Short Story: A Colonial Family's Reaction To The Stamp Act

“We must all hang together, or we shall hang separately.” This was a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin while signing the Declaration of Independence. Britain and France had conflicting claims at the Ohio River Valley and started the French & Indian War. When Britain won the war, the king imposed taxes because he felt he should be repaid for the expenses of the war. This angered the colonists because they felt they should have had representation in Parliament to be taxed.

Parliament’s unpopular passage of the Sugar Act and Quartering Act came with little backlash from the colonists when in comparison to the Stamp Act (Schultz, 2011, p. 69). The colonist’s profound response was (1) because the Stamp Act placed a tax on goods used by those of higher education like merchants and lawyers rather than just layman; (2) because the tax was also passed in March and did not go into effect until November of 1765, which gave colonists an ample amount of time to organize against it; and (3) because the imposed tax was to pay the salaries of colonial officials rather than to regulate trade, which was a clear undermining of the colonial self-rule and an indication that Parliament was attempting to limit colonists’ liberties (Schultz, 2011, p. 69). Themed as “no taxation without representation,” colonists convened the Stamp Act Congress in October 1765 in which they vocalized their opposition to the tax. Most colonists called for a boycott of British goods, and some organized attacks on customhouses and homes of tax collectors (History.com Staff, 2009).

In 1765, the Stamp Act was placed on colonists, which placed a tax on many types of printed materials. As a result of the sudden tax placement, almost all of the free colonists were furious and began to riot. Groups such as the Loyal Nine opposed the Stamp Act and expressed their anger through violence. English colonists were determined to have freedom since they believed that the Stamp Act imposed by Great Britain “violated their liberty” (Foner, 179). The determination to achieve colonial liberty established a huge divide between the colonists and Great Britain.

During a telephone call to his mother to ask her for help baking bread she replies, “It’s so funny you called. I’m just working on a new series of water-buffalo-milk ice creams. You’d love trying them. Do come for a visit as soon as you can. I’ll show you how to bake anything in the world you like.”

The Sugar, Stamp, and Townshend Acts all say that England needs to tax the colonies so he can protect them. I found three examples of this. First, the Sugar Act said, “...it is just and necessary, that a revenue be raised, in your majesty 's said dominions in America, for defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same…” That meant that England needed money to protect America. Second, the Stamp Act said, “...toward defraying the expenses of defending, protecting, and securing, the British colonies and plantations in America: and whereas it is just and necessary, that provisions be made for raising a further revenue within your Majesty’s dominions in America…”

The Sons of Liberty were much like modern day Isis. From burning houses to murder, they were a group of people no one dared to provoke. The famous rebel group took a stand against the British Parliament for what they believed was right. They gave colonists hope in not only their future, but also America’s future. The Sons of Liberty are important because they secured America’s future, showed bravery, and formed the Continental Congress.

The king of England was wanting to tax our imports such as goods or supplies so he could make some extra money, that is just what is happening right now, Congress is wanting to tax our regularly used programs for their gain. The quote "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights" says that a more powerful person or persons in the same government should not use their privileges to be better than

At the dawn of the 1770s, American colonial resentment of the British Parliament in London had been steadily increasing for some time. Retaliating in 1766, Parliament issued the Declaratory Act which repealed most taxes except issued a reinforcement of Parliament’s supremacy. In a fascinating exchange, we see that the Parliament identifies and responds to the colonists main claim; Parliament had no right to directly tax colonists who had no representation in Parliament itself. By asserting Parliamentary supremacy while simultaneously repealing the Stamp Act and scaling back the Sugar Act, Parliament essentially established the hill it would die on, that being its legitimacy. With the stage set for colonial conflict in the 1770s, all but one

I shuffled over to the table, tucking my long, ragged skirt under me as I sat down. "What is all the fuss about? " I asked gingerly in an attempt to settle my scorching predecessor down, whose face was now as red as the tomatoes from our garden. He slammed the newspaper in his hand onto the table in reply. "He 's mad because the British parliament is charging us a tax on all official documents shipped to the colonies," my mom said, slowly turning to the left to face me. "

Between 1763 and 1775, there were three ‘Imperial Crises’ which occurred between the British and the American colonists. The conflict that was produced during this period arose through an undefined balance of political and economic power between the two parties. In 1763, Britain had just concluded the French and Indian war and was left with an immense and almost crippling debt of around 140 million pounds sterling (“Turning Point In American History”). In Britain’s eyes, the most effective way to reduce this debt was increased taxes. Unfortunately, the people of England were already massively overtaxed, which meant the last option for the British was to tax the American colonists.

Justin Lau (Wingkit) Professor Rogers History 100AC 29 September 2015 Response Paper: “The Women Is as Bad as the Men- Women 's Participation in the Inner Civil War.” , “General Benjamin Butler and the threat of Sexual Violence during the American Civil War”, “General Butler and the Women” and “The Other Side of the Freedom” A lot of North Carolina women showed uncooperative actions on the disorderliness by participating the protest in order to maintain their communities and social orders. These women would prefer to join the conflict that separated state and community rather than being its victims. Thus, their loyalties to husbands and sons, and strong determination of protecting their own property prompted them to disregard the female’s conventional behaviors.

The degree of colonial displeasure was illustrated when Franklin stated that even if military force were applied to enforcing the Stamp Act, “they cannot force a man to take stamps who chooses to do without them.” Many took Otis’ expression “Taxation without representation

Today’s event was a crucial part in communicating our distaste to how Great Britain is taxing us. I have a feeling that this will act as an importing stepping stone in the future of our colonial rights. After the Townshend Duties were dropped, except concerning tea, Great Britain has had the audacity to still try to warp our minds into buying from them. Although the Indian tea is cheaper and much more flavourful than the Dutch tea we have secretly been importing, we colonists have decided that there is no way we are buying anything that Britain has had to do with. Although I am weary from the excitement today, I can’t help but smile when I think of the clearly defiant message we sent the British.

As expected, Britain put certain taxes on the colonies to help regulate trade and pay for transport of goods. However, many of the taxes Britain put on colonists were for the sole purpose of creating revenue for the British (Doc 2). The reason the British believed they were justified to do this was the belief that colonists still owed reparations for British support in the French Indian war (Doc 1). The colonists found these taxes so insulting that many of them refused to purchase British goods.

In 1765 March 22, The Stamp Act began. It was when American colonists were taxed on any kind of paper product. Such as ship’s paper, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. All of the money that was taxed was used to pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachians Mountains. Although this act was unpopular among the colonists.