British taxation policies and colonial resistance before the American Revolution

¶ … England\'s actions do you feel was most significant in prompting the colonists\' to rebel?

For many years, the colonists had enjoyed a relatively hands-off policy in terms of the governance of the Mother Country. The French-Indian wars, however, created a series of complications in regards to the relationship of the Crown to the colonies, most notably the increased expense of enforcing security and paying back the debts incurred as a result of the war. The Sugar Act stifled free trade and the Stamp Act made it more difficult to disseminate publications as well as perform every day legal business. The Quartering Act encroached upon the privacy of the colonists (Remini 35). However, the Tea Act was the most egregious in that it was blatantly designed to prop up the East India Tea Company and had no discernable relation to paying for the colonists\' security. Taxes on goods such as paper, tea, and glass were used to pay the salaries of unelected representatives in the form of the royal governors, further adding to the colonists\' outrage (Remini 34). The Boston Tea Party led to a closing down of trade in Boston Harbor, and confirmed in the colonist\'s eyes that they were being imposed upon in an undemocratic fashion and were being deprived of their livelihoods.

Q2. What were some of the problems involved in getting all the colonies to unite against England?

While in retrospect the American Revolution seems like a foregone conclusion, there were many loyalists to the Crown, even individuals whose families had resided in the colonies for many generations such as Massachusetts Governor Hutchinson. When Patrick Henry first spoke in condemnation of the actions of the Crown, he was met with cries of \"treason\" in many quarters (Remini 33). Britain had one of the most formidable fighting forces in the world at the time, and opposing it was questionable, given that the colonists had to assemble their own army. Finally, the colonists themselves were a relatively diffuse collection of different states. This later became problematic in creating a new governing structure for the nation, as the original Articles of Confederation were designed to give maximum autonomy to the states making up the new nation.

Q3. What common interests did they share?

Still, the colonists shared many common interests, including preserving free trade and minimizing taxes upon the goods they used. Although the Boston Tea Party took place in Massachusetts, Virginian Thomas Jefferson still defended it as an act of a desperate people (Remini 36). All colonists, whether they traded by sea or produced cash crops, were hurt by the trade restriction placed upon tea and the additional costs of basic everyday items. Furthermore, although it was eventually repealed, the Stamp Tax was seen as a tax upon free speech and the ability of the press to disseminate information.