Response – The American Revolution

Response – The American Revolution

Replying to Amber 

Hello Amber,

Thank you for sharing your post. You have rightly said that the British were not welcome on American soil. While they purported to give the colonists a measure of freedom in terms of human rights, the Acts only went to violate the same rights. The Stamp Act, for example, and which you have mentioned, was a major burden to the less wealthy in society, yet the colonialists only worsened the situation by implementing the Coercive Acts  (OpenStax, 2019). Do you need help with your assignment ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com.

In addition to allowing the colonists to declare themselves free from British rule, the Declaration gave the Americans the right to go to war against anyone who violated their natural and liberal rights. The Declaration also asserted that all persons were equal and should be treated with respect and dignity. However, the current state we as a nation are in leaves one to wonder whether history is not repeating itself, but this time all actors are from within this country. As it is, oppression by Americans on Americans seems a reincarnation of the 1700s.

References

Corbett, P. S., Volker, J., Lund, J. M., Phannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. history. Houston,TX: OpenStax.

OpenStax. (2019). U.S. history. OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/p7ovuIkl@6.18:gMXC1GEM@7/Introduction

Replying to Lisa 

Hello Lisa,

Thank you for sharing your post. I do agree with you that the Stamp Act ‘brought the colonist together for a united argument against the King and Parliament.’ The Stamp Act raised angry resistance prior to its implementation, but it was ineffective in stopping the same. A minority of vocal oppositionists to the Act hinted that the tax was part of a bigger plan to have the colonists enslaved and deprived of their freedoms. This came to pass with the enactment of the Coercive Acts (OpenStax, 2019). The Declaration was also another unifying element between the colonists, as you mentioned that brought about the change that Americans wanted. By having one voice and acting in pursuit of one cause-freedom, the colonists were able to bring an end to the oppression by the British.

References

Corbett, P. S., Volker, J., Lund, J. M., Phannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. history. Houston,TX: OpenStax.

OpenStax. (2019). U.S. history. OpenStax CNX. Retrieved from https://cnx.org/contents/p7ovuIkl@6.18:gMXC1GEM@7/Introduction

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Response – The American Revolution

Response 1

Amber 

Professor and class,

There were several important events that occurred decades prior to the actual War of Independence. These began shortly after the end of the French and Indian War, also known as “the Seven Years War in 1763” (Riggs, 2015). The French and Indian War led to massive debt for the British crown to the Bank of England. The Stamp Act and Townsend Act were aimed at paying back those debts, and this is how tensions were triggered and set off other events that eventually led to the Revolutionary War.

Per the Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History, “the Stamp Act of 1765 was a piece of legislation passed by the British Parliament that taxed printed materials sold in the American colonies” (2015). The act not only affected the wealthy. It was not concentrated and covered all types and uses of paper. This applied to large segments of the population. In addition, “the tax would be frequent, as colonists would absorb the merchants’ tax costs each time they purchased paper rather than paying a single duty once a year, as was the case with a property tax” (Gale Encyclopedia, 2015). ). The Stamp Act also raised constitutional issues, which triggered the first protests by the colonies against the British Parliament.

In 1767, the Townshend Acts which were a series of measures passed by the British Parliament. The Townshend Act, named after Charles Townshend, who was a British chancellor, “imposed duties on British china, glass, lead, paint, paper and tea that was imported to the colonies” (History.com, 2020). Revenue collected from these duties was only intended to support the British army in America (OpenStax, 2019). This act allowed a tax on imported consumer goods. The American colonists felt as though this was an abuse of British power. The Townshend duties went into effect in November of 1767, and by December, American colonists favored boycotting British goods. In April 1770, “Parliament repealed all the Townshend duties except the tax on tea, which it retained in order to assert its right to tax the colonies” (Foner & Garraty, 2014).

I feel that the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts were both significant. However, The Stamp Act was one of the first that was imposed on the American colonies. They thought that the British were trying to compromise their economic strength and independence. Not only did they have to buy goods from the British, but they also had to pay taxes.

The American Revolution started out as disparities between the American colonies and the British Parliament. American colonists sought for independence and wanted to be a part of an independent nation. The Declaration of Independence was “adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776” (OpenStax, 2019). The 13 American colonies separated their political connections to Great Britain. After the 1783 Treaty of Paris, Great Britain officially acknowledged the United States as a sovereign and independent nation. This ended the war of the American Revolution.

References

Corbett, P. S., Volker, J., Lund, J. M., Phannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P. (2014). U.S. history. Houston, TX: OpenStax. Retrieved from https://openstax.org/books/us-history/pages/1-introduction (Links to an external site.)

Foner, E. & Garraty, J. (2014). Townshend acts. The Reader’s companion to American history. Houghton Mifflin. Credo. Retrieved from https://chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/rcah/townshend_acts/0?institutionId=8802 (Links to an external site.)

History.com Editors. (2020). Townshend Acts. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/townshend-acts (Links to an external site.)

Riggs, T. (2015). Stamp act sparks public outrage throughout colonies. The Gale encyclopedia of U.S. economic history(2nd ed.). Gale. Credo Retrieved from https://chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galegue/stamp_act_sparks_public_outrage_throughout_colonies/0?institutionId=8802 (Links to an external site.)

Response 2

Lisa 

Hello Professor and Class,

I chose to discuss the Navigation Acts and the Stamp Act for this weeks post.

The Navigation Acts were established in 1651 when British Parliament passed laws that only the ships from England could bring goods to the British Colonies and also imposed restrictions on colonial trade (Khan, 2020).  The colonial merchants, who were especially active in the politics of the day and anti-British agitation, were very angry over this development of laws.  They responded to the Navigation Acts with hostility (2020).  According to Corbett, Volker, Lund, Phannestiel, Waskiewicz and Vickery, the Navigation Acts were difficult to enforce, and were never really put fully into effect (2014).  However, they had a strong effect with the colonists because of the feeling of being ruled by Charles II without being represented in Parliament.

The British Parliament established the Stamp Act in 1765.  This Act was developed to help with the cost of the Seven Years’ War that occurred from 1756-1763 (Editors, 2019).  The Stamp Act was signed into law by Charles III and again was a law passed by Parliament without any representation from the colonies (2019).  The purpose of this Act was to put a tax on printed documents, including all forms of legal papers, contracts, wills, newspapers and magazines.  Each item had to carry a revenue stamp and be paid for.  This would generate a lot of money in the Colonies to be paid to the British government for the cost of the war.  “The act never went properly into effect, but it had a greater consequences than many which did” (Cavendish, 2015).  Also according to Cavendish, there was no stemming the anger of the Colonists of the “taxation without representation” and was a justification for violence (2015).  The Stamp Act was repealed in 1766 by Parliament.

From the two selections I have presented, the Stamp Act is definitely more significant.  I think it brought the colonist together for a united argument against the King and Parliament.  The Stamp Act would effect all of the Colonists, including the poor in some way because of its’ broad definition including even dice and cards.

Examining the significance of the Declaration of Independence was very interesting for me.  I had not read it in years, and had forgotten how explicit it was with the charges against the King and Parliament.  Again, it would effect all the Colonists by putting the grievances on paper, so everyone could understand the reasons behind the movement of the American Revolution.  I think it brought the Colonists together, and they put their own differences of political beliefs aside to fight for their freedom.

References

Cavendish, R., (2015). March. History Today, 65(3), 8-9. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/ehost/delivery?sid=f289953e-ed (Links to an external site.) 1f-4b8b8-2a4d512d6f5b%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&vi

Corbett, P.S., Volker, J., Lund, J.M., Phannestiel, T., Waskiewicz, S., & Vickery, P., (2014).  U.S. History.  Houston, TX: OpenStax.  Retrieved from https://openstax.org/books/us-history/ages/1-introduction (Links to an external site.)

History.com Editors, (2019). Stamp Act. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/stamp-act (Links to an external site.)

Khan Academy, (2020).  The Navigation Acts. Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/colonial-america/colonial-north-america/a/the-navigation-acts (Links to an external site.)