In the years leading up to the American Revolution, the British Parliament passed many acts that prompted a variety of responses from the colonists. Due to the costly Seven Years’ War Britain fought with France, they had debt to pay and naturally looked to their colonies to help relieve the cost burden, especially because the results benefited them. In mild cases, the colonists protested, grumbled, and didn’t do much more. However, as these acts progressively got more invasive and affected the colonists more directly, their responses grew to involve more violence, massive riots, and boycotting of goods. The Stamp Act, the Declaratory Act, and the Coercive Acts passed by Parliament between 1765 and 1774, highlight the varying extent of colonial
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In the responses to both the Stamp Act and the Invasive Acts, feelings of violence, anger, and fear of strengthening English power were prominent. In addition, the colonists formed some type of new Congress after each one and worked endlessly to try to get both reversed. The general view the colonists had about both Acts were that they were unconstitutional and either took away or in some way violated their rights. Their response to the Declaratory Act however, was quite different. Even though some people strongly believed it foreshadowed more taxes in the future and were strongly opposed to it, the Act was not met with violence, immediate resistance, or any tremendously outspoken negative response. This was in part because the Act itself did not directly impact the colonies, it served more as a declaratory warning, in contrast to the Stamp and Coercive Acts. However, one similarity between the Declaratory Act and the Coercive Acts is that they were both issued in response to a previous action taken by either the colonists or Parliament. Additionally, all three of these Acts were passed by Parliament to try and gain some type of power, monetary or in other ways, over the colonies. Most colonists reacted the same way to different acts, because those acts although different, had very similar
In the responses to both the Stamp Act and the Invasive Acts, feelings of violence, anger, and fear of strengthening English power were prominent. In addition, the colonists formed some type of new Congress after each one and worked endlessly to try to get both reversed. The general view the colonists had about both Acts were that they were unconstitutional and either took away or in some way violated their rights. Their response to the Declaratory Act however, was quite different. Even though some people strongly believed it foreshadowed more taxes in the future and were strongly opposed to it, the Act was not met with violence, immediate resistance, or any tremendously outspoken negative response. This was in part because the Act itself did not directly impact the colonies, it served more as a declaratory warning, in contrast to the Stamp and Coercive Acts. However, one similarity between the Declaratory Act and the Coercive Acts is that they were both issued in response to a previous action taken by either the colonists or Parliament. Additionally, all three of these Acts were passed by Parliament to try and gain some type of power, monetary or in other ways, over the colonies. Most colonists reacted the same way to different acts, because those acts although different, had very similar