the Americans furious to the point where they fought back against Britain.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Soon after the war the British began to strictly regulate trade and began to enact taxes such as the Stamp Act. This angered many of the colonists and they began to protest against ‘taxation without representation’.…

    • 669 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The colonists had many reasons to declare independence against Britain. The colonists believed the British were unfair to the colonists, one way was by taxation without representation. The colonists had no representatives in Parliament, so when Parliament passed taxes without the consent of the colonists, they believed it was very unfair, and they shouldn’t have to pay the taxes. Also, the British put many taxes on goods for the colonists. Some examples of these taxes were the sugar act, a tax on sugar, the stamp act, the law to buy a stamp for every single paper they had, and the tea act, which not only taxed the colonists for tea, but it also allowed the British to have control of all tea trade. The colonists did not like these taxes because…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    People sometimes wonder if America should have stayed with Great Britain. They say it would have gotten good profits, but I am going to explain why the colonist were justified in fighting and breaking away from Great Britain. The French and Indian war happened in 1750. After the war, British were in debt and placed taxes on colonist. The colonist were shocked and angry that they were being taxed. Waging war and breaking away Britain was justified for the colonist. The colonist were justified in fighting and breaking away from Great Britain because British were making unfair taxes, the colonist weren’t represented in parliament, and British were violating the colonist rights.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    They felt that they were being taxed without representation, however, English parliament disagreed and said that they were being adequately represented. As colonies of the British government, they were there to serve the mother country and that their representatives were the contributing to parliament for the benefit of the people. It is important to understand both sides to the issues because taxation without representation was one of the reasons that the Revolutionary War began and how these issues affected the world to become what is…

    • 346 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The main reason for the colonists to organize collectively and revere against Britain was taxation without representation. Boston was being treated very cruel and unjust. Great Britain had ordered for…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe the American colonist should be allowed to become independent from Great Britain because Great Britain’s protection is no use for the American colonists due to them being in a discomforting place with Great Britain’s enemies, gain nothing with their connection for trading, and also because Great Britain only fights for their own sake; they do not defend the American colonist out of kindness. The American Colonists think of themselves as citizens of Great Britain and subjects of the king due to the way they are governed. Since America has trades coming from some of Great britain’s enemies, they are placed in a discomforting position. The American colonies gain nothing from being apart of Great Britain.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Any goods that were imported by Britain were heavily taxed. At the end of war, Britain was in heavy debt. This showed as a good idea for the king to start taxing the colonies to get his money back. From tea and sugar to molasses, the prices were almost unbearable. The colonies decided that these taxes were just very unreasonable and not fair. The unfairness of these taxes didn’t just come with how expensive the tax was, but how the tax was expected to be paid. The king of Britain demanded that the colonists not pay in their paper currency. This is intolerable because as their own country, they have their own currency and shouldn’t be expected to pay with Britain’s currency. The colonists decided to boycott the British goods. This was a huge act of patriotism for the colonists because they defended themselves while Britain tried to take advantage of them.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bacon's Rebellion Causes

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout the 18th century, America’s quest for autonomy manifested itself in the Continental Congress, The Declaration of Independence, and the American Constitution. This sense of freedom caused America to gradually split apart from its motherland, Great Britain. Due to a multitude of political missteps, mistakes, and heavy-handedness by the British, a growing number of Americans were convinced that Britain had embarked on a mission to deprive them of their property and undermine them to slavery. For the sake of self-betterment, America started gravitating towards a sense of sovereignty, leaving Britain’s blunders behind as it started a new beginning for the amelioration of itself. An amalgam of Enlightenment theories, historical documents,…

    • 1188 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The colonists became defiant, mainly because they felt their economic policy was being controlled by the British, who were neglecting multiple natural rights. For…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Americans were justified in waging war because King George III was ignoring and not listening to the colonists.” Some of them had been tarred, others had their property burnt and destroyed by the populace”(Doc. I). The King of British did not give any of the colonists a say in the government which caused the tarring and destroyed populaces. “There is another late act of Parliament...The Townshend Act.” (Doc. B). The colonists once again didn’t have a say in the government. The colonists didn’t even have a choice about the…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After all of the hardship and violence the British imposed on the colonists, the Americans were justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain. The Colonists were justified in breaking away because the parliament passed laws that were unjustified, The British king was of tyranny, The Stamp Act of 1765, The Townshend Act and The Boston Massacre. All of this lead to the colonies joining together and rebelling against the British.…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    American Imperialism Dbq

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ultimately, American colonists were justified in declaring independence for many reasons. England passed unfair laws as colonists had no representation in Parliament. Additionally, America can survive on its own through trading with other European markets. Of course, gaining independence may cause despair and bloodshed, but perhaps Great Britain and the colonists could have compromised to avoid conflicts. Great Britain faced problems in controlling the colonists since the Atlantic Ocean separated these two, so perhaps independence is the best idea to avoid more revolts and…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The American Revolution embarked the beginning of the United States of America. A war that lasted eight years, 1775-1783, was able to grant the thirteen colonies the independence they deserved by breaking free of British rule. The war was an effect of the previous French and Indian War, which forced England to tax the American colonist, compelling them to rebel against parliament. From the 1760’s to 1775, many factors lead up to the American Revolution such as the various acts the British Parliament passed to pay the war debt, no representation in parliament, and the American people wanting to gain their independence. “No Taxation without Representation”, a slogan used by the American colonist, was the most important cause of the colonists declaring war for their independence on the British government.…

    • 1116 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays