Were The American Colonists Justified Dbq Analysis

The American colonists’ actions towards Britain were justified. The British habit of forcefully imposing taxes upon the colonists without their permission was unfair and contributed to the justification of the colonists’ actions. For example, the Stamp Act was levied upon a multitude of paper products used in everyday life and was considered “a very burdensome and … unconstitutional tax” (Doc 10) by the colonists. This tax caused some of the first sparks of American resentment towards Britain and gave colonists a rude awakening to the true nature of the Parliament. Secondly, the Townshend Acts were enforced a year prior to the Stamp Act’s repeal and went as far to tax other everyday items in addition to the original tax on paper products, once again “violates our liberties and is directly opposed to our rights as Englishmen” (Doc 10). The colonists’ anger towards Britain was reignited due to the fact that the new taxes mirrored the policies of the Stamp Act, and it only added insult to injury that still lacked representatives in Parliament. …show more content…
Most British people believed that the colonists “should contribute to the Preservation of the Advantages they have received…” (Document 1). In truth, it was only just that the colonists should have to pay for the services that Britain extended towards them. The British also believed that the colonists “persuaded the rest of the colonies that the government is going to make absolute slaves of them” by using “canting, whining, insinuating tricks…” (Document 5). Although they made a clear point of using harsh language, it could be seen as reasonable if they were facing harsh actions from the colonists. However, the British truly went the extra mile attempting to validate their perspective, which is not necessary if they were treating the colonists as justly as