Depiction of the Boston Tea Party--a colonial reaction to British taxation.
Unpopular British Policy
In the late 1760s and early 1770s, the British tried to establish a harsher form of control on the American colonists. The colonists, who had previously enjoyed relative freedom, did not take kindly to the British imposition. With the establishment of stricter taxation and legislation, the colonists felt that they had no other choice but to bite back.
Watch the following video about the unpopular British policies and how the colonists reacted. Take notes as you watch.
Throughout most of the 18th century, the American colonists remained relatively independent. They were able to make most of their own decisions in regard to politics and the economy. However, after the French and Indian war, Great Britain began to take more of a direct influence over the colonies. They restricted westward expansion and instilled and enforced more trade laws.
In the 1760s, Great Britain granted writs of assistance, or search warrants, to their customs inspectors. This enabled them to search colonial ships. Prior to this time, the inspectors had not carried out these warrants. If colonists were found in violation of trade laws, they would not receive trial by jury, but were sent directly to British admiralty courts. The British also began to levy taxes against the Americans. The Americans were enraged over these new kinds of control. The Americans felt it was unfair to have to pay for the British armies now that the French were gone. However, in the Britishs' eyes, this was more than fair. The taxes on the Americans were lower than the English paid and barely covered one-third of the cost of maintaining troops in the colonies. The Americans saw these troops as being there for the sole purpose of watching the colonists and reporting on them
The Americans were upset about the new implementations, but they were also thinking of politics at this time. Since the 17th century, British parliament needed permission to levy taxes on their citizens. The colonists felt they had not been asked, and therefore, were not represented in British Parliament. They felt they were being denied their basic rights as English citizens. First, the British passed the Currency Act and the Sugar Act. This was accepted, but not lightly. The next year was the Stamp Act of 1765. This was the final straw.
The Stamp Act of 1765 was the first direct tax on the colonies. This effected almost everyone as every legal document needed to be written on special stamped paper. This included deeds, wills, marriage licenses--any legal contract. These were not legal unless on stamped paper. Also items such as newspaper, dice, and playing cards needed to have proof of this tax. This taxation, along with the new quartering act, which required the colonies to provide food and shelter to British troops, were major topics of debate in the assemblies. Americans began to voice their protest. The Stamp Act Congress was assembled in the colonies to decide the next course of action. They enacted boycotts across the country of British goods. Radical groups such as the Sons and Daughters of Liberty harassed tax collectors and outed those who did not comply with the boycotts.
Because of these boycotts, British companies began to feel the pressure, and the Stamp Act was repealed the next year.
After the Stamp Act was repealed, there were still issues that needed to be resolved. The British Parliament was not about to allow colonial authority a say within the colonial legislatures. Following the repeal of the Stamp Act, Parliament passed the Declaratory Act. This declared Parliament’s ability to "bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever.” This sent a message that Britain was still in charge. The colonists found the Declaratory Act to be quite threatening. In 1766, this act was only questioned by a few radicals. However the ability to tax without representation was another issue. The peace did not last long. Back in London, Charles Townshend persuaded Parliament to tax the Americans again through import items the Americans needed from England--items such as glass, paper, lead, and tea.
The Townshend Acts further angered the colonists by appointing the American Board of Customs Commissioners. This was a governing body to be stationed in the colonies and enforce the new laws and taxes. The British officials would receive a bonus for everyone they convicted. They were then sent to juryless courts with a high chance for conviction. Townshend also suspended the New York legislature for failing to provide supplies to the British troops in New York. Once again the colonists began to boycott. Colonists began to harass tax collectors and merchants who violated the boycotts and the colonial assemblies began to assemble.
A letter was sent to the colonies. This was called a circular letter because it went to all the colonies and was responded to. Massachusetts recommended they work together and act against the British. Parliament threatened to disperse the body unless they repealed the letter. The colonists refused, and the Massachusetts legislature was duly dissolved. Other colonial assemblies sent the circular letter in support of Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts circular letter was written by Samuel Adams in 1768. It voiced Massachusett's and colonial opposition to taxation without representation and was sent to several colonial legislatures inviting them to unite in their actions against British government. In response, Lord Hillsborough warned colonial legislatures to treat the circular letter with contempt and threatened dissolution to any legislative body that answered Massachusetts' plea. The legislative assemblies throughout the colonies, including New York, Rhode Island, and New Jersey, rose to the occasion and accepted the petition set forth by Samuel Adams and Massachusetts.
The more the British tried to maintain control over the colonies, the more the colonies resisted. By 1769, the British merchants began to feel the sting financially. There was a repeal in 1770; however, the tax on tea remained.
TIMELINE ASSIGNMENT
Complete the timeline activity called Colonial Resistance to British Policy. When you have completed the worksheet, submit the assignment to your teacher. Use the infromation below to complete the assignment.
A portrait of George Grenville (1712–1770)
In 1763, George Grenville became prime minister of Britain. He was determined to reduce Britain’s debt. He decided to act against smuggling in the colonies. When colonists smuggled goods to avoid taxes, Britain lost revenue that could be used to pay debts. Grenville knew that American juries often found smugglers innocent. In 1763, he convinced Parliament to pass a law allowing smugglers to be sent to vice-admiralty courts. Vice-admiralty courts were run by officers and did not have juries. In 1767, Parliament decided to authorize writs of assistance. These legal documents allowed customs officers to enter any location to search for smuggled goods.
A statue of James Otis Jr. at the Barnstable County (Massachusetts) courthouse
With a new law in place to stop smuggling, Grenville tried to increase tax revenue. In 1764, Parliament passed the Sugar Act. The act lowered the tax on molasses imported by the colonists. Grenville hoped the lower tax would convince the colonists to pay the tax instead of smuggling. The act also let officers seize goods from smugglers without going to court.
The Sugar Act and the new laws to control smuggling angered the colonists. They believed their rights as Englishmen were being violated. Writs of assistance violated their right to be secure in their homes. Vice-admiralty courts violated their right to a jury trial. Furthermore, in trials at vice-admiralty courts, the burden of proof was on defendants to prove their innocence. This contradicted British law, which states that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. These measures alarmed the colonists. James Otis, a young lawyer in Boston, argued the concept of no taxation without representation. In his speeches and pamphlets, Otis defined and defended colonial rights.
Peter F. Rothermel's Patrick Henry Before the Virginia House of Burgesses, a painting of Patrick Henry's "If this be treason, make the most of it!" speech against the Stamp Act of 1765
In 1765, Parliament passed another law to raise money. This law, the Stamp Act, placed a tax on almost all printed material in the colonies, everything from newspapers and pamphlets to wills and playing cards. All printed material had to have a stamp, which was applied by British officials. Because so many items were taxed, it affected almost everyone in the colonial cities. Parliament also passed a law called the Quartering Act. It forced the colonies to pay for housing British troops in taverns, inns, vacant buildings, and barns. Colonists were also expected to provide food and drink. These laws convinced many colonists of the need for action.
Opposition to these acts centered on two points. Parliament had interfered in colonial affairs by taxing the colonies directly. In addition, it taxed the colonists without their consent. In passing the Stamp Act without consulting the colonial legislatures, Parliament ignored the colonial tradition of self-government. A young member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Patrick Henry, persuaded the burgesses to take action against the Stamp Act. According to tradition, when he was accused of treason, Henry replied, “If this be treason, make the most of it!” The Virginia assembly passed a resolution, a formal expression of opinion, declaring only it had the power and right to tax its citizens.
In Boston, Samuel Adams helped start an organization called the Sons of Liberty. Members took to the streets to protest the Stamp Act. People in other cities also organized Sons of Liberty groups. Throughout the summer of 1765, protesters burned effigies—rag figures—representing unpopular tax collectors. They also raided and destroyed houses belonging to royal officials and marched through the streets shouting that only Americans had the right to tax Americans.
A coin commemorating the Stamp Act Congress, when delegates from the colonies met to draft a petition to repeal the Stamp Act
In October, delegates from nine colonies met in New York at the Stamp Act Congress. They drafted a petition to the king and Parliament declaring that the colonies could not be taxed except by their own assemblies. In colonial cities, people refused to use the stamps. They urged merchants to boycott, or refuse to buy, British and European goods in protest. Thousands of merchants, artisans, and farmers signed nonimportation agreements. In these agreements, they pledged not to buy or use goods imported from Great Britain. As the boycott spread, British merchants lost so much business that they begged Parliament to repeal, or cancel, the Stamp Act.
In March 1766, Parliament gave in to the colonists’ demands and repealed the Stamp Act. However, the colonists’ trust in the king and Parliament was never fully restored. While the colonists celebrated their victory over the Stamp Act, Parliament passed another act on the same day it repealed the Stamp Act. The Declaratory Act of 1766 stated that Parliament had the right to tax and make decisions for the British colonies “in all cases.” The colonists might have won one battle, but the war over making decisions for the colonies had just begun.
This vintage label states "No Taxation Without Representation," the slogan of the American Revolution.
Soon after the Stamp Act crisis, Parliament passed a set of laws in 1767 that came to be known as the Townshend Acts. In these acts, the British leaders tried to avoid some of the problems the Stamp Act caused. They understood that the colonists would not tolerate internal taxes—those levied or paid inside the colonies. As a result, the new taxes applied only to imported goods, with the tax being paid at the port of entry. The goods taxed, however, included basic items, like glass, tea, paper, and lead, that the colonists had to import because they did not produce them. By this time, the colonists were outraged by any taxes Parliament passed. They believed that only their own representatives had the right to levy taxes on them. The colonists responded by bringing back the boycott that had worked so well against the Stamp Act. The boycott proved to be even more widespread this time.
Women took an active role in the protest the Townshend Acts. In towns throughout the colonies, women organized groups to support the boycott of British goods, sometimes calling themselves the Daughters of Liberty. They urged Americans to wear homemade fabrics and produce other goods that were available only from Britain before. They believed this would help the American colonies become economically independent.
