The war we know as the American Revolution broke out between the colonists and the British in April 1775. The Americans felt their war was justified because of the suffering they endured at the hands of the British Parliament and King. Letters From A Farmer In Pennsylvania, by John Dickinson in 1767 or 1768, expressed that “There is another late act of Parliament, which appears to me to be unconstitutional, and….destructive to the liberty of these colonies…”
In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson states that “ The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries, usurpations….” Among the first of these were the Townshend Acts enacted in 1767. These acts allowed the British to raise taxes on lead, tea, paper and glass. In order to enforce this act, British Officials were given writs of assistance, which were documents allowing the search and seizure of property without the permission of a judge, in order to find potentially smuggled goods.
Another act was Stamp act, which required paper goods to have an official stamp on the paper. This meant I taxed legal documents, magazines, newspapers, and various other paper products.
It was met with much resistance, as was expressed in Letters From A Farmer In Pennsylvania, by John Dickinson in 1767 or 1768, in which he stated that he felt it was for “the raising of revenue…” which “…was never intended…”
The Quartering Act forced the colonists to house, feed, and supply large numbers of British troops without compensation.
In punishment for resistance to the various acts, the King revoked the charters of the colonies, regardless of their original status a Proprietary, Joint-Stock, or Royal, and made them all Royal Colonies. Their representative bodies were disbanded, although they had never had any say in the British Parliament.
The New York Restraining Act punished incompliance with the Quartering Act by suspending the New York assembly until it complied with the Quartering Acts. Later, other similar acts were passed to close the Boston harbor, as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.
Such acts were seen as unacceptable, having infringed upon rights that the rest of England enjoyed under the British Bill of Rights, and viewed by some as a call to war. The Declaration for the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms stated that “parliament can ‘of right make laws to bind us in all cases whatsoever’….We are reduced to….choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated (British officials), or resistance by force.—The latter is our choice”.
In April 1775, British soldiers moved to seize the local munitions store in the armories in a handful of Massachusetts towns. When the local men formed groups to resist, the battles of Lexington and Concord took place. For some such as Thomas Paine, as he expressed in Common Sense, this was simply the last straw.
“Men of passive tempers look somewhat lightly over the offenses of Great Britain,” wrote Paine, “and, still hoping for the best, are apt to call out COME, COME WE SHALL BE FRIENDS AGAIN FOR ALL THIS. But…tell me whether you can hereafter love, honour and faithfully serve the power that hath carried fire and sword into your land?”.
After all these years of oppression, the American Colonies readied themselves for war. The ensuing conflict would last over seven years and both sides would suffer great losses. Finally, after all the bloodshed, the American Colonies would emerge as a victorious young nation.
* http://www.patriotresource.com/amerrev/ ... shend.html
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How is it? I have to turn it in on Teusday. I guess what I need help with most is the flow.
Thanks for reading!
-Voxina
